Jesus the Firstborn
1. Jesus is our God
2. Jesus is our
brother
3. Jesus is our
Savior
1. Jesus is our God
The Son is God, has always been, will always be.
*I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End, the First and the Last." Rev
22:13 NKJV+
*And they all said, "Are You the Son of God,
then?" And He said to them, "Yes, I am." Lk
22:70 NASB+
The Son was the Word, made the words His Father spoke happen, including the creation of the universe. The Father was the master planner, the architect. The Son was the master builder, who created what His Father designed.
*In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the
beginning with God. All things
were made through Him, and without
Him nothing was made that was made. Jn 1:1-3 NKJV+
*so is my
word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will
accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Isa 55:11 NIV+
*He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His
name is called The Word of God. Rev 19:13 NKJV+
Our Heavenly Father had a reason for creating this vast universe. Everything in our Father’s great universe was made for the benefit of His Son. All things in heaven and earth were created through the Son, and were created for the Son.
*He
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by
Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities—all things
have been created through Him and for Him.
*but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. Heb 1:2 NIV+
The Son would always be God, a spiritual being, yet at the right time would also become a physical man, Jesus. Our Heavenly Father foreknew how He would create Jesus before any other human being was designed or created. Our Father foreknew how He would have Jesus physically look, live, act, as a spiritual and physical being, while here on earth. Our Father foreknew how Jesus would be given a glorified body to rule over Heaven and earth. Then the Father used Jesus as the pattern for how the whole human race would be created. Including the many brothers and sisters Jesus would have, all who would believe in Him.
*For those God foreknew he also
predestined to be conformed to
the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Ro 8:29 NIV+
*He is before
all things, and in Him all things
hold together.
*He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 1Pe 1:20 NIV+
We were all created with a spiritual being, our soul and spirit (heart); and a physical being, our mind and body (strength).
* and you
shall love the
Lord your God with all your
heart, and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength . Mk
12:30 NASB+
*You
shall love the Lord your God with
all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Dt 6:5 NKJV+
Our
spiritual being was created like all the eternal spiritual angelic beings in
heaven. Our Heavenly Father announced His new creation to all the angelic spiritual beings
who sit around His Heavenly Council. The words “our image and likeness”
refer to the spiritual attributes of God, which are also shared by all of the Heavenly beings who
were created before we were. Image and likeness refer to our being created
holy, and being created with an eternal spiritual being. Note: which word
means which attribute is not worth arguing over.
*And
God said, Let us make man in our image,
after our likeness: and let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Gen 1:26 KJV
This describes our Father’s Heavenly Council:
*And
he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on
his throne, and all the host of heaven
standing by him on his right hand and on his left. And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramothgilead? And one said on this manner, and another said
on that manner. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and
said, I will persuade him.
1Ki 22:19- 21 KJV
Also see Gen 11:7, Isa 6:1-8, Jer 23:18, Mt 18:10 in NIV or KJV
We were also created as a new and different creature, a
physical being. Our physical being, our body and mind, would be a tent for our
eternal spiritual being to live in. When we die, and our earthly tent is
destroyed, our spiritual being will have an eternal house in Heaven to live in.
Our physical bodies will not be eternal because they were built, conceived by
our human father and mother.
*For we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand so
that we would walk in them. Eph 2:10 NASB+
*Then
the Lord
God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living being. Gen
2:7 NASB+
*1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God,
an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2Cor 5:1 NIV+
Our
Father allows man and woman to conceive, using their genes to physically design
each one of us individually. No two of us even have the same fingerprints.
*"That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Jn 3:6 NASB+
*Your
hands have made me and fashioned me;
Give me understanding, that I may learn Your
commandments. Ps 119:73 NKJV+
*"This is what the Lord
says-- your Redeemer, who formed you in
the womb: I am the Lord, who
has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the
earth by myself, Isa 44:24 NIV+
The Holy
Spirit then creates a spiritual being within the physical being created by a
man and woman when they conceive. The Spirit breathes life into this spiritual
being, creating life within our total spiritual and physical being at
conception. No mortal physical being can procreate an immortal, eternal
spiritual being. From conception this spiritual being is eternal, lives
forever.
*Flesh
gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit
gives birth to spirit. Jn 3:6 NIV+
*When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth. Ps 104:30 NIV
*I will not accuse
forever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint
before me-- the breath of man that I have created. Isa 57:16 NIV+
Adam and Eve would not obey their Lord, would sin and fall away from Him. Because Adam sinned, our Father promised a Savior who would redeem us from our sin. Mankind would struggle for over 4000 years before it was the right time for the Son to come down from Heaven, become man, and save us from all of our sins.
*Then
to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have
eaten from the tree of which I commanded
you, saying, 'You shall not eat of
it': "Cursed is the
ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. Gen 3:17 NKJV+
*This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. 1Ti 1:15 NKJV+
The Son came down from Heaven as the only One who will ever be physically conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Son was God, a spiritual being, who came down from Heaven, to be conceived as a man, Jesus. The Holy Spirit physically conceived Jesus in the womb of a woman, Mary. See God Becomes Man
*Now the birth of Jesus Christ was
as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came
together she was found to be with child
by the Holy Spirit.
Matt 1:18 NASB+
*But while he thought about these
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do
not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in
her is of the Holy Spirit. Matt
1:20 NKJV+
Jesus is the only physical being who will ever be conceived without inherited sin (Adam was created, not conceived). Inherited sin comes through the curse God put on Adam when he first sinned, was passed on through Adam’s seed (sperm). Inherited sin is passed on by all men through their seed, but is not passed on by the seed of women. The Savior first promised by our Father, would be the offspring of a woman, not a man. Jesus was conceived by the power of the Spirit, through the seed of a woman, Mary, without any inherited sin.
*Therefore, just as sin entered the
world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned - Ro 5:12 NIV+
*And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and
hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike
his heel." Gen 3:15 NIV+
*So
then as through one transgression
there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted
justification of life to all men. Ro
5:18 NASB+
Jesus was the only One who could shed His blood on the cross as atonement for our sins. The only sacrifice our Father would accept as atonement for our sins.
*then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will,
O God." He takes away the first that He may establish
the second. By that will we have
been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Heb 10:9-10 NKJV+
*In Him we have redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness
of sins, according to the riches of
His grace Eph 1:7 NKJV+
*Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. Ro
5:9 NASB+
Jesus was the only One who could have the sins of the world laid upon Him, for He had not sinned.
*God made him who had
no sin to be sin for us, so that in
him we might become the righteousness of God. 2Co
5:21 NIV+
*You know that He appeared in order to take
away sins; and in Him there is no
sin. 1Jn 3:5 NASB+
Jesus is the only one who could be our scapegoat, carry all believers sins into the deepest part of the Abyss. After Jesus physically died on the cross, His spiritual being, His soul and spirit descended into the abyss, carrying and then depositing all of the sins of the world there. .
*or, Who shall descend into the abyss? (That is, to bring
Christ up from the dead.) Ro 10:7 ASV
*"Then Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the sons of Israel and all their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and he shall lay them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who stands in readiness. "The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a solitary land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. Lev 16:21-22 NASB+
Jesus is the only mediator we will ever have in the New Covenant of grace. We come to our God only through Jesus, by believing in Him, then receiving His atoning grace, and thereby becoming children of God.
*For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 1Ti 2:5 NKJV+
*Jesus said
to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. Jn 14:6 NKJV+
Jesus is the only One who will ever be both the Son of God, yet the Son of Man.
*And the angel answered and said to
her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Highest will overshadow you;
therefore, also, that Holy One who
is to be born will be called the Son of God. Lk 1:35 NKJV +
*For whoever is ashamed of Me and
My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy
angels." Mk 8:38 NKJV+
2. Jesus is our
brother
Jesus was an ordinary Jewish man. He had flesh and blood just like we have when He was born, as He lived here on earth.
*Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that
by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death--that is, the
devil—Heb 2:14 NIV+
*And the Word became flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. Jn 1:14 NKJV+
There was nothing in Jesus’ personal appearance that stood out. His beauty was inward, was spiritual, the love and truth in His heart for all people. This would draw many to Him who were looking for the Jewish Messiah. Yet the majority of the Jewish people would not accept Jesus, would despise and reject Him. Note: There is not an original picture drawn of Jesus. Yet we know He would be an ordinary Jewish man of that day, highly probable with brown eyes. Since Jesus was a priest He would have long hair and a beard.
*He grew up before him like a
tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to
attract us to him, nothing in
his appearance that we should desire him. Isa 53:2 NIV+
*He is despised
and rejected by men, A Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised,
and we did not esteem Him. Isa 53:3 NKJV+
Jesus was a Jew, yet He had some Gentile women in His geneology. This included two famous women of the Word. Ruth was a Moabite woman, and Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute.
*Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth, Obed begot Jesse, Matt
1:5 NKJV+
*They took for themselves Moabite women as wives; the name of the one was Orpah
and the name of the other Ruth. And
they lived there about ten years. Ruth 1:4 NASB+
*Then Joshua son of Nun secretly
sent two spies from Shittim. "Go, look over the
land," he said, "especially
Jesus is the only human being who will ever live without sinning.
*"He committed no sin, and no
deceit was found in his mouth."
1Pe 2:22 NIV+
*For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one
Man's obedience many will be made righteous. Ro
5:19 NKJV+
Our Heavenly Father gave Jesus believing parents, so He would be kept righteous until He was old enough to obey the Old Covenant ceremonial laws. Joseph and Mary had Jesus circumcised, presented to the Lord, at the proper time so He would be without sin.
*And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb. Lk 2:21 NKJV+
*Now when the days of her
purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every male who opens the womb shall be
called holy to the Lord"),
and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, "A pair of turtledoves or two young
pigeons." Lk 2:22-24 NKJV+
Jesus was the only One who will ever be spiritually strong enough to resist all sin. He was tempted like we are, by satan, the physical evils of this world, yet He did not sin. He just gave us an example of how to resist sin, by using the verses of the Word.
*And He was there in the wilderness
forty days, tempted
by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels
ministered to Him.
Mk 1:13 NKJV+
*For we do not have a high priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in
all things as we are, yet without
sin. Heb 4:15 NASB+
*And the devil said to Him, "I will give You all this domain
and its glory; for it has been
handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. "Therefore
if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours." Jesus
answered him, "It is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your
God and serve Him only.'" Lk 4:6-8 NASB+
Jesus was the first to be anointed, given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
*that word you know, which was proclaimed
throughout all Judea, and began from
how
God anointed Jesus of
*"The
Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He
has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the
captives And recovery of sight to the blind, Lk 4:18 NKJV+
Jesus was given the Spirit after He was ceremonially washed, made righteous by John, as required by the Old Covenant ceremonial laws. Then Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tested by Satan, before He began His ministry.
*But Jesus answered
and said to him, "Permit it to be
so now, for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness."
Then he allowed Him. Matt 3:15 NKJV+
*And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the
Jesus showed believers how we would be baptized, given the indwelling of the Spirit in the New Covenant. This could only happen after Jesus would die as atonement for believers’ sins. So we could become spiritually holy, which allows the Spirit to live in our hearts. And in the New Covenant, no one can know Jesus as our Lord, without the Baptism of the Spirit. See Baptisms of the Spirit
*I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God." Jn 1:33-34 NKJV+
*Therefore I make known to you that
no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed,
and no one can say that Jesus is Lord
except by the Holy Spirit. 1Co 12:3 NKKJV+
Jesus was the first person to spiritually come into the
*nor will they say, 'See here!' or
'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within
you." Lk 17:21 NKJV+
*for the
*At that day you will know that I am
in My Father, and you in Me, and
I in you. Jn 14:20 NKJV+
Jesus was continually given gifts, given power by the Holy Spirit. All believers likewise will continually be given different gifts by the Spirit. To help us learn about, stay faithful to our God, do the work He would have us do.
*And Jesus returned to
*One day He was teaching; and there
were some Pharisees and
teachers of the law sitting there,
who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for Him to perform healing. Lk 5:17 NASB+
*God also bearing witness both with
signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit,
according to His own will?
Heb 2:4
NKJV+
Jesus was given all spiritual blessings, the fullness of the Father, which we will likewise be given through Jesus. It is hard for us to comprehend that we will receive the fullness, the same blessings Jesus has been given. What love our God has for us.
*In Christ all
the fullness of
the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and
authority.
*Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly
places in Christ, Eph
1:3 NKJV+
*may have power, together with all
the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this
love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:18-19 NIV+
Jesus gave His physical life upon the cross to save us, dying when our sins were placed upon Him. Our physical beings will also die, unless we are still living when Christ returns. This is because of the curse God put on Adam when he first sinned, and inherited by all people. From dust you were made, to dust you shall return.
*this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge
of God, you nailed to a cross by
the hands of godless men and put Him to death. Ac 2:23 NASB+
*For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." Mk 10:45 NKJV+
*By the sweat of your face You will
eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return." Gen
3:19 NASB+
Yet
Jesus’ eternal spiritual being, His soul and spirit,
are eternal; and because they had our sins laid upon them, Jesus’ spiritual
being descended into Hades. Where He would have to endure the torture of the
flames of Hades, as symbolized by the Passover Lamb; like the rich man Jesus
told us about.
* For you
will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. Ac 2:27 ESV+
*Do not eat it raw, nor boiled at all with
water, but roasted in fire--its head
with its legs and its entrails. Ex 12:9 NKJV+
*And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. Lk 16:24 KJV
Here His
spiritual being suffered until His sacrifice was accepted by His Father, and
all believers were justified, and made righteous. Then Jesus descended into the
Abyss to deposit the sins that were laid on Him; for Jesus was symbolized as
the scapegoat who would deposit our sins in a solitary place, the Abyss.
*Yet it pleased
the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering
for sin, he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his
days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his
knowledge shall my righteous servant
justify many; for he shall bear
their iniquities. Isa 53:10-11 KJV+
*and the goat
shall bear upon him all their iniquities unto a solitary land: Lev 16:ptn22 ASV
Here Jesus would announce His victory over death, over satan to all the demons, especially the angels who disobeyed God in the time of Noah and became demons, who were present here.
*or “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’
” (that is, to bring Christ up from the
dead). Ro 10:7 ESV+
*For Christ also died for sins once for all, the
just for the unjust, so that He
might bring us to God, having been put
to death in the flesh, but made
alive in the spirit ; in which also He went and made
proclamation to the spirits now in prison, 1Pe 3:18-19
NASB+
Jesus would now be the first spiritual being of mankind to
come into Heaven; after His physical body died. Since Jesus’ sacrifice for the
forgiveness of sins had been accepted by His Father, and He had deposited all
the sins laid upon Him; His spiritual being was holy
once more; and could ascend into Heaven. What Spiritually Happened on
the Cross
*This is why it says: "When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."
(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the
lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the
whole universe.) Eph 4:8-10 NIV+
The spiritual beings of all the Old Covenant believers would follow Jesus into Heaven. All those who had to wait in Abraham’s Bosom until Jesus came as atonement for their sins. Later this day Jesus would greet the spiritual being (soul and spirit) of thief on the cross, who would join Jesus in Heaven, after He physically died on the cross. For Jesus had promised to bring him to Paradise on this day.
*For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant,
that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now
that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. Heb 9:15 NIV+
*Then he said to Jesus, "Lord,
remember me when You
come into Your kingdom." And Jesus
said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
3 days later Jesus was the firstborn; whose physical being was resurrected from the tomb, glorified, and once more united with His spiritual being, giving his glorified body life. And 40 days later would be taken up to Heaven.
*He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, so that He
Himself will come to have first place in everything.
*Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. Lk
24:51 NKJV+
Just as our physical bodies will be resurrected, glorified, and united with our spiritual being when Jesus returns.
*And if the Spirit of him who raised
Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised
Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. Ro
8:11 NIV+
*who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which
He is able even to subdue all things to Himself. Phil 3:21 NKJV+
3. Jesus is our
Savior
Jesus sits at the right hand of our Heavenly Father, hears our prayers, and intercedes for us.
*But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand
of God, Heb 10:12 NKJV+
*So then, after the Lord had spoken
to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand
of God. Mk 16:19 NKJV+
*who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes,
rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes
for us. Ro 8:34 NASB+
He forgives our sins, makes us holy, when we believe in Him as our Savior.
*To Him all the prophets witness
that, through His name, whoever believes
in Him will receive remission of
sins." Ac 10:43 NKJV+
*to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that
they may receive forgiveness of sins and
an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.' Ac
26:18 NKJV+
He gives all who will give up their will and follow our God
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit can now dwell in our hearts, making
us spiritually one with our God. The Spirit can teach us about our God, give us
gifts to do His work. See Baptisms of the Spirit
*I indeed baptized you with water,
but He will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit." Mk 1:8 NKJV
*And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. Jn 20:22 NKJV+
*"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all that I said to you. Jn 14:26
Jesus will always be with us, we will always be spiritually in Him, and He will always be spiritually in us. Nothing will be able to separate us from our Savior’s love for us.
*teaching them to observe all that
I commanded you; and lo, I am with you
always, even to the end of the age." Matt 28:20 NASB+
*Those who
obey his commands live in him, and he
in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
1Jn 3:24 NIV+
*nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able
to separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ro 8:39 NKJV+
He spiritually brings us into the heavenly realms when we are one with Him. Through Him we continually receive spiritual blessings.
*and raised
us up together, and made us
sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Eph 2:6-7 NKJV+
*From the fullness of his grace we have all
received one blessing after another. Jn 1:16 NIV+
Jesus offers us water baptism and the Lord’s Supper as spiritual/physical ways to receive His spiritual blessings.
Water Baptism – Only one
baptism is needed See Water Baptism
*“Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19 ASV).
*Peter said
to them, "Repent, and each of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ
for the forgiveness of your sins;
and you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. Ac 2:38 NASB+
Lord’s Supper As often as
one desires to celebrate it See Lord’s Supper
*While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is My
body." And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He
gave it to them, saying,
"Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant,
which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Matt 26:27-28 NASB+
*Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?
And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? 1Co 10:16 NIV+
Jesus will take our spiritual beings, our soul and spirit, to Heaven, when our physical being, our body and mind dies.
*Then he said to Jesus, "Lord,
remember me when You come into Your kingdom." And Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in
*If anyone serves Me, let him
follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone
serves Me, him My Father will
honor. Jn 12:26 NKJV+
Our Savior will return with all of the spiritual beings of believers who are in Heaven. He will resurrect their physical bodies from the grave, and unite them with their spiritual beings. Then with all believers who are still alive, make all believers’ physical bodies perfect like His, and take us to Heaven to be with Him forever.
*For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel and with the
trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive
and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord
in the air, and so we shall always be
with the Lord. 1Thess 4:16-17
NASB+
*"In My Father's house are
many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to
prepare a place for you. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Jn 14:2-3 NASB+
Birth-Death-Resurrection of Jesus
Copyright 2011 amended 2012 by Ron Borkey
+ ESV
“Scripture quotations marked [ESV] are from The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version,” copyright © 2001 by
Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good New Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.”
+ NEW AMERICAN
STANDARD BIBLE (1995 Update) Copyright © 1981, 1998 The
Lockman Foundation, A Corporation Not for Profit,
+ NIV Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984
International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights
reserved.
+ NKJV "Scripture taken from the New King James
Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by
permission. All rights reserved."