DEFINITION OF TERMS (For Serious Students)

COVENANT

LAW

LAW
I. In the Old Testament
II. In the New Testament

GRACE

GRACE, MEANS OF

KINGDOM OF GOD

KINGDOM OF GOD, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
I. In John the Baptist
II. In the teaching of Jesus
III. Kingdom and church
IV. In the rest of the New Testament
V. In theological thought

In order to exercise freewill, there must be a choice between alternatives. So in Christianity, we have the choice between good and evil, between following God, or following satan. Satan is not simply a rebellious angel. His fall from God's grace was a necessary part of God's plan, in providing an alternative, so that we might be able to exercise freewill.

Satan, the devil, the evil one, whatever name you prefer, encourages us to walk away from God. He is much too cunning to appear in person. Anyway, he can only be in one place at one time! He adapts his plan of attack to the times, setting up a counterfeit system of the one God is using to relate to His chosen people at the time. Hence satan takes a different form and approach during each kingdom age.

So satan too, needed to appear in a physical form, for that is what Adam and Eve were used to and understood. He didn't appear as himself, for they would have seen through that straight away. Ever the deceiver, he took the form of and inhabited, the crafty serpent, in order to tempt them away from God. And of course, he worked through deception rather than outright lies.

___and the evils of Sodom and Gomorrah are two prime examples.

The focus during the second kingdom age was on the nation state of Israel, that of possessing the Promised Land. Therefore it is not surprising that the alternative now, is the temptation of other nations.

The story of the exodus starts with the promised delivery from captivity in Egypt, as God said to Moses:

The ups and downs of the claiming, occupation and loss of the Promised Land, is what most of the Old Testament is about. Ending of course in hope, with a partial resettlement, although under foreign domination.

The focus of the nation's religious life, and God's presence, was firstly upon Moses Tabernacle, then Solomon's Temple. The Temple was finally destroyed by the Babylonians and rebuilt, less grandly, by the returning remnant.

In light of this focus upon the nation, it is not surprising that satan used other nations to seduce the people away from their inheritance, by using 'the grass is greener on the other side of the fence' syndrome. One which is still alive and well today! The actions and state of the nation were patterned on and determined by those of their leaders. The leaders almost totally represented the nation in a way not seen today.

After Joshua, through the eras of the Judges and the Kings, the leadership and the people were constantly tempted to intermarry and adopt the lifestyles of the surrounding nations.

Samson was an example of a Judge who finally paid for his sin with his life. His parents realized he was doing wrong, but like many of us, he wouldn't listen.

And the most infamous of all was King Solomon, whose actions ended up splitting the nation into two under his son, the precursor to the final destruction of the divided nations by the Assyrians and Babylonians.

Even the returning exiles made the disastrous mistakes of their forbears. Until Ezra realized what was happening and challenged them to put the situation right.

The other ongoing temptation was that of foreign religions. Early on in the possession of the Promised Land Joshua warned the people about this.

And in the end God used other nations to punish Israel for abandoning Him as a nation. The Assyrians overran the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

God used King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian nation to capture the Southern Kingdom of Judah.

Through Jesus, a personal relationship is required, so satan's counterculture also moves to a personal level. He attacks like with a counterfeit like, as we have seen with the serpent during the first kingdom age and the nations in the second.

Satan set the scene for what was to come by tempting Jesus in the desert at the start of His ministry, offering Him all the good things of the world, if only He would worship Him.

There is now a direct battle for the lives of each and every individual between Jesus and satan.

An example was when Peter, in his enthusiastic humanity, denied the necessity for the cross.

It is based upon lies and deceit, the putting of ones self first, as shown in the example of Ananias and Sapphira.

Humanism can appear very good to us. After all, this was the basic choice Adam and Eve made when they ate the forbidden fruit. So we can easily be misled into believing the deception, if we are not careful. We need to test everything and everyone in the light of Scripture, even within the church.

However, as believers, we are to take on the nature of Jesus by developing the 'fruit of the Spirit' in our lives. To crucify our old self-centered life and become like Jesus.

May we not be deceived!

Each of the New Testament triad of hope, faith and love actually represents the particular focus of a kingdom age.

It's amazing how God works!

Satan's basic approach through the ages hasn't changed. For he always appeals to our selfish nature.

However it is important to understand that his strategy has altered to appeal to the times of the world in which we live.

But the enemy is still the same and the battle continues to be fought through every generation. But we are promised that we are on the winning side!

WOMEN'S HEAD COVERING

Illustration of a Head covering for women in ancient times.

Source: http://www.bible-history.com