CONCLUSION & FURTHER TOPICS OF STUDY
INTENTION:
Because the Word of
God is Alive and Active, it will always bring meaning and purpose to your life
where you are.
Your relationship
with God the Father is not through the Bible, but a personal one-to-one
connection in the Spirit.
Develop this personal
relationship with Him as Jesus did. Embrace Him just as the Disciples (and
others) have done.
And never stop
learning about Him in all the different circumstances, situations, and seasons
of your life.
Use what you have
learned from all this and from others as a catalyst for growth and change—an
opportunity to build on the diversity people have of the Lord to uncover all
who the Lord is.
I.
CONCLUSION:
Because we are forever discovering the Lord in our personal
relationship with Him for ourselves (and others), we never should stop growing.
Though we only hit upon 52 Bible Study Lessons here, there
are countless ones you can do and create yourself.
Below is a list of other topics I have delved into or still
are searching through—if they interest you, research them. It is only meant as
examples of topics of interest. Some include understandings / directions I have
gone in.
I am not implying that these are correct areas or that I
have “mastered” any of the topics below or in these Bible Lessons. On the
contrary, they represent where I am at this moment in my relationship with the
Lord.
Each Bible Lesson comes from that personal relationship and
Him speaking / guiding me to where I am in life—whatever life-situation (good
or bad). And, not only that, myself trying to implement these things for me
too. And as I grow and change, the way I see each topic / Bible Lesson organically
changes as well.
For me, whether I am listening to a pastor, reading a book
on Chistian / Biblical topics, or coming across things online; the Lord often
connects new information with current information. With this, I expand my
knowledge in that topic, or it opens up new areas that I had not connected
before.
I also use this approach (with the Lord) in topics and areas
not Chistian or Bible specific; and then see how they often do relate to what
we see in the Bible or what we can see as being the Lord. This is something
very specific the Lord shared: “To SEEK ME IN ALL THINGS and then to FIND ME
IN ALL THINGS.” What this looks like to me is:
·
The Lord spoke all things (all the universe and
everything it is made of) into existence. Thus, everything that does exist
(from the infinitesimal quantum, to the infinite macro), Their Voice, Their
Life, Their Energy, Their Love, Their Spirit, Their Vibration radiate from
everything. From the seashell and stone I pick up on the beach, and in the
crystals I buy at the shop, They made it for me (for you / for everyone)—these
resonate with my soul, because They resonate with me. I see and feel Them
through those objects (and any object). The mountains, ocean, moon, stars,
trees, animals, lightning, campfires, and so much more resonate Their Being to
me. It is beautiful to me that They find Love and Beauty in all that is and is
in the Universe—to me!
·
All humans resonate aspects of the Lord as
stemming from all humans are made in Their likeness. Thus, as with any other
created thing, the Lord can be witnessed in any and every human being—whether
in action, deed, countenance, mind, heart, soul, body, spirit, imagination,
understanding, and the like. A human does not have to be a Christian, a
Believer, or a Bible-reader for them to express any aspect of the Lord. The
Lord is Love (God = Love); as such, anything that is Love from anybody, is God
(is the Lord). I refuse to limit the Lord by limiting them to the Bible or
to Christianity.
·
Until Jesus Christ came to accurately represent
God (the Lord), humanity did their best to try and “figure out” who God was.
Sometimes they got it right, other times not. This is what we see within the
Bible in so much of the Old Testament (people unsure, guessing, and
projecting). The same can also be said for many other religions as they also
are trying to seek and understand God in their own way (exactly as those in the
Bible did). As such, just as we cannot take all the Bible as being /
representing God (the Lord), we also cannot deny that other religions can and
do represent God (the Lord). The Lord does not limit Themselves to only Judeo-Christian
understandings; They make Themselves known through anyone / everyone and
anything / everything. I do find many of the same principals and
understandings of the Lord duplicated across many religions; and I also
discover areas and representations of the Lord in them (i.e., outside the
Bible).
This falls into the aspects of how Jesus did so much of the
Lord, that the world could not contain the writings thereof (John
21:25); that, in reality, we can see the Lord in other writings that
testify of Them.
So, I pray that these Bible Lessons have helped you in some
way. And that you will continue on in your relationship with God our Father,
discovering Them for you!
II.
FURTHER TOPICS OF STUDY:
A. Jesus
Did Only What He Saw His Father Do.
During Jesus’s upbringing
as a Jew, He learned from the same scriptures as we have access to (Biblically,
the Old Testament). Yet, His ministry didn’t demonstrate those “Old Testament”
ways that we can often find a vengeful, angry, disappointed God. So, when Jesus
said He only does “what He sees the Father do” (John
5:19-20), it is not from scripture, but out of an intimate personal
relationship with God as a Father.
For me, this is Spiritual
Discernment—in that, we have the Spirit of the Lord to decipher whether what we
read in the Bible is of God or not. Likewise for our thoughts and imaginations;
and even to discern when it is the Holy Spirit with / within us giving
direction or insight. The same for anything and everything in this world—because
so much that is outside “scripture” (that we can dismiss because it isn’t in
scripture) is of the Lord.
Question: What is the danger of doing from
scripture (the Bible) versus what we can also “see the Father do”—i.e., our own
intimate and personal relationship with the Lord?
Study: Compare the
times Jesus did do something found in the Old Testament and the times He did
something opposite to the Old Testament. Find also the things that are not even
reflected in the Old Testament. Study how and why the things Jesus did so upset
the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes.
B. Jesus-Centric
Old Testament Stories.
It is that the Old
Testament seems to have a different God than the Father Jesus demonstrated (as
in God and Jesus don’t reflect as being the same “person”). Yet, because God
doesn’t change, we can view the difference as often being misinterpretations
and misrepresentations of God in the Old Testament. Because of what Christ
Jesus revealed and demonstrated, we can revisit the Old Testament with a
different viewpoint and context—this includes not portraying the Law
(Moses-covenant) as applying to all mankind (all the world). That those
specific covenants had their own “regulations” that don’t carry over into the
rest of the world or all of time.
Question: Does your interpretation of God in
the Old Testament change because of who Jesus exactly demonstrated Him to be?
What Old Testament topic / story / account is maybe mistranslated or
misinterpreted as being of God because it was not in the correct knowledge of
the Father; or was within a specific covenant?
Study: Place Jesus
in the position of God in the Old Testament without changing the character and
nature of Jesus. Read the life journeys of these people and seek out how the
Lord cared for them (that He was not the one to test them or bring about their
troubles). Find the Father that humanity couldn’t see, but was always still
present. Remember, Jesus read the same Old Testament we read, yet came away
seeing a Father, not just a God.
·
Refer also: https://cbadenhorst.blogspot.com/2017/05/misunderstanding-and-misinterpretation.html
https://cbadenhorst.blogspot.com/2017/12/if-its-in-bible.html
C. Adams
(Plural).
When the Lord Created the
earth and all its inhabitants, ask yourself: how many Oak Trees did He plant;
how many Daffodils did He plant; how many Grape Vines did He plant; how many
how many Elephants did He make; how many Tiger Sharks did He make; how many
Parakeets did He make; how many Tarantulas did He make; how many Honey Bees did
He make; how many Brachiosaurus did He make?
For me, He didn’t just
plant ONE Oak Tree seed, or create ONE / TWO Brachiosaurus—He created multiple
of each and every to fill the earth.
Question: So, why do we think He only Created
only ONE Adam pair (one male and one female)?
Study: Dig into the
word Adam (H120)
as being plural (more than one)—the same applying to “man” (H376) and
“woman” (H802).
Note Genesis
6:1-4 which suggests that others in the Garden of Eden also sinned and got
kicked out—not “fallen angels”. This gives explanation to how Cain and other
males from Adam and Eve had wives to marry that were from other “Adams and
Eves” (Genesis
2:16-24).
D. Creation
(Age of the Earth).
When we read about
Creation, look at how it mentions in Genesis
1:1-2 that the earth existed before the universe did. For me, meaning that
the earth existed from the same “beginning” as God (eternal). And that it
waited in darkness, covered in water, until the Lord chose to Create the
universe around it (in 6 literal days).
Question: Can you picture the “Big Bang”
theory aligning with forming around the earth when God spoke; and the age of
the earth being over 4,5 billion years old? What if, since the earth existed as
long as the Lord, that it is well over 4,5 billion years old, but that the rest
of the universe is only thousands of years old?
Study: Compare the
universe forming around the earth with the End Times where the universe “rolls
up like a scroll” leaving the earth behind (Isaiah
34:4 and Revelation
6:12-14).
E. Flood
(Dinosaurs, Dragons, Tectonic Plate Shift, and Ice Age).
The book of Job is the
oldest recorded book of the Bible. Read it as a historical account of the earth
as the closest to the flood as possible (post-flood) and what the earth was
like then.
Because the Lord created
ALL things, that includes the remnants of what we refer to as Dinosaurs—of
which they were also saved in Noah’s Ark. The account of Job and His
conversation with the Lord refers to these dinosaurs “behemoth” as existing
post-flood (Job
40:15-24); including real fire-breathing dragons (Job
41).
Think too on the trauma
the earth itself went through to “erupt” into a cataclysmic global flood. It
tore itself apart—which brought about the locations of the continents as we see
now. Go back to Creation and think of the land “gathered together” (Genesis
1:9-10) as Pangaea, with the rivers flowing from the one spot of the Garden
of Eden (Genesis
2:10-14).
I also find it fascinating
the reference to the “storehouses of snow” (Job
38:22). To me, a representation of the ice-age that followed directly after
the flood.
Question: Do the stories of dragons from
different, unconnected cultures across the globe corroborate their existence? What
about post-flood accounts and cave-paintings that show humans coexisting with
dinosaurs? Is it that, though most dragons and dinosaurs were eliminated in the
flood, that their remnants / offspring were just hunted to extinction by
humans?
Study: Look through
Job and compare with historical and scientific accounts.
·
Refer also: Genesis
Apologetics ( https://youtu.be/zd5-dHxOQhg
) and www.IsGenesisHistory.com
F. Sun
Stands Still.
To help win a battle, an
“impossible” prayer request was made to the Lord (Joshua
10:1-15). And in answering that prayer in a very unique (outside our
thinking way), the Lord showed Themselves in a global way. To make the sun
“stand still” (being the earth stopping its rotation) is a true miracle that no
human could ever do—nor could the earth do on its own accord.
Question: If this did happen, would we not
have accounts across the globe of either an extended day-time / dusk / dawn /
night-time?
Study: Look into whether
there are historical accounts outside the Bible. And then, ask what that would
look like if the earth stopped rotating, then started rotating again.
G. Jesus’s
Birth Date.
We celebrate Jesus’s Birth
on Christmas Day (25 December). Yet, there is much history about why that date
was chosen—for that date is not given as such in the Bible. But that date can
be determined from the Prophesy (as in Isaiah)
and the account in Revelations
12:1-2.
Question: So, what can be researched from the
Bible (and historical documents) to determine an actual date? And then, does it
matter (make a difference) to what date it is?
Study: Look into
the date of 11 September 3 B.C. and see what you find in scripture and in
other’s research.
H. Jesus’s
Death Date.
Unlike Christmas, we do
know that Jesus was crucified and died over the Jewish Passover. But not on a
Friday as we typically celebrate. Instead, He died on a Thursday with a double
“Sabbath” on Friday and Saturday—making three days and three nights that He was
dead (Matthew
12:40)—from the time He died on the Cross (and buried before sunset
Thursday) to His resurrection (before sunrise Sunday).
Question: Why would we want to recognise His
crucifixion and death on a Thursday instead of Friday?
Study: Research the date of Thursday, 02 April 33
A.D. (Day of Preparation of the Jewish Passover, 14 Nisan 3793).
This Day of Preparation is the day when the lambs are slaughtered for Passover—precisely
at 3:00 P.M. on this day. And thus, it marks the exact day and time Jesus (as
the Lamb of God) died on the Cross—being Crucified at 9:00 A.M. and on the
Cross for 6-hours (the sun turned dark from 12:00 P.M. until His death at 3:00
P.M. Buried in the tomb before sunset; and resurrected prior to sunrise on
Sunday. Three Days and Three Nights.
Western culture defines
the timeframe of a day being from midnight-to-midnight. However, Biblically, it
is based on the Jewish day of sunset-to-sunset. Thus, when calculating “three
days” (D1, D2, & D3) and “three nights” (N1, N2, & N3), look at this
timeline—the bottom row denoting sunsets and sunrises (Jewish); the top row
midnights and noons (Western):
|
Midnight (Thursday) ↓ |
Noon (Thursday) ↓ |
Midnight (Friday) ↓ |
Noon (Friday) ↓ |
Midnight (Saturday) ↓ |
Noon (Saturday) ↓ |
Midnight (Sunday) ↓ |
|
|||||||
|
|
Jesus Prays |
Trial Beaten |
Died 3pm |
Night-Time (Night 1) |
|
|
Night-Time (Night 2) |
|
|
Night-Time (Night 3) |
|
|||
|
|
Arrest |
9am Cross |
D1: In Grave |
N1:
In Grave (Sabbath
1) |
D2:
In Grave (Sabbath
1) |
N2:
In Grave (Sabbath
2) |
D3:
In Grave (Sabbath
2) |
N3:
In Grave |
Mary Visits |
|||||
|
|
|
Day-Time (Day 1) |
|
|
Day-Time (Day 2) |
|
|
Day-Time (Day 3) |
|
Jesus Raised |
|
|||
|
|
↑ Sunrise (Thursday) |
↑ Sunset (Start Friday) |
↑ Sunrise (Friday) |
↑ Sunset (Start Saturday) |
↑ Sunrise (Saturday) |
↑ Sunset (Start Sunday) |
↑ Sunrise (Sunday) |
|||||||
I.
Angels.
Throughout the Bible, the
Lord has used angels as messengers and as defenders in times of battle. Jesus
was ministered to by angels to help Him after His 40 days in the wilderness (Matthew
4:1-11). Paul shares that we shouldn’t forbid “worshiping of Angels” (Colossians
2:16-18).
Question: What does Paul mean? And how do
Angels still help us?
Study: I have
personally seen Angels and multitudes of Angels (in the Spirit). Study out how
the Lord still uses them in the here-and-now. And pray for them in your life
and the lives of others.
J.
Sickness, Birth Defects, and Healing.
Jesus healed all (Matthew
8:16-17). When looking at who Jesus healed and the types of diseases He
healed, some were due to the “fallen” nature of the world (the man born blind, John
9); and others were demonic (the epileptic child, Matthew
17:14-21). We should not automatically assume an illness or birth defect is
because of a demon or a sin. Yet, regardless of what the reason is, that reason
is never greater than the Healer. And our healing is not just the “physical”,
but the mental and emotional (soul) healing within us. Our healing out of our
unhealed / unhealthy brings us the Freedom the Lord wants us to be living in.
Question: Question the doubts that arise when
someone is not healed? Do you feel it is God not wanting to heal you / someone,
or is it our own unbelief? Do you believe that mental and emotional health is
important to God? Have you been told you just need “more faith” or to “believe
more” for healing?
Study: The healing
is more important than how you get healed. Notice the ways the Lord helps in
your healing. Healing from Strongholds as well. Thus, don't reject the
instructions of the Lord for your healing—even if it means doing things you
might think are "stupid", “too hard to do”, or you believe "are
not of God". Healing is only of the Lord—and the way He brings it about
includes (done safely) prayer, laying on of hands, doctors, psychologists,
psychiatrists, psychedelics, healers, shaman, retreats, festivals, yoga,
exercise, diet, vitamins, medication, a new job, a new place to live, self-care,
giving up something, adding something, etc.
K. When
Children Die.
This is a sad reality in
this world that children die—this can look like a child dying from an abortion,
a mis-carriage, a birth defect, an illness, an accident, natural disaster, war,
neglect, suicide, or murder.
Question: When a child dies, do they
automatically go to Heaven?
Study: Here are
some angles to ponder as you look into this:
1. Are
humans born into sin because of Adam; only receiving salvation when they accept
Christ Jesus?
2. Are
humans born uncorrupted (or into Christ Jesus because of the Cross)? And when
they become self-aware to deny / accept Jesus are they then judged in their
belief of Christ Jesus?
3. Are
they given a chance to believe after death (1
Peter 3:18-22) as those who Jesus preached to in death?
4. Is
their eternal destiny already known by the Lord—that the Lord knows (if they
lived) whether they would grow up believing or not?
L. Heaven.
We get glimpses of Heaven
from those in the Bible that saw it. But we also have testimonies of others
(even now) who share their experiences of visiting Heaven. This “Third Heaven”
where the Lord and Angels dwell are a temporary space for them and for us. Many
have seen it in person and/or in the Spirit. When we pass from this earth now,
Heaven becomes a space for us that is unlike anything on this earth—a place the
Lord joyously welcomes us into—not to work and strive, but to “Just Be” away
from the pains and suffering of this world now.
Question: What are some things you feel the
Lord would love for you to enjoy through eternity?
Study: The Lord
loves us as His children—to me, that means the things we enjoy here on this
earth now would also be present in Heaven. Yet, we have to also realise that
Heaven is not our final destination—the Lord will create a new world for us to
live on with Him—no more Heaven, but a new world that we dwell in with the Lord.
M. The
Lord’s Prophesy.
When the Lord shares with
us what will happen in life (personally, as a group, or globally), it is the
Lord revealing what WILL happen. Yet, just because the Lord KNOWS it WILL
happen, does not mean it is always HIS WILL for it to happen. It is only that
God has the foreknowledge of what and why it will happen. Biblically, this was
seen in:
·
The Garden of Eden (Genesis
3:1-11): It was the Lord’s Will that they NOT eat from the wrong tree—yet,
the Lord knew (foreknew) that Adam and Eve (humanity) would.
·
Israel coming out of Egypt (Numbers
14:1-25): The Lord’s Will was that they proceed immediately into the
Promised Land—yet, Israel chose not to. God didn’t make them choose not to, but
the Lord knew (foreknew) they wouldn’t.
·
God’s Will for all to come to Him (1
Timothy 2:3-6): It’s the Lord’s Will for everyone to come to believe in Him
through what Christ Jesus accomplished. God reconciled the world to Himself
through Christ Jesus. God forgave all sins of the flesh for all humans. God
Gifted Righteousness for every human being to received. Yet, the Lord knew
(foreknew) that not all humans would; but even knowing that, still chose to do
all They did for ALL humans (regardless of if a person chooses to believe or
not).
Question: What are other prophecies the Lord
made in the Bible that weren’t His Will? Do you see anything transpiring in
this day-and-age that the Lord foreknew would happen (as shared through people)
that also are not God’s Will? Is there anything in your personal life the Lord
shared would happen, but was not His Will for it to happen?
Study: The Lord
cannot violate our own free will for things to happen. Read through the
prophecies shared in the Bible (Old Testament and New Testament), and look at
them in the perspective of if it is God’s Will for them to happen, or just that
God knew (foreknew that) it would happen.
N. A
Non-Binary God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit (Lord).
Humanity as a whole, from
the moment they were Created by the Lord were (are) Made in the same Image as
the Lord (Genesis
1:26-28). With Their full image, both male and female came—in that the
Lord’s Image includes ALL aspects of male (masculine) and female (feminine). Thus,
as the Lord does not see Themselves as either / solely male or/nor female, They
are Non-Binary.
When male Adam was formed,
“he” was inclusive of all those same masculine and feminine qualities that the
Lord has. And when female Adam was cloned (duplicated exactly) from male Adam,
“she” was also inclusive of all those same feminine and masculine qualities.
The only difference being the reproductive parts (that define the binary terms
“male” and “female”). It was not that when “female Adam” was created, that
“she” took all those feminine qualities with “her” out of the “male Adam”,
leaving “him” with only the masculine qualities—it was an exact duplication
without separation of the masculine and feminine whole (Genesis
2:21-23).
This whole has never gone
away! The only reason humanity has defined feminine and masculine as separate,
is because that is what occurred at the Fall in which Adams (Adam and Eve)
cursed humanity into inequality and separation (Genesis
3:16b). This inequality between male and female / masculine and feminine is
a curse placed on by Adam and Eve—but a curse that Christ Jesus took away.
Even though we reference
God as being a Father (male), that terminology is only due to the patriarchal /
androcentric stance of those who wrote the Bible. And though Jesus was a male
in His reproductive physical appearance, He was unified in His femininity and
masculinity—this is what Jesus demonstrated in Himself. Even the Holy Spirit is
termed a “He”, but as with God and Jesus, is both the female / feminine and male
/ masculine.
Question: Do you see God, Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit as male / masculine, female / feminine, both, or neither?
Study: Go through
the Bible to see the masculine and feminine aspects of God, Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit. For me, recognising them as both and neither and all, I can relate to
Them in my ALL (in my Non-Binary and fluidity). This too is how I see the Lord
relating to any and every body in whatever gender identity they may have (with
the Lord knowing all that is their identity and everything that made them who /
what / when / where / how / and why they are). For in Christ there is NOT male
and there is NOT female (Galatians
3:27-28).
O. Patriarchal
/ Androcentric Biblical Viewpoint and Bible-As-Written-By.
Because of the inequality
created from Adam and Eve eating of the wrong fruit (Genesis
3:16b), a Patriarchy and Androcentric view of reality manifested. This was
never God’s Design nor intent for humanity. But because it was from their own
curse, how the Bible was written and who it was written by, became what we have
now—one that curse-places “men” above “women”.
Of note: If the male
had eaten of the “wrong tree” first (instead of the female), then the curse
would have been the other-way-around and we would have had a curse-based
matriarchy and gynocentric.
The curse-based
patriarchy-reality / androcentric-reality is evident in how men in the Bible
mistreated women, considered them less-than, usurped their independence, abused
them, forced them into subservience, violated their human rights, and kept them
under the “authority” of men in society, governance, and marriage, and only
recognised and validated male offspring / male first-born.
The Lord understood
humanities patriarchal world-system, and thus had to work His wonder within
that system. This is why the Lord had to use a male Jesus, because They knew
that a female Jesus would not have held the same value in religion, culture,
and society at the time Jesus came. The Lord had to work within the confines of
how the world was. Yet Jesus demonstrated God’s equality in how Jesus had both
Male and Female Disciples.
Sadly, even though Christ Jesus
broke that patriarchal curse, that equality is not yet complete in society.
Even the “Church” perpetuates male hierarchy in society, culture, government,
the workplace, and marriage. Christianity should be the leader and hallmark of
how Christ overcame patriarchy and restored God’s Design to the equality that
the Lord has always seen.
Question: How can the Church (Body of Christ)
eliminate gender inequality and bring the unity and equality that the Lord
Designed, Jesus demonstrated, and Christ overcame? Does a desire for a feminine
God (due to the cursed patriarchal / androcentric control) give us
understanding to why some people would prefer to relate to a mother-type /
female-type creator (like mother-earth or a female-centric universe as a
whole)? And why would someone who has been abused by a male figure, want to
feel safe around a male God (as we inherently project our hurts of this world
onto God)?
Study: Evaluate the
writings of the Bible as from a patriarchal curse. Look at all the times the
Lord rejected patriarchy through the many Biblical examples of God using women—both
in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Question even the male Disciples
that wrote the New Testament (as they still had a patriarchal mindset /
heartset)—including in marriage. Denote the use of the term “sons” when
referencing all in Christ… not because we are literally “sons”, but that is
meant to address the flesh-belief that anything other than a “son” is
less-than—that if we are all “sons”, we are all equal… when it should actually
be written that we are all neither “daughters” or “sons”, but equal entities
because of Christ (and the Lord’s Original Creation).
P. Enjoying
Life Now.
With all the pain and
suffering that draws our attention and brings destruction, it is hard to push
into the enjoyment of living this life now on this earth. But the Lord restores
seven-fold (Proverbs
6:31) and a hundred-fold (Mark
10:29-30) in our life now. And the Lord brings about Good no matter what
the circumstance or situation (Romans
8:28). The Lord TRULY wants us to Live a Life Abundantly!
Question: Does the Lord really want us to
enjoy now?
Study: Look at the
promises of the Lord and instruction for us in the here-and-now.
III. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & SUPPORT:
A thank you to Kelly and Joshua who are inspirational in this life-journey. And to all the family, friends, sponsors, and donors who have fed into this ministry and outreach.
If you would like to support this ministry and outreach, you may do so via our website or at:
Comments
Post a Comment