God's Plan
Fred R. Coulter—December 10, 2011
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The transhumanism that is going on in the world to bring together technology, computers, human hook-ups, spliced genes, in vitro fertilization to create new species, crossing animals and human beings—all of that comes from Satan the devil.
We know that Satan the devil is 'the god of this world' and he 'appears as an angel of light,' so a lot of these technologies makes me wonder. However, when you read the book of Job, the first chapter shows that Satan comes before God, and he has to ask God for permission to do certain things. If God gives it to him, then he can. We know that Satan wanted to become like God, was cast down back to the earth, and the angels who followed him became demons. So, he knows that God's plan is for human being to become like God, but he certainly doesn't want them to become like God is God, because he couldn't. God never said to any of the angels, 'This day I have begotten you, you are My son.' No!
In watching the History Channel, if you get a chance to watch it, I think you'll find that interesting. Every once in a while they do some reruns and they have one that is called, The Third Reich and Technology. What they found was that all of those at the high level in the different German research and armament and government and secret societies were all into the occult, and all into contacting Satan.
Germany was so advanced in its technology. They had jet planes, way ahead of time. They figured out about making atomic bombs way ahead of time. And as a matter of fact, since Germany was defeated first, there's even a suspicion that the second atomic bomb that we dropped—which was on Nagasaki, the first was on Hiroshima—that the plutonium came from what the Americans captured when they got all of the German goods. And they even brought back Werner von Braun and at least two or three dozen of the top rocket scientists, because we had nothing like it. What they show, through this, is that undoubtedly there was the evil influence, now they don't say of Satan, but the evil influence of the occult for the hidden knowledge on some of these technologies.
Let's transplant that over here, only then do it on a worldwide basis. With all the research that is going on, it makes you wonder. Because God said, in the end knowledge would increase by such a measure that it's going to be incredible. Satan had to come along and ask for permission to do some of these things, because I'm sure that God is going to allow Satan to create his cyborgs and his chimeras, present them to the world. As they have already announced that they have a baby on the way that has two mothers, supplied through in vitro fertilization and gene splicing. So it makes you wonder, is he going to have one personality, two personalities, three personalities? What happens if the genes that came from one person were more inclined to criminality than the other person? You don't know! But because they can do it, they do it.
There is—and I have to bring a sermon it—called the Singularity University, where the greatest minds right up here in Silicon Valley, the ones who work with all of the technology, the ones who work with all of the gene-splicing, the ones who work with all of the stem-cell research, the ones who work with all these super-fast computers. Remember, it was Ray Kurzweil—I gave a sermon on that several years ago for the Feast of Tabernacles (Singularity is Near)—who has founded a university.
So, all of the top minds are working feverishly on producing the 'improved' man, many differed versions of it. Government laboratories, all the leading universities are in on it. They get government funding. Other countries are doing it, so it is a race in technology to see who can develop. And the first thing that they want to develop is to improve the soldiers, to improve the fighting men.
In Ephesians 2 we find something that tells us that once Satan gets permission to do something, he goes and does it. Why didn't they do this, why didn't this information and everything—through development of human history—come hundreds of years ago? Well, as we have seen, it probably happened before the Flood. Remember why God confounded the languages in Gen. 11, because God says, 'This they begin to do. Now nothing will be restrained from them which they imagine to do.' Who is the one who enhances the imagination for evil under the guise of good? Satan!
Ephesians 2:1: "Now you were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you walked in times past according to the course of this world... [Satan is 'the god of this world.' Everything there is out there is run by Satan the devil.] ...according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (vs 1-2). When you read that, you think of people breaking the Ten Commandments. You never think of lawlessness in the form of lawless science. You never think of it in the form of trying to change human beings, trying to mix animal genes with human genes. They've had a lot of practice already—haven't they? Almost all the food you eat is genetically engineered. Monsanto has even invented a seed that is only usable once. And what it produces is not able to reproduce. You have to go buy from Monsanto this patented seed.
What if you invent some cyborgs? Can you patent them and own them? How far will it go? I think that it's going to go so far that they are going to have human beings cross-geneticized with other people and animals and it's going to make robots obsolete. They're trying to develop robots that can think like people. Why do that? Why not make people think like robots? A lot of them do today and they don't know it!
"...prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working within the children of disobedience" (v 2). Can Satan put a thought in your mind? Yes, he can! We're warned about the 'missiles' of Satan the devil, that thoughts can come out of the air. Where do they come from? Who is the prince of the power of the air? Satan the devil! I am convinced with all of this going on and what we're reading—because God said knowledge would be increased—and we see it increasing at such a phenomenal rate that it's going to double pretty soon every 60 days and after that every 30 days. I don't know if it's going to get down to the point that it will double every two weeks or no. Who knows?
God said, 'Now nothing they imagine to do will be restrained from them.' So, Satan comes along and just like he told Adam and Eve, 'Try it, you'll like it.' And all of the scientists are dedicated to getting improvements so that they can have an advantage. If they can do this with human beings, just think what they can come up with.
But notice, God has called us out of that, v 3: "Among whom also we all once had our conduct in the lusts of our flesh, doing the things willed by the flesh and by the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as the rest of the world."
Now let's come back to the book of Genesis, chapter one, and let's look at God's plan for transhumanism. He made human beings with the desire and the capacity
- to grow mentally
- to learn
- to put the knowledge to use
After all, He gave us the whole world as a place of dominion to rule over. He gave us minds so we can do a lot of things. Do you suppose that this was the reason why Satan and his angels rebelled when they found out that God was going to create man and woman and that they would have to serve them? They no longer could have their exalted position next to God. Very likely could be. And Satan has always wanted to be like God.
Genesis 1:26: "And God said, 'Let Us...'" We know the Bible shows us that the word God comes from the Hebrew 'Elohim'—which means more than one. Wherever you have a Hebrew word where it ends in 'im' that means plural. So the question is how many? The answer is found in John 17, 'That they may be all in one with Us, Father, You in Me and I in you, that they may be one in Us.'
Since the Jews reject the New Testament, they don't have the answer as to who the 'Us' are and they think it's talking about the angelic host. The angelic host was never meant to be a creating system, rather they were serving.
"'...Let Us make man in Our image... [We are made exactly like God. Remember what Jesus told them on the night of the Passover? He said, 'Philip,' when Philip said show us the Father, He said, 'If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father.' So we're made after the image of God.] ...after Our likeness...'" (v 26). Being able to develop mentally and spiritually and also made to receive the Spirit of God, because human beings are incomplete without the Spirit of God.
And yet, since we start out as babies, babies are born and Rush Limbaugh likes to say they have a skull full of mush. That means there's nothing there registered in the brain except what is necessary so they can nurse, so their bodies can function, and so forth. Everything that they're taught, they learn and develop, and they grow and they grow and mature. Our minds are made so that we constantly use them all of our lives. This thing that your mind matures at 25 and from there on it's all downhill—not true! Some of the greatest inventions come from men who are old, who have had a lifetime of experimenting; i.e. Thomas Edison.
"'...after Our likeness...'" (v 26). In The Christian Passover book I have two sections (chapter 26) going through the nature of God, the nature of man, God gave us the ability to think, emotions, also reproduce, also to do physical things, to do mental things, to appreciate things that we see, to be able to develop things in our minds, to be able to plan and build and do things. None of the other animals have that. Oh, the scientists have tried for years to try and find the intelligence of the chimps and the apes, but they're limited because they do not have the spirit of man. They're animal, they have the spirit of animal, which we'll see in a little bit.
"'...and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of heaven and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that crawls upon the earth.' And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him. He created them male and female" (vs 26-27). Then He gave them the whole world.
Didn't start out having the whole world at first. Started out with the Garden of Eden. Let's see something more about man, Genesis 2:7: "Then the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." The King James says soul, but also we are told, 'The soul that sins, it will die.'
Animals that have life are also called 'nephesh,' from which the word soul in Hebrew comes. Animals do not have immortal souls. Humans don't have immortal souls. So, I translated it a living being. Now when God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, He also breathed in the spirit of man. Because the Hebrew word for spirit is 'ruach' and the Hebrew word for breath is 'ruach.' We're also told in James 2 that 'without the spirit, the body is dead.' It also talks about faith without works is like the body without the spirit, which is dead.
So, life comes from the spirit. Now unfortunately, some religionists read this and say, 'Okay, he was not a human until he started breathing.' Then they transfer this in a way they should not to babies that are born, which have not yet breathed. But they're a different category, because here he was fully formed and there was no life in him. He breathed the breath of life and the spirit of man into him at the same time. Babies conceived in the womb are entirely different. We will see that.
The fact that Adam and Eve ate the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and they were told by the serpent if they would they would become like God deciding good and evil (Gen. 3). God put in humans the natural drive to improve. You see it in everything that we do. That's also the nature of God: perfection.
But Satan comes along and says, 'I'm going to give you a benefit and a short cut.' Now why would they believe the serpent—that is Satan the serpent—instead of God? They were living in the Garden of Eden with God. They talked with Him, they met Him in the cool of the day, every day. Adam and Eve saw God not in His glorified form. How do we know that? Because God told Moses, 'No man can look upon My face in its glory and live.'
How did God appear to them? Probably pretty much like a human being! So, when Satan came along and said, 'You can become like God,' they didn't understand the full implication of everything there, but they wanted to be like God. This also brings up another question: Did God tell them that they would one day be like Him? Don't know, possibility!
But they were anxious to become like God, and Satan comes along and says, 'I'll give you a benefit. I'll give you a shortcut. All you have to do is eat of this tree and you will become like God and you can make your own decisions, and you can choose to determine for yourself what's right and wrong for you.' I don't know what they thought, but they ate of the fruit. Certainly they had to think about it. Of course, Adam was right there when Eve did it and I suppose Adam was thinking to himself, 'Well, if she touches it, will she die?' Of course, they didn't know what death was because everything had just been created. Nothing happened to her. Then she ate it. Nothing happened to her. She comes over to Adam and says, 'Here, eat of the fruit.' And he ate it because he saw nothing happened to her. Well, you see, just because there's sin and God doesn't strike you down with lightning does not mean that what you're doing is not right. yes, they wanted to become like God.
You know what happened. Man was limited from that time forward. He received the law of sin and death, and from that time forward all men have been dedicated to self and to evil under the influence of Satan the devil, except the very few that God directly dealt with.
Why would Adam and Eve want to be like God? Why is it that humans have the ability to think past, on past events, to think into the future, to think of things that do not exist and help bring them into existence? What is it in the nature of man that God did so that man would realize he needs to improve, he needs something beside himself? Why is it that all men and women—all civilizations—have religions? God made us to need Him!
Here's what He did. Ecclesiastes 3:11: "He has made everything beautiful in its time; He has also set eternity in their heart..." The King James says the world, but I translated it eternity because it means beyond just the limits of the world. That's why men think that they can now extend their lives, 'if we can just find the key.' They are looking for the death gene to extend the life. I don't think they're going to find it, but let's go on.
What else about the creation of man? Let's see what Psalm 8 tells us about man, made in the likeness of God, after His image. Let's see how it's classified here. Now this is quite interesting, because in the Hebrew this is known. In the Hebrew there is no escaping what this should be translated and it's translated correctly here, Psalm 8:4: "What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You care for him? For You have made him a little lower than God..." (vs 4-5). This is why Satan got so upset. Made him a little lower than God. Now the King James says angels, but the Hebrew for angel is 'malak.' This word here that is translated God comes from the word for God, being 'Elohim.'
"...and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet" (vs 5-6). Let's see what else about man. Let's see what it says about the spirit of man.
Ecclesiastes 3:19: "For that which happens to the sons of men also happens to beasts—even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so dies the other; yea, they all have one breath; so that a man has no advantage over a beast; for all is vanity." That is, he has absolutely no advantage over a beast without the knowledge of God, as far as physical life goes. You're born, you live, grow old, you die.
"All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all return to dust again. Who knows the spirit of man whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the beast whether it goes downward to the earth? (vs 20-21). All beasts have to have enough spirit so they can function the way that God created them to function. When they die, they're spirit probably just dissipates into the ground as energy. But what happens to the spirit of man?
Ecclesiastes 12:7: "And the dust returns to the earth... [it's talking in the verses preceding this about old age and coming to the point of dying] ...as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it." God keeps track of all human beings; spirit goes back to God.
Let's see what happens when we die in the faith. Didn't Jesus say concerning a sparrow, that if a sparrow dies God is aware of it? Yes! So, wherever God has sent His Spirit, He's aware of it all. And He's got the 24 elders to help Him. He has the seven spirits of God that go to and fro in the earth.
Hebrews 12:22: "But you have come to Mount Sion, and to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem; and to an innumerable company of angels; to the joyous festival gathering; and to the church of the firstborn, registered in the book of life in heaven; and to God, the Judge of all; and to the spirits of the just who have been perfected" (vs 22-23).
When you die, it goes back to God. How big is a spirit? We don't know how big the spirit is, but God keeps track of it. This means that if the spirits that are perfected go back to God, then the spirits of all people who die go back to God, regardless of how they have conducted their lives. But since man is on the earth, the resurrection is going to take place on the earth.
This means God has made allowance for the second resurrection, and the second part of the second resurrection. They've also found this: they know with the genes, and men are trying to experiment with it, that you can take the genes and reconstitute a person. They know this. There was the movie, The Boys From Brazil, the story of Dr. Mengele. The story went this way, that he had some of the blood and genes of Adolph Hitler. And it was a very elaborate setup to try and recreate Adolph Hitler, and all the things involved in it.
God can recreate us—correct? Yes, He can! Is that a resuscitation of yourself? Yes! Is it a resurrection of you? Yes! We'll talk about the resurrection a little bit more. This gives us the beginning of the spirit and the end of the spirit. Now let's see how it functions in human life for reproduction and how it gives us intelligence.
Even the ancients had some understanding of the Spirit of God and the spirit of man. I think it's interesting that all of these scientists who are in on this transhumanism understand that there is spirit behind the physical thing that they are examining. They are on programs to try and contact the spirits so they can know how to give longevity to human beings. Have you seen more movies and television shows—we don't go to movies, but you see the advertisements for them—that are about spirits.
There's one that is looking for ghosts, going to haunted houses. Going in there and saying, 'Hello, are you here? Talk to us.' The scientists are doing the same thing, because they want to get in contact with the spirits. Guess who is the spirit of the power of the air? Satan the devil! Guess what's going to happen in the end-time? The whole world is going to worship Satan the devil! How far is this going to go? We don't know!
But every human being has a spirit of man. Job 32:8: "But there is a spirit in man..." God forms the spirit of man in him (Zech. 12:2). And the spirit of man is that
- which gives life
- which gives intelligence
- which activates the brain to be thinking
All of those come from God. "...and the inspiration of the Almighty gives them understanding" (v 8).
Let's see something else concerning the spirit of man. This is why all procreated human life is different from when Adam was first created. When Adam was first created without any breath, without any spirit, he was just a lump of clay. Babies are not that way, because life has to come from life and life comes from spirit. You can't create a new life within the womb of a woman without the spirit, because without the spirit there's no life!
Job 33:4: "The Spirit of God has made me..." So as soon as there is the conception, and they know that as soon as the sperm penetrates into the egg, there is a flash of electricity, bioelectricity within the body, which generates at a huge, just kind of instantaneous, not a lasting thing, that's over 400,000 volts—BANG! That's what closes the egg so no other sperm can penetrate it. Right at the very first, you're individual and God guaranteed you would be individual.
Everything the way that the cells go, the way that they're directed, it has to be the spirit of man which God has given to activate all the genes and all the chromosomes that come with the inheritance from father and mother to create that new life within the mother.
They are a person at conception undeveloped. They tried giving rights to the unborn; I think they're getting closer and closer to it. I forget the week that the heart starts beating. I think it's like about the third week or fourth week. All right, if you have a heart and it's beating, that means you have blood—right? Everything else building up to that point, and I do know that at the end of the month the little baby is almost completely formed and it's about an inch and a half long.
You can see its head, arms and legs, hands and fingers, feet and toes. And its sex is determined at the fourth division of the cells. You have the cells connect, divide once, divide twice, divide the next time, the sex is already set. And isn't it interesting, you go clear back to Adam and Eve, Eve came from Adam. Since then all females are because the father carries the X and the Y gene. So it's the father who determines the sex. Boys and girls, men and women, all come from their fathers and their mothers. And like Paul said, 'The woman is of the man, but also the man of the woman because they're born of woman.' Very interesting; all of this concerning the spirit.
Now let's see what the spirit of man is to do for us and why we need the Spirit of God in order to understand the things of God. Men have this spirit. They have the capacity to think about things outside of themselves. They have eternity in them that God put the conception there, and even though they're cut off from God because of sin, yet, they can connect with God and God can connect with them, though unseen.
1-Corinthians 2:9: "But according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" Very important key: You can never have contact with God unless you learn to love Him! It's that simple. God loves you. God loves every human being in giving them life and breath and food and all of those things.
But because of the sin of men, God chooses those who seek after Him. But to understand what God is doing, aside from the Word of God and the Spirit of God, they can't know. Yet, they have this drive in them to improve. They have this drive in them to live forever, because God put it there. So Satan comes along and takes that and says, 'Ah, I'll show you how to be improved. Here's what to do. Look at how we can do this and that and the other thing.'
Now here's a key, v 10: "But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit..." Let me just stop here and say when you read the Word of God with the Spirit of God, it gives you understanding, because all of the words have been God breathed. And if the translation is accurate, it will convey the same authority as when it was first written by the one God used to write it. And all of these are the words of God. But it takes God's Spirit to do so. You can give the Bible to someone and tell them read it and they say, 'I don't know what this means.'
Verse 10: "But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things—even the deep things of God." That's what we're talking about here—the deep thing of God that we, in God's plan of transhumanism to improve man, is to make him like He is so that they can become part of the God Family.
Satan has his counterfeit over here. 'Oh, this is great. Look what we can do.' God says, 'I have a better plan over here. You repent and keep My laws and commandments and love Me and I love you, and I will teach you. You learn how to develop the character. Here's what I want you to do so you can be in the resurrection. Here's how I want you to learn to think so that you can think in the way that's necessary so when you are resurrected from the dead you will be that changed person.' That's what the Word of God is all about!
Then he draws the comparison, v 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man which is in him?…." You have to have the spirit of man to have the intelligence to learn and to know and to do the things of men.
"…In the same way also, the things of God no one understands except by the Spirit of God…. [Even though people get 'religious.' Even though people read parts of the Bible. You have to have the Spirit of God to put it all together.] …Now we have not received the spirit of the world... [Where does that come from? 'The spirit of the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the sons of disobedience.' It's also called the spirit of fear (Rom. 8). We haven't received the spirit of the world:] ...but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God" (vs 11-12). Isn't that something?
Just as there has been an expansion of knowledge and technology in the area of what human beings are doing, the understanding of the Bible has also been revealed, too, in the end-time. That we know what the plan of God is.
Think about it for a minute. During the days of the Waldensians, most of them had only the Gospel of John. They had some parts of the Bible in old Latin, but they had mostly the Gospel of John. Think of what God has given us that we have the whole Bible. Think of how God, with His Spirit, can help us to grow and change and overcome using the Word of God.
It shows us and tells us that the Bible is the most up-to-date book in the world, because it goes back past in time and tells us the Truth, and goes forward in time to tell us what is going to be and what our goal is going to be, and what God is doing with us. God has his plan of transhumanism right in the Bible!
(go to the next track)
Now let's come back and pick up some other things where we can see there are prophecies in the Old Testament that point to the fact that we will be like God, but not much. We will see most of that is reserved for the New Testament.
Psalm 17:15: "As for me... [this is David speaking and also could be a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ] ...I will behold Your face in righteousness... [Think about what we read in Rev. 22, we will see God face-to-face. This tells us we will be like God. Why? What did God tell Moses when Moses said show me Your glory? 'No man can look upon My face and live.' This tells us that we will be like God.] ...I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Your likeness." We have been made in the image and likeness of God. Now there are two parts to this:
- so we can become like God
- so that Christ could become a man
Only God can redeem us. Now let's see how this being equal with God caused some problems for the Pharisees in the book of John. Let's come to the Gospel of John. It's very interesting, the first three Gospels narrate much of the same thing. And God says that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, everything will be established. Very interesting!
The Gospel of John is different. It's also verified when you read in the last chapter where it says, 'And we testify that his testimony is true.' That's referring to what John wrote. That had to be Philip and Andrew and probably Mark who were the witnesses to verify that what John wrote was true. The first three Gospels are the teaching of Jesus mostly for what we will do. The teachings in the Gospel of John is about Who is Jesus and not only what He taught, but it shows us a different relationship. And with this, in this book, it shows that Jesus was God.
Where does it start out in John 1:1? 'In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh.' That's why we were made the way that we were. And then impregnated in the womb of the virgin Mary and born as a baby. He had to live a perfect life though He carried human nature. There can be no other sacrifice to cover the sins of men than Jesus Christ's sacrifice. None! Only God can redeem His creation. So God came in the flesh.
Let's come here to John 5 where He healed the man who had the infirmity for 38 years and couldn't get down to the pool quick enough, because someone else got down there ahead of him. So Jesus healed him.
John 5:8: "Jesus said to him, 'Arise, take up your bedroll... [or sleeping bag] ...and walk.'" The Jews saw him walking, they didn't say, 'Oh, look, hooray, this man who has been sick for 38 years is up and walking. Let's ask him. Oh, what a great thing this is. How do you feel?' No! They went up and said, 'What you doing carrying your bedroll? You shall not carry a burden on the Sabbath. Who is that that told you to do it?' He said, 'The Man who healed me said take up your bedroll and walk.' Then he found out it was Jesus and went and told the Pharisees, 'It was Jesus.'
Verse 16: "And for this cause, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him..." Why would they do that? Because they expected the Messiah to come and align with the elite of Judaism and that they would retain their positions, and their positions would be exalted even more and that the Messiah would get rid of the Romans. But Jesus didn't do that, so they rejected Him. But they knew, so they sought to kill Him
"...because He had done these things on a Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I work'" (vs 16-17). What does this tell us? Anything necessary for doing the spiritual things on the Sabbath, that spiritual work is what God expects. And after all, think of this for a minute: On the Sabbath Day we all come have God's Spirit. God places His Spirit here. We study His Word, we ask for His inspiration. What is the work that God is doing on the Sabbath Day in those circumstances? He's teaching us. He's opening our minds continually to understand His Word, apply it in our lives. That's a spiritual work.
Verse 18: "So then, on account of this saying, the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, not only because He had loosed the Sabbath... [The King James says broke the Sabbath. No, He didn't! That was wrongly translated because one of the translators of the King James wanted to support Sunday-keeping, so they mistranslated it so they would have justification in it. He loosed the Sabbath. This comes from 'luo,' which means to loose.] ...but also because He had called God His own Father, making Himself equal with God."
They understood that if He really was the Son of God, He would be equal with God. How could this be when He's in the flesh? So they understood that. So Jesus answered in a way they couldn't understand.
Verse 19: "Therefore, Jesus answered and said to them, 'Truly, truly I say to you, the Son has no power to do anything of Himself, but only what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, these things the Son also does in the same manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him everything that He Himself is doing. And He will show Him greater works than these, so that you may be filled with wonder.... [Notice what He says, because only God can raise the dead.] ...For even as the Father raises the dead and gives life, in the same way also, the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son'" (vs 19-22).
Now let's come John 10; let's see what happened here in John 10. This becomes really very interesting. Then we'll go back to the book of Psalms and we'll see where He quoted this from so that there was plenty enough information in the book of Psalms and the Old Testament for them to know, for them to have an anticipation of what God was going to do, only if they were following God.
John 10:22: "Now it was winter, and the Feast of Dedication was taking place at Jerusalem." And the first thing people do when they read that, they say, 'Oh, Jesus kept Hanukkah.' Hold on! When was the temple dedicated? When they got back from Babylon! It was dedicated by the priest Joshua, Zerubbabel was the governor. They laid the foundation. They finished the house and they finished the temple of God in the month of Adar. Now, Adar is the last month of winter. The next month is Nisan and so it shows in Ezra 6 that they kept the Passover. I believe it's referring to the dedication of the feast in Adar, not the one that was in the restoration of it after Antiochus Epiphanies with the Maccabees.
Verse 23: "And Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch. Then the Jews encircled Him... [you can almost picture this] ...and said to Him, 'How long are You going to hold us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, 'I have told you, but you do not believe. The works that I am doing in My Father's name, these bear witness of Me. But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life...'" (vs 23-28).
This is the key. Only God can give eternal life! Isn't that true? So, when He said it, He said, 'I am the Son of God.' He's also saying, 'I am God manifested in the flesh.'
"'...and they shall never perish; and no one shall take them out of My hand. My Father, Who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one has the power to seize them from My Father's hand. I and the Father are one'" (vs 28-30).
Our son Jonathan is sitting right here. He's going on 44 now. I remember the day he was born, there's Jonathan. Now he's equal to me and even taller and maybe even smarter in certain ways. And he's completely independent from me, though he's my son. So, when Jesus said, 'I and My Father are one,' this blew them away! You stack it all up together. 'I told you who I was, I give them eternal life, I do what the Father tells Me. I and My Father are one.' Okay, stack that all up together.
Then the Jews ran over and embraced Him and hugged Him and kissed Him and said, 'Oh, we recognize you.' No!Verse 31: "Then the Jews again picked up stones so that they might stone Him. Jesus answered them, 'Many good works I have showed you from My Father. For which of them are you about to stone Me?' The Jews answered Him, saying, 'We will not stone You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a man, are making Yourself God'" (vs 31-33).
Notice Jesus' answer and He always gets them with something that they didn't read. How many times did Jesus say, 'Have you never read?' In other words, they're just like a lot of Christians today, they have the Bible, but 'have you ever read?'
Verse 34: "Jesus answered them, 'Is it not written in your law...'" Let's just stop there for a minute, because what we're going to find He's quoting from is from the Psalms. What does this also tell us? That the phrase 'the law' can apply to the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms.
"…'Is it not written in your law, "I... [God] ...said, 'You are gods'"? If He called them gods, to whom the Word of God came (and the Scriptures cannot be broken)'" (vs 34-35). Do you believe it's the Word of God, inspired by the Spirit of God? You cannot break it! If you transgress it, you have the penalty of sin, but you can't break it. Once God has spoken it, it is so!
Verse 36: "'Why do you say of Him Whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, "You are blaspheming," because I said, "I am the Son of God"? If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do, even if you do not believe Me, believe the works... [They said they wouldn't stone Him for work—right?] ...so that you may perceive and may believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.'…. [You talk about almost incalculable anger at this point.] …Then they again sought to take Him; but He escaped out of their hands" (vs 36-39). I don't know what happened, maybe He just gave them sudden blindness and they were trying to find Him and He was gone.
Let's go back to Psalm 82 and let's read where it says that exact thing. 'Have you never read?' I love that whenever I read that. Jesus also told them, if they had believed Moses, whom they claim they follow, they would have believed Him. This is a Psalm of Asaph the chief priest in charge of the ark and the tent where the ark was housed when it was within David's house.
Psalm 82:1: "God stand in the congregation of the mighty... [that's referring to us when we're resurrected] ...He judges among the gods." You can take this two ways:
- The gods of the nations and their idols
Yes, He judges them—doesn't He? The demons behind them? Yes He does!
- Those who are to be the sons of God
Verse 2: "How long will you judge unjustly and respect the persons of the wicked? Selah. Defend the poor and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; save them out of the hand of the wicked. They do not know, neither do they understand; they walk on in darkness... [Just like those Pharisees challenging Jesus in John 10.] ...all the foundations of the earth are shaken out of course…. [When is that going to happen? When Jesus returns!](here's where He quoted): "I have said, 'You are gods [Elohim] and all of you are sons of the Most High." (vs 2-6). Can't get any clearer than that—can it? No!
Now let's look at some other Scriptures which back all of that up. 2-Corinthians 6 is showing us the things we need to do so we can stay right with God, stay out of the world, grow and change and overcome, etc. 2-Corinthians 6:14: "Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and lawlessness have in common? And what fellowship does light have with darkness? And what union does Christ have with Belial? Or what part does a believer have with an unbeliever? And what agreement is there between a temple of God and idols? For you a temple of the living God..." (vs 14-16). Isn't that something? God's Spirit dwelling in us is the ultimate grace in this life!
"...exactly as God said: 'I will dwell in them and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people…. [God wants us to always keep this in the forefront of our mind.] …Therefore, come out from the midst of them and be separate,' says the Lord, 'and touch not the unclean, and I will receive you; and I shall be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty" (vs 16-18). That ties in with what we read back there in Psa. 82—doesn't it? You are all sons of God!
Romans 8 shows that it is a spiritual work, showing that when we receive the Spirit of God it unites with the spirit of our mind. It converts us from the inside. Then God can write His laws and His commandments and His character within us. We can develop:
- love
- faith
- hope
- goodness
- kindness
- meekness
We can develop all the things that God wants us to.
This is how God looks upon us. Though we walk in the flesh, God does not view us as being in the world, in the flesh, but having His Spirit we are what God calls in the Spirit.
Romans 8:9: "However, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if the Spirit of God is indeed dwelling within you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." And that is an absolute dividing point. You must have the Spirit of God, and we're going to see two parts of it:
- Spirit of Christ
- Spirit of the Father
We'll see it right here, v 10: "But if Christ be within you... [We're to develop the mind of Christ—correct?] ...the body is indeed dead because of sin; however, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. Now, if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead... [the Spirit from the Father] ...is dwelling within you, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken your mortal bodies because of His Spirit that dwells within you. So then, brethren, we are not debtors to the flesh, to live according to the flesh; Because if you are living according to the flesh, you shall die; but if by the Spirit... [this is how you overcome] ...you are putting to death the deeds of the body..." (vs 10-13).
This is a tremendous thing that happens. Converted people sometimes get wondering, because the Spirit of God within you is purging out those sins that are rooted in your mind, so you will get flashbacks to those sins. For what? So that you can repent, and ask God to clean it with the washing of the water by the Word! That's an amazing thing! Not that you're going back and sinning, but it is in your mind and it needs to be removed.
"...putting to death the deeds of the body, you shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God…. [that defines exactly Psa. 82] …Now you have not received a spirit of bondage again... [the spirit of the world] ...unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship... [The King James says 'adoption.' It's not adoption. We are begotten literally from the Father, and the seed of the Father remains in us. We are to become His sons and His daughters. We just read it. Not an adoption, but a complete change with the resurrection.] ...but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God" (vs 13-16). So, you see how the New Testament then takes those Scriptures of the Old Testament and expands them out so we have the understanding with it.
Verse 17: "Now if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together with Him." Glorified means to receive the glory of God. Didn't Jesus say that those who are counted worthy of the resurrection are going to shine as the sun? Think of that. How's that for transhumanism? Isn't that a whole lot better than having lion genes so you're strong and you have the instinct to kill? What a difference, total difference.
Let's see some other things concerning this. This is one of my favorite ones, right here, 1-John 3:1: "Behold!…. [You could also say in English in exclamation—LOOK!] ...What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!" That could not happen until Christ divested Himself of His divinity, became a man, and went to the cross to die, as we find expounded by Paul in Phil. 2. "…the children of God!"
"…For this very reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested... [at His return] ...we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is" (vs 1-2). That means in existence, not in authority or in power, but equal with God. A lot of people say, 'Oh, that's blasphemous.' Jesus said it—didn't He? Yes, He did!
Let's see what Christ is going to do when we're resurrected. It talks about what He did in the second chapter here so that we could become as He is. He didn't do this with any of the angels, and that's why Satan is still angry. He didn't say to any of the angels, 'You are My son, I've begotten you.' He didn't say to any of the angels, 'You will be like Me.' But He said it to men, but it has to come God's way and through Christ.
Hebrews 2:6: "But in a certain place one fully testified, saying, 'What is man, that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You visit him? You did make him a little lower than the angels... [As we pointed out there in Psa. 8, it says a little lower than God. But here in the Greek it is 'angelos'—which then is angel.] ...You did crown him with glory and honor, and You did set him over the works of Your hands; You did put all things in subjection under his feet.'…." (vs 6-8). That's also a statement of fact, pertaining to things on the earth and it is also a prophecy of things pertaining to eternity.
"…For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that was not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we see Jesus... [Jesus had to come first] ...Who was made a little lower than the angels... [which He was. Angels are greater than humans. He didn't come as an angel. He didn't come as God, He came as a man.] ...made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death..." (vs 8-9). That's what it is in the Greek—the death, not a death, but the death. When you read in Isa. 53 about the suffering that Jesus went through, it is recorded there that God willed to crush Him through everything that He went through. And Jesus laid down His life voluntarily. The death!
"...in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone…. [And, of course, that has to be all of those who repent and then are resurrected into the Kingdom of God.] …Because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist..." (vs 9-10). What I to understand is how important it is that God the Father and Jesus Christ are personally dealing in our lives.
Because we live on the earth and we get busy doing mundane things during the week, and all of this sort of thing, it's good that when we pray every day we understand that God the Father and Jesus Christ are directly dealing with us with Their Spirit in our lives. That's something! And remember, Jesus said that 'I love you.' The Father says, 'I love you.' And all of that.
"...in bringing many sons unto glory... [to shine like the sun.] ...to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings…. [Even God was perfected by going through what He went through to suffer.] …For both He Who is sanctifying and those who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, 'I will declare Your name to My brethren... [He has! Did He not do this? Did He not reveal the Father? Is it not revealed in the New Testament? Yes, indeed!] ...in the midst of the church... [congregation] ...I will sing praise to You'" (vs 10-12).
When will He do this? At the resurrection on the Sea of Glass! I can see the grandest service we will ever have on the Sea of Glass. All the saints are there. We know Christ, we see Him. I think we're going to see the Father. And the Father is going to come down right there, probably above the Sea of Glass, and Jesus is going to present all of us to the Father. We're the Father's children—are we not? I wonder, is He going to sing this song first? I wonder what that song will be? Don't know!
Verse 13: "And again, 'I will be trusting in Him' And again, 'Behold, I and the children whom God has given Me.'" That's how mighty and inspiring the first resurrection is going to be. Just think what it's going to be when we sing the Song of the Lamb and the Song of Moses. That's going to be something. Here's this mammoth Sea of Glass right over Jerusalem. The world is down here busily fighting because the aliens are coming to take over. You can almost see the whole thing. And we're up here praising God.
Verse 14: "Therefore, since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, in like manner He also took part in the same... [that means exactly the same] ...in order that through death He might annul him who has the power of death—that is, the devil… [Annul everything he has done, as if it never took place.] …and that He might deliver those who were subject to bondage all through their lives by their fear of death. For surely, He is not taking upon Himself to help the angels... [No, because the angels are ministering spirits to those who are called to salvation.] ...but He is taking upon Himself to help the seed of Abraham" (vs 14-16). Now what does that mean? Does that mean just to the Israelites and Jews? No!
Let's come back here to Galatians 3; let's remember what God did in Gen. 15 when He informed Abraham that he was going to have a son. After He told him that, that he'd have a son from his own loins, He took him outside and said, 'Now look at the stars and if you're able to number them, so shall your seed be.' The seed of Abraham applies to every single one who is called to conversion and receives the Holy Spirit.
Galatians 3:27: "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek; there is neither bond nor free; there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's... [if you have the Spirit of Christ, you are] ...then you are Abraham's seed... [See how that ties in with Heb. 2?] ...and heirs according to the promise" (vs 27-29). That's something—isn't it? That's really something!
Let's see the transformation that's going to take place. Philippians 3:20: "But for us, the commonwealth of God exists in the heavens, from where also we are waiting for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; Who will transform... [trans-humanism God's way] ...our vile bodies..." (vs 20-21). And every time I read that, I think what a magnificent job God has done to create our human bodies, and so all of this that goes on within us to keep us living in the flesh, which if exposed to the air, is vile and filled with stench and everything.
"...will transform our vile bodies, that they may be conformed to His glorious body... [God's transhuman plan] ...according to the inner working of His own power, whereby He is able to subdue all things to Himself" (v 21).
We can add many other Scriptures to it, but let's come back here to John 17, but we don't have time to do it, and we don't want to extend the series beyond what we already have, but just to let you know in reality God's plan and our calling is to accomplish transhumanism—God's way—from human beings to God beings.
This is Jesus' last prayer. This is truly the Lord's prayer. We won't go through the whole thing, but just John 17:20 where it fits what we're covering today. "I do not pray for these only, but also for those who shall believe in Me through their word.... [That's what we're doing. We have the words of the apostles—right? We're believing in Jesus—correct? Yes!] ...That they all may be one, even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us..." (vs 20-21). 'Let Us make man in Our image after Our likeness.' And now He's saying 'after Our kind.' How's that for transhumanism?
"...in order that the world may believe that You did send Me'. And I have given them the glory that You gave to Me, in order that they may be one, in the same way that We are one; I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected..." (vs 21-23). That's the whole purpose of growing and overcoming—perfected. Can't be done overnight. It's not the finished work. The finished work is when we come to the end of our lives, what God has done in our lives has been finished at that point, but now it's ready for the perfection of the resurrection. And this is what He's talking about here.
"...may be perfected into one; and that the world may know that You did send Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me…. [that's tremendous, brethren] (here's what also He desires): …Father, I desire that those whom You have given Me may also be with Me where I am, so that they may behold My glory, which You have given Me; because You did love Me before the foundation of the world" (vs 23-24).
God has a great plan of transhumanism and makes all of the vaulted works of men look like puny playing in sandbox with plastic toys compared to what God is doing.
Scriptural References:
- Ephesians 2:1-3
- Genesis 1:26-27
- Genesis 2:7
- Ecclesiastes 3:11
- Psalm 8:4-6
- Ecclesiastes 3:19
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
- Hebrews 12:22-23
- Job 32:8
- Job 33:4
- 1-Corinthians 2:9-12
- Psalm 17:15
- John 5:8, 16-22
- John 10:22-39
- Psalm 82:1-6
- 2-Corinthians 6:14-18
- Romans 8:9-17
- 1-John 3:1-2
- Hebrews 2:6-16
- Galatians 3:27-29
- Philippians 3:20-21
- John 17:20-24
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Genesis 11
- James 2
- Genesis 3
- Zechariah 12:2
- Romans 8
- Revelation 22
- John 1:1
- Ezra 6
- Philippians 2
- Psalm 8
- Isaiah 53
- Genesis 15
Also referenced:
Sermon Series:
- Singularity is Near
- Transhumanism
Book: The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
Documentary: The Third Reich and Technology
FRC:lp
Transcribed: 12-22-11
Formatted: bo: 12-23-11
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