first heaven and earth

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SON

/ Sandra L. Butler / Leave a comment

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The son symbolizes the seed or word of God (Luke 8:11).  All things are made by a seed (John 1:3). God’s physical creation was made by His word (Genesis 1:3), the sowing of His seed in the earth. Our spiritual creation is made when God sows His spiritual seed in our heart. The instruction for this spiritual creation is encoded in the beginning and end of the book of Genesis, which means creation; an instruction the children of Israel, chosen to represent us the people, failed to comprehend, having eyes that could not see and ears that could not hear.  So God sowed His seed in another mother; in the womb of Mary, her son providing us with the instruction for this spiritual creation through his word.  Jews and Muslims (the seed of Abraham in the literal sense) reject the son. The fact that Muslims reject the idea of the Creator having a son makes perfect sense because the Holy Quran does not refer to Allah as Father. But it also reveals the carnal mind, which cannot comprehend how something that is spiritual (Allah) could produce something that is physical (Jesus). 

Is that not the pattern of creation? Something unseen producing something that is seen? If Muslims believe that Allah is the Creator of the heaven(s) and the earth, they unwittingly agree that Allah has a seed, the son symbolizing the seed by which all things are made. The New Testament of the Bible does refer to God as Father, and yet many Christians reject or deny the Son literally by claiming that Jesus is God. The Father is not the Son. There is one God and one seed of God. Father and Son. The Holy Bible tells us that he that denies the Father and the Son is antichrist, which Jews, Muslims, and Christians are all guilty of in one way or another.  But we are all anti-christ in the spiritual sense as long as we are against christ; the spiritual power through which we perform the spiritual works that forms our new spiritual creation. 

Jesus, the physical manifestation of the son or seed of God does not care if we believe in him. He wants us to “believe the works,” the word believe meaning to obey; put action to.  Christians say they believe in Jesus, but they do not obey the spiritual works that are synonymous with the son (John 10:36-38).  Neither do Jews and Muslims.  Jews fail to obey the spiritual works by not observing the spiritual instruction found in the beginning and end of the first book of the Torah.  Muslims fail to perform the spiritual works because the Quran does not provide the instruction for these works. Christians fail to obey the spiritual works because they have been taught that Jesus did the works for them, which is a lie. There can be no creation without the son, which is the seed, by which all things are made.  We have already made a creation, but through an unholy seed called the son of perdition. This unholy creation is called “the first heaven and earth,”  which is to pass away.  What is to take its place is a holy creation, made through God’s seed or son, which is called “a new heaven and a new earth”  (Revelation 21:1).  Abraham had two sons.  Ishmael and Isaac.  The son symbolizes both the seed and the word of God, through which the physical heaven and earth was made. Both the Holy Bible and the Holy Quran are considered to be the literal Word of God or Allah. However, the Holy Quran does not contain the instruction for our new spiritual creation as it does not teach on the spiritual meaning of the son.  It only goes as far as to say that Mary had a son, and that like Muhammed, that son was no more than a Prophet.  But now we understand the importance of the son!

Written by Sandra L. Butler © 2016

 

THE 144,000

/ Sandra L. Butler / Leave a comment

OpenBible2We find this number in the Book of Revelation; a revelation for mankind, which came from Jesus through John: “And I heard the number of them which were sealed; and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of Israel.” Revelation 7:4.  The word sealed means to stamp (with a signet or private mark (for security or preservation), referring to a spiritual security or preservation.  “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”  Genesis 32:30.  It is our spiritual life that is preserved, through which we enter an invisible wall of protection, the measure of which is 144.  “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.” Revelation 21:17. 

How does man reach this spiritual measure of 144?   By obeying Jesus’ instruction pertaining to the twelve tribes of Israel: “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  Matthew 19:28. The word regeneration means anew; the process of forming again, referring to the forming of a new creation from within, “a new heaven and a new earth,” symbolizing a new mind and a new heart, through which “the first heaven and the first earth” (formed in a darkness we mistook for light; through lies we mistook for truth) passing away through the process.  “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.” Revelation 21:1

The twelve tribes of Israel are neither lost nor extinct, but existing within us in the form of positive and negative aspects.  We are to judge the negative aspects of the tribes, which is to overcome them. The number twelve represents judgment, as we see in our own judicial system.  Judging the 12 tribes of Israel formulates to 12 x 12, which equals 144, “the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.”  An angel is a messenger. Those that hear, through obedience, the message of the angel of the first 6 churches in the book of Revelation, reach the spiritual measure of 144.  As God’s physical creation was formed through 6 days of works (not to be taken literally), our new spiritual creation is formed through 6 (metaphorical) days of (spiritual) works.  A day is 24 hours, 6 days formulating to 6 x 24, which equals 144.  These spiritual works are the works of the spiritual judgment that is to take place within us— the act of overcoming all of our false religious and personal beliefs.

Those that reach the spiritual measure of 144 by executing God’s spiritual judgment upon themselves, enter the 1,000-year reign of Christ: 144 + 1,000 = 144,000. “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them…  and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years…”  Revelation 20:7.  The reign of Christ begins within the individual when christ (spirit and word; love and truth) rules their mind and heart.  These make up the 144,000 mentioned in chapter seven of the book of Revelation.  Notice that the tribe of Dan is not listed among the tribes.  That is because the word Dan means judge, and the 144,000 have already judged themselves.

Written by Sandra L. Butler © 2008

FAITH & SALVATION

/ Sandra L. Butler

OpenBible2“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  Hebrews 11:1. In the definition of faith we find the beginning of faith (things hoped for, not yet seen) and the end of faith (the substance, the evidence).  The beginning of faith is an analogy to the beginning of Creation.  “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.”   Genesis 1:1.  God envisioned His creation. But there was no evidence. Nothing had been made yet, as we see in verse 2. For the thought or idea (energy) to become substance (matter) would require the word of God (Genesis 1:3; John 1:14).  The seed of God (Luke 8:11).  Every thing is made by a seed (John 1:3).

God’s thought of creation became a reality through His word; through the works that brought His creation into existence.  Faith, like creation and salvation, requires works.  “ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”  James 2:26.  We are given a number of examples of the works associated with the beginning of faith in the book of Hebrews, each one having to do with external salvation, which started with a thought.  Noah, believing in his mind that a flood was coming, began the works of building an ark.  Just because we say something with our mouth, think or believe something in our mind, does not make it a reality in our heart.  Saying we are saved because we have accepted Jesus into our heart does not make it so.  To be saved we must accept the spiritual Jesus into our heart.  The spiritual Jesus is the word of God, truth, through which we truly become in our heart what we think we are in our mind.  “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:”  Revelation 3:17

Christians say they “believe” in Jesus.  This is the beginning of faith.  But this elementary-level faith is not enough to save us.  Salvation, like creation, requires works.  “ If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works…”  John 10:37,38.  The word believe means to obey or put action to. The works that Jesus is referring to are the spiritual works, through which our spiritual creation comes into existence.  It is through these internal works that we receive the salvation of our soul. This is the end of faith.  “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”  1 Peter 1:9.  As it took works to bring God’s physical creation into existence, it takes works to bring our spiritual creation into existence.  The carnal works of the law, a figure or type-and-shadow of the spiritual works, could not perfect them that kept them.   “… which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.”   Hebrews 9:9,10. 

Nevertheless, they were to keep the carnal works of the law until “the time of reformation.” When we do the spiritual or internal works of the Father, through which we form a new heaven and earth, works that do make us “perfect as pertaining to the consciousness.”  This is because “a new heaven and a new earth” symbolizes a new mind and a new heart.   “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18.  Jesus is speaking of a spiritual heaven and earth— the first heaven and earth, formed through darkness we mistook for light; through lies we mistook for truth.  “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…”  Revelation 21:1.  Jesus said he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it.  But it is not the physical Jesus who fulfils the law.  It is the spiritual Jesus that fulfils the law.  “ If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.  But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works…”   John 10:37,38

The works of the Father are the works of creation, the works being synonymous with the word, the seed by which all things are made (the spiritual Jesus).  We believe Jesus by doing the works. We have six (metaphorical) days of (spiritual) works to perform. The spiritual works of this new creation are encoded in the beginning and end of the book of Genesis, which means creation. The beginning of Genesis gives us an overview of the creation process.  The end of Genesis, where Jacob tells his twelve sons what will befall them in the end of days, gives us the instruction for the salvation process. Salvation through the works of creation!  “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.”  1 Peter 1:9

Written by Sandra L. Butler © 2000