The book of revelation requires both old and new testaments to be fully understood. The first and the last. What was, what is and what is to come.
When Jesus Christ was conceived some believe he was conceived as a fully gestated fetus. According to many Mary simply looked down and poof! If this was the case why did God even have her suffer childbirth why did not God just create Jesus Christ in the manger? From a science perspective God needed only to "create" a new Y chromosome. Women only transfer X chromosomes to their daughters eggs. If Jesus was created as a fully grown baby why did it take months for Mary to give birth? Though Jesus could trace his mother's father back to David yet his earthly father was unknown. This went squarely against the aristocracy of the day. This was not only a Jewish aristocracy but also an Islamic aristocracy claiming to go back to Ishmael. There were many other dynasties that further separated people into caste and class. Thus if you did not have this ancestry you were cast out. You could not buy bread
You were a dog
Some claimed to have the mark of Cain, this further separated the general populations of the world..
Then along comes Jesus the Christ, a man who is glorified with no human father. Thus he avoided the "sins of the fathers" thing, for holy spirit can only fully dwell in a purely holy temple. God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
Yet when we get to the book of revelation we do not see these aristocrats of the seven churches being persecuted in the ending days. We see certain of them being rewarded for their faithfulness in times that were much harder and arduous to live in compared to these times of today?'s Christian church. Some of these people lived in the wilderness and desert of the soul's despair and still overcame
Some lived under a multitude of strict laws that would cause any person to stumble yet they still overcame. Some endured wars fought only to satisfy the whims of a foolish power mongering king
Some lived in total blindness of the true God under false priests yet still found it in their hearts to love their neighbor. Some endured blood lust and sacrifice to a barbaric God yet still knew the true God's intensions. Some admired Melchisidec and who had no known earthly mother or father. They overcame their own aristocratic ideas with Melchisidec. Yet Melchisidec did not lead them to God as Christ did. Melchisidec still led them to an earthly paradise
Then there were those who suffered under the burden of too many laws. There were those who in light of the many laws found faith in the coming messiah and they are rewarded also in paradise. So what we learn from the OT is that there were churches that overcame and are judged worthy to dwell in this future paradise. The future is comprised of judgment for the OT people [law/spirit upon] and rewards for the NT people [grace/spirit within].
What of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God? Paradise is always a place on earth. We must turn to the prophetic teachings of Jesus in the Gospels (OT) and the epistles (NT) to learn of the kingdom of heaven. What was, what is
What is to come will be a marriage of both heaven and paradise [new heaven and earth]. The paradise will not be based solely on the flesh (blood lines) but it will be judged on several "seven" OT points. These points representing the un-fallen angels Gabriel (the messenger) and Michael (who fights for gods people). Clouds and pillars of fire.
These OT believers who are judged worthy to enter paradise are called "the bride". Today people cannot enter into this group of OT people. With the advent of the holy spirit the OT law can no longer justify flesh. "No flesh [today/what is] shall be justified by the works of the law". The law of the spirit is greater than the law of the flesh. So the guf (bride)
http://www.reference.com/search?r=13&q=Guf
which holds OT followers who overcame is closed to "ALL" (all without exception) new comers today.
Paradise is off limits to people today. We may ONLY enter heaven by simple belief and we receive a higher calling than paradise. For paradise is ruled by seven stars which are seven angels. These seven angels are ruled (today/what is) by the king (Christ Jesus) of the kingdom of heaven, where God is the king of the kingdom of God. This kingdom of heaven was created by God and is now ruled by his son. The offspring being the product of the bride and bridegroom. We being in the body of his son are part of the bridegroom where the seven churches of the OT are the bride. In the OT this kingdom of heaven was also ruled by the devil (God of this world) this is why in the OT they were given the promised "land" as heaven was inaccessible by God's OT chosen. Once Christ Jesus triumphed over the devil and "led captivity captive" heaven became available to be occupied as the ONLY way of holiness today. I admit that probably a Jewish or Islamic student may know of these OT "churches" better than I do.
The bride will live within this holy city but in the center of this city will be a temple and the believers of today will occupy this hallowed place. This is a greater position of dominion. This is a place above all powers saving Christ and God. Even Jews and Arabs today who simply see the faith of Christ Jesus go to heaven and not paradise. Where we do not have seven angels above us but the seven angels are below us as we are given the dominions over all creation answering only to our Lord Christ Jesus who in turn answers only to God. Jesus told the malefactor on the cross that day [what was] that a day in the future he would be in paradise with him. This was because he would have died BEFORE the coming of the holy spirit and been unable to partake of the promise of the comforter. So he would have been part of the bride rather than the bridegroom. Imagine that, a malefactor in paradise. For the man on the cross "overcame" as Christ embodied the love and living word of God.
Thus the liberation of souls today is spiritual instead of physical. One must know both the old and the new testaments to understand the marriage between what was, what is and what is to come.
One must have a scope of both old and new. One must see the flesh as an inner eye that is geared toward the OT way and the eye of the world is contrary to the eye of God. The eye of God sees the sprit where the eye of this world sees the flesh and the kingdoms of this world. The eye of this world feeds upon sensual desire where the eye of God within the believer is enlightened by the sprit.
Ephesians 1:18
The
eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Comment: Eyes that look toward heaven.
Matthew 6:33
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
2Corinthians 4:7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
Comment: Many new age thinkers consider Jesus to be an extension of paganism. Yet instead he marked an end to it. One sacrifice for all time was a radical idea. Many deities were placed in front of God and these deities were all in opposition to the head God. Christ Jesus differed in that he as sinless man could have equaled God at least in the eyes of the world but instead he humbled himself.
Philippians 2:5
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself, and became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Comment: Jesus got a much better reception by God than he did down here on earth. Though the bride of this world rejected Jesus Christ the bride of paradise will welcome the son of God with open arms.
If Jesus was an extension of paganism then we would be sacrificing flesh still. Yet if so what do we sacrifice? We sacrifice our designs on this world for a heavenly inheritance. We sacrifice "they eye or mark" that seeks out the systems and numbers of this world for a reward. We instead replace or renew this view toward flesh for a view toward spirit. Thought by thought we change our earthly designs for heavenly designs.
Romans 12:2
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Revelation 18:23
And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and
the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
Revelation 21:9
And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee
the bride, the Lamb's wife.
Romans 7:4
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the
body of Christ; that ye should be
married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
Romans 8:10
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead [sacrificed] because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Romans 12:5
So
we, being many,
are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
1Corinthins 12:27
Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Ephesians 3:6
That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Ephesians 4:12
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Comment: As we see the
body of Christ is revealed in the NT.
There are issues of sacrifice were the Christian sacrifices the eye of the flesh for the eye of God.
So are we pagan for this? Are we sacrificing to a blood thirsty God flesh or sacrificing our designs of our own deification for humility and virtue as Christ Jesus did?
The mark of the beast can be fostered by human rulers of this world today but the mark is optional. Yet as demi beings having a heel in this world we can be persecuted in the flesh while we are saved by the guide of the spirit.
The eye is an opening so that the rulers of this world "spiritual" can look into your affairs and dictate your actions based upon an view toward controlling flesh.
Romans 8:6
For to be carnally [five senses] minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Comments Both the carnal and spiritual minds are fed by the eye one chooses to look through. The eye is a filter on reality.
Genesis 3:6
And when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the
eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Comment: Which eye did Eve and Adam use their spiritual eye or the eyes of their five senses?
Deuteronomy 29:4
Yet the LORD hath not given you an heart to perceive, and
eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.
Revelation 3:18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and
anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Mark 7:16
If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.
Comment: We hear with our ears but we see with our eyes.
Ephesians 5:14
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.
Comment: People usually sleep with their eyes closed. Physical light is perceived by the physical eyes where spiritual light is perceived by either an eye with a view toward flesh or a spirit with a view toward light and life.
Peace with God.
