A recent article in Britain’s The Daily Mail suggested that the prophets Amos and Zechariah may have had something right. As the writer puts it,

“A scientific breakthrough has exposed the truth about a site in ancient Jerusalem, overturning expert opinion and vindicating the Bible’s account. Until now, experts believed a stretch of wall in the original heart of the city was built by Hezekiah, King of Judah, whose reign straddled the seventh and eighth centuries BC. … But now an almost decade-long study has revealed it was built by his great-grandfather, Uzziah, after a huge earthquake, echoing the account of the Bible.”

“… echoing the account of the Bible.” The story reminds me of a scene from a Pirates of the Caribbean movie, when a character says to Johnny Depp’s Captain Jack Sparrow, “You actually were telling the truth.” To which Captain Jack replied, “I do that quite a lot. Yet people are always surprised.”

Throughout the last century, and especially in the last few decades, the scholarly world has been “surprised” to find that the biblical authors were telling the truth. Skeptics assume that the content of the Bible is more “pious fraud” than history, a well-intentioned story to inspire the faithful. And yet the reliability of the Word of God has been repeatedly affirmed, as more biblical archaeological sites are discovered and more extra-biblical sources corroborate biblical events.

From small artifacts to larger sites, recent discoveries lend proof to biblical accounts. For example, DNA found in the City of David confirmed that the Philistines, Israel’s main enemy during the reign of King David, turned out to be exactly the sort of people the Old Testament described. A smaller discovery was of a signet ring that confirmed the detail of an Old Testament character who only gets a passing mention in 2 Kings. And, of course, there was the discovery of the site of the Pool of Siloam, where we know Jesus walked.

These findings match characters and events in the Bible to tangible, touchable, real things, a crucial confirmation for a worldview that is not esoteric but fully grounded in events that took place within human history. Luke, once written off as a fable-maker, is now considered by most scholars to be an excellent and precise historian. Though online atheists may continue to insist that Jesus never existed, no reputable biblical scholar would support this theory. To paraphrase Mark Twain’s preemptive obituary, rumors of the Bible’s inaccuracies have been greatly exaggerated.

Of course, the Bible is a more comfortable book if only merely “spiritually” true and not really true. This is the sort of thinking that has both shaped and sapped the strength of liberal Christianity, such as is found in many mainline denominations. Once giants in American Christianity, most are now mere husks of their former glories, with increasingly empty churches that have dropped all the doctrine but kept the robes and collars of their now rainbow-accented vestments.

The Bible, however, doesn’t offer the option of just believing the comfortable stuff. It demands to be taken as fact or not at all, while making claims about real times and real places, about real people and real things. Most notably, it claims that the God revealed in its pages intruded Himself into the grit and grime of our fallen world in a way that can now be found by archaeological discoveries. If the God of the Bible is indeed God, He is the God of the real world.

It should comfort that what God has given to us in the Bible is true. Thus, it can be trusted in all that it promises, whether about the past, the present, or the future.
Sources:Christian Post

http://theendtimeradio.com

When Jesus came as the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:45), He announced the good news of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:14). What is the Kingdom of God? The rule of God emanates from the throne of God in Heaven. Hence, the Kingdom of God rules over all of creation (Psalm 22:28; 24:1; 103:19).

Consequently, when Jesus announced that the Kingdom of God was at hand (Matthew 4:17), He declared that restoring the created order back under His rule as it was in the Garden of Eden (before the fall) was now inaugurated.

We see themes relating to the work of restoration to Eden throughout Scripture (Isaiah 11:6-9; 51:3; 65:17-25; Ezek. 36:34-36; Romans 8:19-21; Rev. 21:1-5).

In light of this, we see that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is related to the reconciliation of the world, not merely to individual sinners (2 Corinthians 5:19).

The following are eight ways the Kingdom of God is connected to the Edenic state.

1. Through work

God’s first act after creating Adam was to put him in a garden to work and keep it (Genesis 2:15). Even before Adam had a family, he worked unto the Lord. (Hence, using our abilities to work is not merely to provide for our family but is an act of worship since we are reflecting Yahweh who worked for the six days of creation.)

Consequently, Paul the apostle commands the Church to work and to be a blessing to others (Ephesians 4:28; 1 Thessalonians 4:11). Paul even declares that if a man does not work, he should not eat! (2 Thessalonians 3:10)

Thus, Christians are called to work and plant the Garden of the Lord as part of our Christian witness that the Kingdom of God is at hand.

2. Through God’s provision

God planted humanity in a lush garden with enough to sustain it even before Adam worked. Humans did nothing to earn what we were born into, yet God provided everything we needed for sustenance through His grace.

Consequently, continuing to receive divine provision is one way the Church manifests the Kingdom of God to the rest of the world.

3. Through holy matrimony

God joined one man and one woman to be “one flesh” as the foundation of civilization (Gen. 2:21-24). Before there was human government, there was marriage. Thus, His Kingdom influence started with biblical marriage.

Also, the fact that God made binary gender to represent His nature implies that it takes both male and female to transmit the image of God to the next generation (Genesis 1:27). Hence, two men and two women cannot fully transmit the image of God to the next generation.

The main reason why Satan distorted biblical marriage with alternative forms of family as well as through the proliferation of pornography and divorce, is to prevent the complete image of God from being transmitted to the next generation.

Consequently, when Christians live faithfully together in holy matrimony and raise their children in the Lord, they plant the Garden of the Lord and manifest His Kingdom in the world.

4. Through defining reality

God brought the animals of the earth to Adam so he could name them (Genesis 2:19-20). As God’s vice-regent, it was up to Adam to name and define reality. Thus, whoever defines a thing can categorize and frame the perspective of that entity.

This is why there is an ideological push to reframe biblical symbols such as the rainbow and to redefine biblical concepts such as marriage, gender, human sexuality, and social justice (Genesis 9:13).

The rainbow symbolizes God’s promise to Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood (Genesis 9:13-17). Today, the rainbow is widely recognized as a symbol of the LGBTQ+ community, representing diversity and inclusion.

Marriage

Historically, marriage has been defined as a union between one man and one woman. Many societies now recognize same-sex marriages and broader definitions of partnerships and unions.

Gender

Gender was traditionally understood as strictly male or female, based on biological sex.

The concept of gender has expanded to include a spectrum of identities beyond the binary male and female, such as non-binary, pansexual and genderfluid.

Woke

The connotation of the traditional meaning had to do with a conversion experience in which a person’s eyes were opened, and they were turned from darkness to light, which is why the term “awakening” was used to describe masses of people coming to Christ (Acts 26:18). Now ”woke” has been hijacked to describe people who ascribe to the far left (woke) ideology. Consequently, the Church is called to function as cultural creatives who define reality for society in a way that aligns with the Kingdom of God.

5. Through cultivation

Adam was called to cultivate the Garden of the Lord and subdue the rest of the earth (Genesis 1:28). Similarly, believers are called to plant systems and create art that reflect the beauty of the Lord as depicted in the Garden of Eden for human flourishing.

6. Through multiplication

As God created the world with the ability for every living thing to multiply (Genesis 1), the Ephesians 4:11 ministry gifts were called to equip people who can multiply biological families, churches, and businesses, so the seeds of the Garden of the Lord will eventually fill all things (Ephesians 4:10-12)

7. Through stewardship

As God called Adam to steward the created order, God has called the church to nurture people capable of managing their families, churches, and businesses and to produce Christ-followers capable of stewarding leadership in society for the glory of God.

8. The ‘tree-centric’ world on the 8th day

The Tree of Life was in the midst of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:9). Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection created a “Tree-Centric” world since the cross (tree) of Christ became the Tree of Life that brought healing and reconciliation back to the created order (I Peter 2:24). Since Jesus rose on the 8th day, this also represented new beginnings regarding the process of the renewal of all things.

Consequently, as Christ-followers live a cross-shaped life, they will be His agents of healing that plant the garden of the Lord as an oasis of hope amid broken cities.
Sources:Christian Post

http://theendtimeradio.com

ദൈവത്തിന്റെ മുഖ്യ ഗുണങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നാണ്‌ നീതി. കർത്താവ് നീതിയും ന്യായവും ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടുന്നു എന്ന് സങ്കീർത്തനം 33:5 ൽ പറയുന്നു. ന്യായം ദൈവത്തിന്റെ നീതി​യു​ടെ ഒരു അനിവാ​ര്യ ഘടകമാണ്‌. യേശു ഭൂമി​യി​ലാ​യി​രു​ന്ന​പ്പോൾ നീതി​യും ന്യായ​വും സംബന്ധിച്ച ദൈവ​ത്തി​ന്റെ നിലവാ​ര​ങ്ങളെ യേശു പൂർണ​മാ​യി പ്രതി​ഫ​ലി​പ്പി​ച്ചു. ദൈവത്തെക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള ന്യായ​വും കരുണാ​പൂർവ​മായ നീതി​യും സമറിയാക്കാരനെ​ക്കു​റി​ച്ചുള്ള യേശു​ ഉപമയിലൂടെ വെളിപ്പെടുത്തി. തനിക്കു പരിചയമി​ല്ലാഞ്ഞ, പരുക്കേറ്റ ഒരു മനുഷ്യ​നെ സഹായി​ക്കു​ക​വഴി സമറിയാ​ക്കാ​രൻ നീതിയും ന്യായവുമുള്ള കാര്യ​മാ​ണു ചെയ്‌തത്‌.

ലോക​ത്തി​ന്റെ നീതിയും ന്യായവും ഒരു വാളും ഒരു തുലാസും കയ്യിൽ പിടി​ച്ചി​രി​ക്കുന്ന, കണ്ണു മൂടി​ കെട്ടിയിരി​ക്കുന്ന ഒരു സ്‌ത്രീ​യാ​യി ചിത്രീകരിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്‌. മനുഷ നീ​തി മുഖപ​ക്ഷ​മി​ല്ലാ​ത്ത​താ​യി​രി​ക്കാൻ, അതായത്‌ സമ്പത്തോ സ്വാധീ​ന​മോ സംബന്ധിച്ച്‌ അന്ധമാ​യി​രി​ക്കാനാണ് ഇത് കൊണ്ട് ഉദ്ദേശി​ക്ക​പ്പെ​ടു​ന്നത്. പ്രതി​യു​ടെ കുറ്റമോ നിഷ്‌കളങ്കതയോ അതു ശ്രദ്ധാ​പൂർവം തുലാസിൽ തൂക്കി​നോ​ക്കണം. വാളു​കൊണ്ട്‌, നീതി നിഷ്‌ക​ള​ങ്കരെ സംരക്ഷി​ക്കു​ക​യും കുറ്റം ചെയ്‌ത​വരെ ശിക്ഷി​ക്കു​ക​യും ചെയ്യുന്നു. എന്നാൽ ലോകത്തിലെ നീതിയും ന്യായവും പലപ്പോഴും സമ്പത്തിനാലും അധികാരത്തിനാലും സ്വാധിനിക്കപ്പെടുന്നു

ഭൂമി​യി​ലാ​യി​രു​ന്ന​പ്പോൾ യേശു​ നീതിയുക്തവും ന്യായവുമായ മനോ​ഭാ​വം പ്രകടമാക്കുക​യു​ണ്ടാ​യി. അവൻ നീതി​മാ​നും ന്യായ​മു​ള്ള​വ​നു​മാ​യി​രു​ന്നു. മാത്രമല്ല, സഹായ​മാ​വ​ശ്യ​മു​ണ്ടാ​യി​രുന്ന ആളുകൾക്കായി, കഷ്ടപ്പാ​ടി​നും രോഗ​ത്തി​നും മരണത്തി​നും അടി​പ്പെ​ട്ട​വ​രാ​യി​രുന്ന പാപി​ക​ളായ മനുഷ്യർക്കായി, യേശു തന്റെ ജീവൻ നൽകി. ക്രിസ്തുവിനെ പോലെ നാം നമ്മുടെ അനുദിന ജീവിതത്തിൽ നീതിയും ന്യായവും ഉള്ളവരായിരിക്കുക. അതുപോലെ അർഹിക്കുന്ന വ്യക്തികൾക്കും നീതിയും ന്യായവും നടത്തി കൊടുക്കുക
Sources:marianvibes

http://theendtimeradio.com