Some religions teach that Jesus Christ is a created being. Some even say that He was the brother of Lucifer, or that He was the archangel Michael. Is Jesus Christ a created being, or is He eternal?
Course Spotlight from The Life Ministry and Teachings of Jesus Christ: (Unit 1) The Early Life of Christ
Author: Mr. Kenneth Frank | Faculty in Theology, Living Education
Estimated Reading time: 8 min., 41 sec.
Some Americans hail themselves as the greatest nation the world has ever seen by chanting: “USA, USA, etc.” or “We’re Number 1, We’re Number 1, etc.” Many nations and civilizations have considered themselves the greatest in history. The United States of America is just the latest to claim exceptionalism. However, by simply reading God’s description of His chosen and accountable people in the Holy Bible, one comes away with a very different conclusion. Achieving their supreme position depended on their adherence to His teachings, called the Torah in the Hebrew Old Testament. This Digging Deeper explores this theme in biblical history to discover that this honored position is to be filled by a most unexpected people.
The Book of Exodus chronicles God’s release, rescue, and redemption of the ancient Israelites from bondage to the Pharaoh of Egypt and his court. Ten divine miracles forced the Pharaoh to liberate them to follow God’s pillar of the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night to a land of milk and honey. Once there, God provided them productive land that would fill their material needs. He assured them that if they obeyed Him they would prosper generation after generation to the point of world dominance. God intended Israel to become the greatest nation in the history of the world. Notice these scriptures showing the divine blessing prerequisites and how astonished other nations would be at the greatness of these former slave people:
“Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the LORD my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day” (Deuteronomy 4:5-8 KJV)? (emphasis mine throughout)
“For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6 KJV).
“Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the LORD thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee” (Deuteronomy 7:11-15 KJV).
“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the LORD thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth” (Deuteronomy 28:1 KJV).
God did not show favoritism by selecting Israel to be His model nation. Rather, He chose them to be His shining light on a hill to other nations attracting them to His truth as modeled by Israel. If individuals came to Israel for refuge, they were to be welcomed: “Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Exodus 23:9 KJV). The word stranger appears 131 times in our King James Bible. God has much to say about welcoming foreigners and alien residents if they came as converts to the God of Israel. Israel suffered desperate hearts as strangers in the oppressive land of Egypt, qualifying them to understand and welcome foreign converts to the true faith and promote God’s ways to the ends of the earth.
We see this again in Solomon’s dedicatory prayer for the opening of the first temple: “Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name’s sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name” (2 Chronicles 6:32-33 KJV). That is why the temple was called “an house of prayer for all people” (Isaiah 56:7 KJV). It was designed to promote repentance by pagan nations who had experienced the bitter fruit of idolatry.
The Old Testament offers the fascinating story of one such foreigner, the Queen of Sheba, who came to inspect the glory of Solomon’s kingdom (1 Kings 10; 2 Chronicles 9). She returned from her visit astonished by what she saw. Israel’s apex occurred during the reigns of David and Solomon. This was the closest Israel came to qualifying as God’s model nation. Regrettably, not long after her visit, Solomon compromised by accepting his many wives’ gods into his kingdom. These idols turned his heart away from God: “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father’ (1 Kings 11:3-6 KJV).
Israel declined rapidly during the reign of Solomon’s son, Rehoboam, leading to the rebellion of the House of Israel from the House of Judah and the Throne of David. All the kings of the House of Israel turned out bad as well as most of the kings of the House of Judah. Ancient Israel failed in its mission through idolatry: “Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:11-13 KJV).
Nonetheless, in the New Testament, God ordained that a new spiritual Israel, His church, would be His model nation now empowered to obey by the Holy Spirit:
Matthew 21:43 KJB Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you [unbelieving Jews], and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Galatians 6:16 KJV: “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
1 Peter 2:9 KJV: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
This spiritual Israel is to be that shining light on a hill: Matthew 5:14-16 KJV: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. (15) Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Jesus taught that those who are truly great are servants: Matthew 23:11 KJV: “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” Spiritual Israel’s example provides an evangelistic magnet for peoples yearning to breathe free from heathenism. They will show desperate peoples “the way of the LORD.” As they respond to God’s calling, they will then seek the way of eternal life: John 14:6 KJV “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” In this way, Christian ambassadors will serve as “the greatest nation.”
Kenneth Frank was born and raised in New Jersey, USA, and attended Ambassador College, graduating in 1973. He served in the Canadian ministry from 1973-1999, after which he returned to the USA to pastor churches in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina for 15 years. Having earned a BA degree from Ambassador College he later earned a MA degree from Grand Canyon University before being assigned to the Charlotte office to teach at Living University, now Living Education. Currently, he teaches the Survey of the Bible course to the on-campus students and writes the Digging Deeper column for our online Bible study program. He is married, has four children, and seven grandchildren.
Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education Charlotte 2021
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 16 seconds.
Dr. Richard Franz, the area pastor of the Illinois and Missouri congregations, said, “While trust in God is our ultimate duty, it doesn’t rule out our responsibility to work hard and prepare diligently.” In his assembly, he reminded the students of the importance of what they do today to prepare for tomorrow.
“If we’re waiting for the absolute perfect conditions to do something in life, it will never happen.”
The lives of those God has called now are not dress-rehearsals. True Christians cannot afford to kill time. Solomon wrote, “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap” (Ecclesiastes 11:4). Dr. Franz explained that while a farmer cannot control the weather, the longer he takes to do his planting, the longer the harvest is put off.
“There are two necessary ingredients to making each day a masterpiece: Decisions and discipline.” Discipline without good decisions results in constant but aimless movement, while decisions without discipline are not sustained. Theodore Hesburgh said, “Don’t make decisions because they are easy… cheap… [or] popular; you make them because they’re right.” Then after a decision, discipline must be exercised. Dr. Franz held up a “Wash Away Your Sins” bar of soap as a prop—change does not come after one washing. Decisions and discipline are required for success. But how can these principles be applied daily? The students were given eight keys to making today matter.
First, take responsibility for your attitude. If you are wronged, “gird up the loins of your mind” (1 Peter 1:13) and move forward. When you are not treated with a good attitude, instead of denying any fault, Dr. Franz advised, examine yourselves to see if you in any way caused that wrong attitude.
“With all things equal—or sometimes unequal—attitude wins.”
Repent of your bad attitude. Paul said, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). Decide to change. We can’t change everything, but we can change our attitude.
The third key was: “Find something positive in everything.” Dr. Franz pointed out that one can grumble as much on the inside, without saying a word, as verbally out loud. God also teaches Christians how to think, not complaining, but dwelling on true, noble, and admirable things (Philippians 4:8).
Fourth: Project your future. Like pole-vaulters who envision every moment of their race and jump before they compete, envision and conduct yourself like the person you want to become. The students were encouraged, “Transformation takes time. That’s why today matters.”
Don’t be a walking Brillo pad.
Fifth: Place a high value on people. It isn’t possible to dislike people and maintain a good attitude simultaneously. Christians should not be “like walking Brillo pads, scouring everyone they touch.” Rather, “value others above yourself” (Philippians 2:3).
“Remove negative phrases from your vocabulary.” Negative vocabulary about yourself, others, and your situation reinforce bad behavior. “It lets us off the hook.” Instead, think “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).
Seventh: Develop a strong attitude of gratitude. Dr. Franz explained that gratitude is not a matter of sophistication but perspective. He quoted Zig Ziglar, the famous motivational speaker, “The more you are grateful for what you have the more you will have to be grateful for.” That doesn’t mean you get more—it means you see more of what you already have.
Finally, “If you want to change tomorrow, you’ve got to start today.” Time is the most precious resource. While time can’t be changed or controlled, Dr. Franz said, “You can change your priorities.”
“Start today, because today matters.”
Trust in God is fundamental, but Christians also have the responsibility to “keep our powder dry” daily with discipline and decisiveness. Dr. Franz dared the students to not get distracted by things out of their control but to take ownership over the changes they can make in their lives now—today.
This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.
Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem did not sit well with the chief priests and elders. Besides, not many days before that, Jesus had resurrected Lazarus from the dead in front of a host of witnesses. Many of the people started to believe that Jesus was the prophesied Messiah, and the religious rulers were determined that He must be stopped. They looked for an opportunity to take Him without the people knowing it, and the opportunity presented itself.
Matthew 26:39
“He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’”
After being betrayed, Jesus was taken away and was killed even though He had done nothing wrong. He died for the sins of every person in the world (John 1:29, 1 Corinthians 5:7). Jesus was laid in a tomb, and His disciples were very sad, but God’s plan was not over. Early one morning, after Jesus had been buried for three days, some women came to visit the tomb. They were surprised to see that the stone covering the entrance of the tomb was pushed open. They ran to tell the other disciples to come and see. One of the women named Mary Magdalene began to cry, thinking that someone had stolen Jesus’ body. That was when a man, who she thought was the gardener, began to speak to her.
John 20:31
“But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
The disciples had just returned from preaching the gospel to many people, and they were excited to tell Jesus about what they had done. Jesus took them to a deserted place so that they could rest. Even so, the crowds heard where they went and came to find them. Jesus began to teach the people so they stayed to listen to Him all day as He preached the gospel of the Kingdom and healed their sick. After sitting there so long everyone started getting hungry.
John 6:35
“And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”
In some of our online courses, we have a “Student Thoughts” section where we ask a question to see what the students think. In Unit 4 of the Life Ministry and Teachings of Jesus Christ course, we asked the questions:
How do we abide in Christ? (John 15:4) How do we allow God’s word to abide in us? (John 15:7) What does that look like in a practical sense?
Read some of the responses:
“For us to abide in Christ, we must be full of His words, they must be part of our thoughts, actions and motives. [We must] Be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit, for this is from Christ and lights our way, giving us understanding and repentance when we err. Stay close to the truth and be courageous!”
— VC
“It is the Holy Spirit that helps us abide in Christ. As we have seen in the lesson, the Holy Spirit connects our minds to God. It imparts both understanding and strength hence keeping Gods truth flowing in hearts. For a tree to bear fruits, adequate water has to flow through, bringing in the right minerals. A good fruit is not formed by itself. We need Gods Holy Spirit so as to bring forth good fruits.”
— LK
“The A.S.K. formula from Matthew 7:7 is helpful. ‘Ask’ – start by having a prayerful attitude. Don’t approach life with an attitude of: ‘Here’s how I think about it.’ Go to the Father, humbly in prayer, asking to guide your approach to anything you face. ‘Seek’ – search God’s word for the answer. Know that God has revealed the truth to us through the pages of the Bible. The basic principles concerning all the fundamental things we face in life is contained in there somewhere … find it! ‘Knock’ – go forward in faith with what you have been guided to do through prayer and Bible study.”
— TW
Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education Charlotte 2021
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 3 seconds.
Mr. Stephen Elliot is the Area Pastor of New Mexico and Arizona. In his Assembly, Mr. Elliot shared with the students a broad sketch of what it was like in Ambassador College (AC) and the Worldwide Church of God. “I recognize that to you and even to me that’s ancient history, but I want to put it into perspective for you.”
Mr. Elliot’s father was the first Church member hired as a teacher at AC. He was hired in 1949 when competitive and political issues were beginning to arise from employing non-members as instructors. He became the first Dean of Students and was head over the campus grounds. In those early years, Dr. Meredith babysat Mr. Elliot. In 1947, only four students attended the college, but by the mid-60s, when Mr. Elliot attended, both the Big Sandy and Pasadena campuses had grown to around 500 students each. At a college reunion years later, Mr. Elliot found that most of his peers had left the Church and were glad they had been “liberated” from what they now considered a cult. There were around 1200 ministers in the 1980s—nine out of ten have since left the Church. By the late 90s, ninety percent of the membership had left the Church, with the remaining ten percent split now between almost 500 different organizations. Mr. Elliot asked, “How could we all have been taught the same things, grown up believing the same things, and most of us drift away?”
After college, Mr. Elliot shared how he became disillusioned by Church politics and poor examples and stopped attending. But after he got married and his family began to grow, he returned. “I came back for a very selfish reason. I knew the Church had the answers and I wanted those principles for my marriage and family… The world was no longer shiny and glossy.”
God provides answers to life through His Church. “This is the reason that I stayed in the Church—not because people are perfect. Everyone is flawed, and no matter how hard we try, we are going to fall short. God only calls humans.” Yet there are always those who don’t want answers—they never get better, and they don’t change. While it is easy to become anxious about those who are not concerned with improving their lives, Mr. Elliot shared some sound advice he had gotten in the past: “Why are you worried about them? They’re not.” This is not meant to be cynical but real. Each person must choose to seek the truth individually. “It isn’t really selfish to want the answers to this life—it’s why we’re here.”
Mr. Elliot said, “What do I wish you to get from your Living Ed experience?” Years ago, Mr. Armstrong instituted a rule that students being considered for the ministry had to have attended AC for at least two years—why? So that they had practiced the right way of thinking and the right way of living. You don’t need Living Ed to become educated, but it is an opportunity to learn a way of life. “It’s not always easy—you probably will experience some struggles. I hope you will because if you’re not, you may not be taking this way of life seriously… Before we have anything to teach others, we have to practice it ourselves. We have to have a track record.”
Mr. Elliot concluded the Assembly, “Out of seven and a half billion people, God chose to call you. At Headquarters, you have an opportunity to know how the Church works. Living Education is not all book-learning—you can get that anywhere. It’s about a way of living.”
This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.
Author: Juliette McNair | Student, Living Education 2021
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 53 seconds.
Dr. Douglas Winnail, the Director of Church Administration, began the Assembly with a PowerPoint slide with the following statements:
The Bible is outdated. The miracles of the Bible never happened. Moral absolutes are old fashioned. There is no ultimate purpose in life. You are stupid if you believe the Bible.
These are ideas that are prevalent in a society that is waging a war against true Christianity. Dr. Winnail asked the Living Ed students, “Where do these ideas come from—why are they here?” The first step in understanding the modern war against God is knowing where these ideas come from.
The struggle is not a physical one—it is Satan’s fight to win hearts and minds and pit them against their Creator. Dr. Winnail said, “Modern cultural wars are more than just liberals versus conservatives—it’s a spiritual war.” And if we know who is behind this war, we can understand that, as Dr. Winnail quoted, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against… spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12).
There are several recent figures instrumental in tearing down belief in God and the Bible. The renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has called creationism, “God’s gift to the ignorant” and religious faith, “the great cop-out.” Christopher Hitchens, a social critic and another antagonist against Christianity, believes the real axis of evil in the world is “Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.” Bart D. Ehrman, a New Testament scholar from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, is a prominent critic of modern Christianity, authoring numerous books that seek to discredit the New Testament and the Christian belief in God. James Tabor, a former teacher at Ambassador College, is another scholarly skeptic who had commented, “If you find the bones of Jesus, the resurrection is off.”
Yet, Dr. Winnail emphasized, these skeptics are “merely the latest versions of people who have been doing this for years.” In the 19th century, Robert Ingersoll said concerning the Bible, “It has lost power in the proportion that man has gained knowledge.” Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution planted doubts on the biblical account of creation. The philosophers, Voltaire and Rousseau, played a role in turning “cathedrals into temples of reason” during the Enlightenment. Even in the first several centuries A.D., many philosophers—Porphyr and Celsus, for example—were bent on discrediting Christ and the Bible.
Yet these warriors against God are not without their critics. John Gray, an English philosopher from the London School of Economics, calls Dawkins closed-minded, saying, “His atheism is its own kind of narrow religion.” Peter Hitchens, brother of Christopher Hitchens, was also an atheist but returned to religious faith later in life. He is a sharp critic of his brother’s book, God Is Not Great. James Tabor has been called out for his speculation on the nature of Christ because his ideas are built on the shaky ground of the Gnostic gospels.
Dr. Winnail turned to Ephesians 6:10-18 to conclude his talk. God gives His servants weapons for defending themselves. The students were inspired to “put on the whole armor of God…” Christians must arm themselves with the spiritual belt, breastplate, shoes, shield, helmet, and sword to fight for the truth in a world at war with God. Dr. Winnail encouraged, “Seek God’s help; win the war against God.”
This post is part of our new series of student-written content for LivingEd-Charlotte. These summaries cover topics originally presented by our faculty and guest speakers in our weekly Forum and Assembly. For more Assembly-related content check out our Second Thoughts posts.
Les prophètes, comme Ésaïe et Jérémie, ont parlé du Messie – Celui qui viendrait et restaurerait la gloire d’Israël. Ils ont également parlé de Celui qui souffrirait et mourrait pour sauver toute l’humanité. Dès le début, Dieu a prévu de créer des êtres humains qui pourraient devenir comme Lui, et vivre dans Sa Famille pour toute l’éternité. Dieu savait, qu’à cause du péché, les gens devraient être sauvés de la peine de mort. Dieu et la Parole ont donc prévu que la Parole naîtrait en tant qu’être humain, et mourrait pour payer l’amende des péchés de toute l’humanité.
Matthieu 1 : 21
“Elle enfantera un fils, et tu lui donneras le nom de Jésus ; c’est lui qui sauvera son peuple de ses péchés.”