Q&A – Page 85 – Church of the Eternal God

Did Jesus violate His own words, when He first said to His disciples before His crucifixion that He would drink no more wine, and when He later drank wine before His death?

July 11, 2008

Actually, this question has puzzled quite a few people. It is important to read all the relevant passages in context.

We read in Matthew 26:27-29 that Jesus gave wine to the disciples, symbolizing His shed blood for the forgiveness of sins. The entire passage reads (Authorized Version throughout, unless otherwise mentioned):

“And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament [covenant], which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

In the parallel passage in Mark 14:25, He is quoted as saying: “Verily I say unto you, I will drink no more of the fruit of the vine, until that day that I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” Compare, too, the wording in Luke 22:18.

Can you explain what is meant by the word "glorification"? In what way will we be glorified–and in what way was Jesus glorified?

July 4, 2008

We read in Romans 8:29-30 that God will glorify those whom He has called in this day and age. It is explained in verse 29 that He predestined those whom He foreknew “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Even though the Scripture says, in verse 30, that He already “glorified” them, this is still a future event, but it is absolutely certain to occur.

John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible explains that “they are already glorified in Christ, their head and representative… It is an observation of a Jewish writer… that a thing ‘which is decreed to be’, is spoken of in the past tense: ‘this is the Scripture style concerning things decreed, and such is the glorification of all God’s elect.'”

As Christ was glorified, so His true disciples will be glorified. We read about Christ’s glorious appearance in Revelation 1:14-16: “His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire… and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.” His glorified state is also described in Revelation 2:18: “These things says the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire…” Christ was a glorified God being before He became a man, and He was anticipating the time, just prior to His death, when He would be glorified once again. He prayed to the Father in John 17, stating in verse 5: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself [literally: alongside Yourself], with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Would you please explain the meaning of the different dates and numbers mentioned in the book of Daniel, i.e., 2,300 evenings and mornings, 1,260 days, 1,290 days and 1,335 days?

June 27, 2008

Before attempting to address those numbers, we need to understand–as we pointed out in detail in previous Q&As–that we do not know the exact day of Christ’s return. Matthew 24:44 reads: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” In Mark 13:32-33, we read Christ’s words: “But of that DAY and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.” Neither Christ, nor God’s angels, nor we “know” [present tense!] the DAY and the HOUR of His coming. Christ seems to be saying that we won’t know the exact time — a phrase broader than just a 24-hour-day. The reason for this conclusion is given in Acts 1:6-7:

Do you believe that the "Virgin Mary" has appeared to children and others with messages from God?

June 20, 2008

We don’t believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, appeared to anyone after she had died in the first century. Mary is dead and buried, sleeping the sleep of death in her grave, and awaiting her resurrection to eternal life at the time of Christ’s return. The Bible makes it very clear that all who died in Christ will be resurrected when Christ comes back to this earth–not before then (compare 1 Corinthians 15:22-23, 50-52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). As we explain in our free booklet, “Do We Have an Immortal Soul?”, those who die sleep a dreamless sleep of death, without any knowledge, activity, consciousness or thought. For this reason alone, Mary could not have really appeared to anyone after she had died.

Some believe that Mary appeared in a vision. For proof, they point to the occasion of the “transfiguration on the mount” (Matthew 17:1-9), when three of Christ’s disciples, Peter, James and John, saw Jesus Christ in a vision (verse 9) talking to Moses and Elijah, who had died. In that vision, the disciples were given a glimpse of how it would be like in the Kingdom of God, which will be established on this earth after Christ’s return. Jesus had told those disciples that they would not die until they had seen the Kingdom of God having come with power (compare Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1). They did see it–in a vision (For more information on this vision, please read our free booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.”).

Would you please explain the "image of the beast," as described in Revelation 13:14?

June 13, 2008

In the thirteenth chapter of the book of Revelation, John sees two “beasts.” These are symbolic descriptions of powerful world empires.

Beginning with Revelation 13:1, John sees in a vision a fantastic beast rising out of the sea, which has seven heads and ten horns. This beast received a deadly wound, but was healed. We explained in previous Q&A’s and some of our booklets, that this beast describes the Roman Empire at the time of John, its subsequent fall and its ten revivals or resurrections throughout history until the time of Christ’s return. The last and tenth resurrection is unfolding in Europe right now before our very eyes. (For more information, please read, for example, our free booklet, “Europe in Prophecy.”)

Beginning with Revelation 13:11, John sees in vision a second beast coming up out of the earth. This second beast had two horns. It looked like a lamb (Jesus Christ is referred to as the Lamb of God throughout the New Testament, compare John 1:29), but it spoke like a dragon (Satan is identified as a dragon in Revelation 12:3, 9). This second beast is obviously a religious power, which is influenced by Satan, while pretending to speak on behalf of Christ.

Should we have and use crosses or pictures or statues, depicting Jesus Christ?

June 6, 2008

The answer to all of these questions is a resounding, “No.”

Regarding pictures, images or statues of Christ (including those which picture Him on the cross), we clearly read that we are not to have images of God (Exodus 20:4). Since Jesus is God (John 1:1; Hebrews 1:8; Titus 2:13), the creation and use of images or pictures of Christ violates this express prohibition.

Some say that this commandment does not prohibit us to portray Christ when He was a man, and not God. Even though Christ became fully man and fully flesh, He nevertheless did not cease to be the Personage that He had always been before–the Son of God, the second member in the God Family. That is why He, when here on earth, was called “Immanuel” or “God with us,” and that is why people, recognizing this fact, worshipped Him in the flesh.

How, exactly, did Jesus Christ die? Why did a soldier pierce Him with a spear when He was already dead?

May 30, 2008

The answer to this question might be quite surprising to some who have never heard the truth before. The fact is, a Roman soldier KILLED Christ by piercing His side with a spear. Notice what happened.

The following is excerpted from our free booklet, “Jesus Christ–A Great Mystery,” pages 78 and 79:

“How Did Christ Die?

“… Christ died by shedding His blood (Mark 14:24), and it is through His precious shed blood that we can be saved (1 Peter 1:18–19).

“When we read Matthew’s account, in the New King James Bible, we will not find exactly how Christ died. The reason is that this translation omits a crucial verse, at the end of Matthew 27:49. Several translations, as well as many old manuscripts, have retained this missing verse. For instance, verses 49 and 50 read in the Moffat translation: ‘But the others said, “Stop, let us see if Elijah does come to save him!” (Seizing a lance, another pricked [better, pierced] his side, and out came water and blood.) Jesus again uttered a loud scream, and gave up his spirit.’

Would you please explain Paul's statement in Philippians 1:15-16, 18? Why did Paul rejoice when ministers preached Christ "from envy and strife," "selfish ambition," "in pretense" and "not sincerely"?

May 23, 2008

Philippians 1:12-18 reads, in context: “But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the […]

Would you please explain Matthew 8:21-22. Isn't it rather inconsiderate of Jesus to prohibit His disciple from burying his father?

May 16, 2008

Let us read Christ’s sayings in Matthew 8:21-22 in context, beginning with verse 19:

“Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, ‘Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.’… Then another of His disciples said to Him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ But Jesus said to him, ‘Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.'”

The parallel passage in Luke 9:59-60 reveals that Christ was calling this man into the ministry, challenging Him to “Follow Me… [and to] go and preach the kingdom of God.”

Christ was not prohibiting this disciple from attending his father’s funeral. The passage does not say that his father had died and needed to be buried. We read in Luke 7:11-15 how Christ Himself showed kindness to a mother during a funeral procession of her only son.

What Christ was addressing here was the desire of His disciple to stay with his elderly father UNTIL he had died, rather than following Christ’s invitation to become a minister and preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God wherever he would be sent. This man tried to make excuses for not following the call to the ministry at that moment in time. He wanted to wait for a more “appropriate” time. As the early apostles forsook everything they had in order to follow Christ, so this disciple was challenged to do the same. But he refused.

The Commentary of Jamieson, Fausset and Brown points out:

Would you please explain Christ's sayings in Luke 14:26? I thought we were not to hate others?

May 9, 2008

Let us note and review carefully what Christ said in Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.”

However, Christ also commanded us to love even our enemies (Luke 6:27), and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). As the Bible does not contradict itself (John 10:35), it is therefore obvious that Jesus’ sayings in Luke 14:26 cannot mean that we actually are to HATE our fellow man. But what DO they mean?

The word for “hate” is “misei” in the Greek. In the overwhelming majority, this word does refer to malicious and unjustifiable feelings towards others, including a right feeling of aversion from what is evil. However, as the Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words by W.E. Vine explains, it can also describe the “relative preference for one thing over another, by either expressing aversion from, or disregard for, the claims of one person or thing relatively to those of another… as to the impossibility of serving two masters… as to the claims of parents relatively to those of Christ…”