CHRISTIANITY FOCUSES ON THE FUTURE — NOT TODAY
In IT IS ALL ABOUT TODAY, many scriptures reveal God’s focus on today. These all agree with scriptures that tell us that today is the day of salvation, but disagree with Christian doctrines that anticipate the fulfillment of salvation only after we physically die and go to heaven. That doctrine says, in effect, that those who put their trust in Jesus will have an inner assurance of that future salvation, but cannot fully experience it until they die physically. They call that inner assurance faith, but it is not Godly faith.

STUDY TIP: See Belief, Trust and Faith for understanding of Godly faith.

Despite God’s clear, repeated emphasis on listening to God’s voice today, Christians pay no heed to today, or on listening to God’s voice. They insist on hoping for some good thing to happen to them someday. They do not allow, or expect that God can, or will, deliver on the promise of heaven today.

STUDY TIP: See Heaven and Hell for understanding of what heaven is and when people go there.

God promises benefits for hearing his voice today. Religion promises the future reward of heaven if we practice religion today. Christianity says that if you put your trust in Jesus today, you will go to heaven after you die. This is not what God says.

Because of Christianity’s emphasis on the human Jesus, they make a very big deal about his physical birth, physical death, and return someday. Such focus on past and future events distracts from God’s emphasis on today.

The birth and death of true prophets are not a big deal for God. He is only concerned about their daily lives: Are they listening to his voice today? Are they laying down their lives by speaking for God to people who do not want to hear what they have to say about religion? Are they doing justice?

Christians think that the birth, death, and future return of Jesus is important to God because these events are in the Bible. They do this because they interpret the Bible literally — not symbolically. Thus they faithfully observe Christmas, Easter and communion traditions while failing to listen to God’s voice today.

STUDY TIP: See this link and this link for understanding of how God sees traditions.

Christianity is all about Jesus’ past and future, and says nothing about listening to God’s voice today or any time. Even though scriptures commanding people to listen to God’s voice are distributed throughout the Bible, listening has never been a serious doctrinal issue or practice for Christians. For them, it is enough to pray some, read some, always pay their tithes, and listen to their religious leaders always. The implicit thinking is that if they put their trust in the person Jesus, and their religious leaders and their religious traditions, they will obtain the object of their faith: heaven after they die. This is wrong thinking.

The main reasons Christians think wrongly is that they have adopted the religious doctrine that says Jesus is co-equal with God. Fortified by this stronghold of wrong thinking, do not understand that Jesus is a stumbling block to Godly faith. Being totally unaware of this fact, they have always written and interpreted the Bible in ways that agree with their doctrines. Bible editors, therefore, often made editorial decisions that misrepresent Jesus’ divinity. They did this to make sure their translations appear to confirm the Trinity Doctrine by suggesting that Jesus has always lived alongside God. In other words, they have represented Jesus the man as an eternal being. This is false teaching. Jesus was first a son of man before he became a son of God, and he was always a son of man even after he became a son of God.

STUDY TIP: See this link for understanding of what it means to be both a son of man and son of God.

The truth about Jesus’ divinity exists in plain sight in the Bible. All we need to do is search. The following are scriptures and commentary that instruct us about how we should think about Jesus:

John 1:1.a  In the beginning was the Word,

COMMENTARY: Christians wrongly interpret “word” as referring to  the man Jesus. This is an example of erroneous symbolism. Following this symbolism, Jesus the man would have always existed along with God.

The correct interpretation of this verse is exactly what it says in John 1:1.c The word of God was God. That simply means that God and his word are one in the same. It is impossible to distinguish between God and his word. God and his word have always existed.

STUDY TIPS: See God’s Spoken Word for further explanation of God and his spoken word being the same thing. See this link for understanding of the many ways the Hebrew word “dabar” is translated as God’s word.

Since God has no beginning and no end, it must be said that the word of God “is” God and both are eternal.

STUDY TIP: See Eternal Life for further explanation of the meaning of eternity.

In other words, God and his word are the same thing. There should be no distinction between God and his word. See CHARACTERISTICS OF GOD AND HIS WORD.

John 1:1.b and the word was with God.

COMMENTARY: The Greek word “pros” is translated here as “with” in English. When we notice that “pros” is also translated several other ways, we see that “with” is not the correct translation. Translating “pros” as “with” creates a big problem for Christians who interpret “word” to mean Jesus.

With these two wrong translations, Christians conclude that the man Jesus always existed and was alongside (i.e. “with”) God. Pros could have, and should have, been translated  with some other word that indicated that God and his word are the same thing — not separate, different things.

John 1:1.c and the word was God.

COMMENTARY: See God’s Spoken Word for further explanation of God and his spoken word being the same thing.

John 1:2. KJV The same was in the beginning with God. 

John 1:2 NAS He was with God in the beginning.

John 1:2 NIV He was with God in the beginning.

John 1:2 RSV He was in the beginning with God;

COMMENTARY: Here we have a good example of what happens when Bible translators choose the wrong words to translate the Bible. The KJV translates the Greek word “houtos” as “same,” and the NAS, NIV and RSV translate it as “he.”

The KJV is the best translation because it says that the word was in the beginning with God. To say that God and his word always existed is a true statement. To say that “he” (i.e. Jesus) always existed is a false statement. The spirit of Jesus always existed because the spirit of Jesus is God’s spirit that is present in all New Covenant disciples.

The tanslation of houtos as “he” in the NAS, NIV and RSV are incorrect and misleading because they imply that the human person Jesus always lived. That is impossible because God would not suspend his natural laws to make it possible. He does not need any single human person to live forever when he can pour out his spirit on anyone and anoint him or her to prophesy (i.e. speak for him.) Therefore, it must be said that editors of the NAS, NIV and RSV Bibles wrongly choose “he” as a way to make scripture agree with their doctrines.

Houtos refers to “word” in verse 1. Thus verse 2 should read this way: The word was in the beginning with God. With this translation, verse 2 is a restatement of verse 1. This is not unusual, because God often repeats himself in the Bible to make a point.

John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made

COMMENTARY: Christians make the mistake of interpreting “him” to refer to Jesus. This makes sense to them because they believe that Jesus always existed along (i.e. “with”) God. With this belief firmly established, they believe that Jesus created everything. This is wrong thinking. God is the creator.

STUDY TIP: See GOD DOES ONLY ONE KIND OF MIRACLE for understanding of creation.

The “things” that God makes are clean, pure hearts. Transforming hearts from evil and impure to clean and pure is the only creative miracle that God does. He does this by the power of his spoken word. In other words, this verse says that clean, pure hearts are made only by God’s spoken word.

Christians wrongly interpret the pronoun “him” as referring to  the man Jesus. This is an example of erroneous symbolism. The correct interpretation of this verse is exactly what it says: The word of God was/is God.

It is not correct to say that Jesus had role in making clean, pure hearts — except for the fact that he speaks for God. Only God’s word has the power to create.

But Jesus was not the first, last, or only human person who spoke for God. He is an example of all true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors whom God sends to speak for him. And when they do speak for God, their words have life and death power because God’s spirit teaches them what to say in the moment God wants them to speak.

John 1:5.a. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

COMMENTARY: Light symbolically represents God’s spoken word. Darkness symbolically represents the world of religion. God’s word shines in the darkness of religion when true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors speak to religious people who cannot hear God’s voice because they have hard hearts.

Jesus was a light because he spoke God’s word to the darkness of the religious world. The religious world did not comprehend what Jesus said because people had hard hearts that could not hear God’s voice if God spoke to them directly or if he spoke to them through Jesus.

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.”

COMMENTARY: This is another way of saying that Jesus’ words (i.e. his testimony) is the spirit of prophecy. Just as God is eternal, God’s words are eternal. Jesus is only a true prophet who speaks God’s words. So, when Jesus implies that he existed before Abraham, he is not talking about himself as a human person. He is talking about the  words he speaks. He is not saying that he always existed. He is saying that the words he speaks are eternal,  just like God, his words, and the words he speaks through the power of the spirit are eternal.

John 17:5 “Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.

COMMENTARY: See Glory for understanding of what glory is.

Because God and his word are one in the same thing, when Jesus says “father glorify me with yourself” he is asking God to speak to his heart. He also could have said “fill me with your spirit” or, “fill my heart with your words” or, “pour your spirit out on me.”

The word “I” does not appear in the original Greek text. It is an editorial addition made by Bible authors to make the scripture agree with Christian doctrines which claim that the person of Jesus is eternal just like God is eternal. Jesus was only a man. He was not God. The only thing about Jesus that was Godly was his words. Since Jesus spoke for God, Jesus words were eternal, but Jesus was not eternal.

Glory exists only because God’s spoken word exists. Therefore, God, God’s word, and God’s glory existed before the world of religion existed.

John 17:24: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

COMMENTARY: These scriptures say clearly that messiahs (i.e. people/prophets anointed and sent by God’s spirit to speak for God) have always existed. But that does not mean that each character is eternal. What it does mean, however, is that throughout natural time, there has been a succession of messiahs/prophets sent by God to speak for him to people with hard hearts who could not hear his voice.

All we need to do to verify this truth is to look at the true prophets (e.g. Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, etc.) of the Old Testament. But it is also critical to recognize that messiahs are not unique individuals who appeared at a unique moment in history such as we see represented in the person of Jesus. Rather, there have been many messiahs (e.g. Abraham, Moses, David, all of the prophets, Paul, apostles, etc.) whom God has sent over time as messengers (i.e. true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, warriors, witnesses) to speak the good new of deliverance to people who are enslaved to religion. These messengers know how to hear God’s spiritual voice and report what they hear in human language to people who cannot hear God’s voice.

With these scriptures in view, there is no symbolism to unravel about the timing of the birth, life death and second coming of a  messiah because everything prophesied or reported about messiahs has already happened many times and will keep on happening many times in individuals whom God delivers from religion and then sends out to speak for him to deliver others from religion as true prophets, angels, messiahs, high priests, witnesses and warriors.

This is the meaning of “there is nothing new under the sun.” In other words, there is not one messiah but many messiahs. There was one prophet called Jesus, but he is not the one and only messiah who came in the name (i.e. character) of God. There is not one anointed Christ, but many who were anointed to speak for God. All of these characters are chosen and anointed by God to speak for him after they leave religion and become New Covenant disciples.

We see this principle in scriptures that reference the spirit of Jesus, the spirit of Christ and the spirit of his son. These all refer to the spirit of God — not to a special, separate, independent spirit of Jesus. All true prophets have that unique spirit of God in them and empowering them to speak for God.

The point here is that time in the Bible should not be interpreted literally. It may use words like days, months and years, but we cannot apply the meaning unless we interpret all references to time as “today.” If we don’t think in terms of “today” we will never learn what God wants to teach us. We see this principle in the following verses:

Ecclesiastes 1: The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. 3 What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? 4 A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains for ever. 5 The sun rises and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. 6 The wind blows to the south, and goes round to the north; round and round goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. 7 All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. 8 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with  seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See, this is new”? It has been already, in the ages before us. 11 There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to happen among those who come after. 12 I the Preacher have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 And I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with. 14 I have seen everything that is done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind. 15 What is crooked cannot be made straight, and what is lacking cannot be numbered. 16 I said to myself, “I have acquired great wisdom, surpassing all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.” 17 And I applied my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also is but a striving after wind. 18 For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-17: For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

COMMENTARY: These verses are often quoted at weddings, funerals and other significant events. Taken literally, they can have a comforting way of saying that God is in charge of life events. As we have said many times in this web site, however, scripture should be taken symbolically — not literally.

Surprisingly, this passage in Ecclesiastes acknowledges that God has actually given religion to men to occupy them for a season. Since it comes from God and since it appears to be what God wants, people pursue worldly wisdom and knowledge that does not satisfy and actually yields sorrow.

The symbolic meanings of the various times in this scripture are very complex and beyond the scope of this series of pages. But we strongly encourage readers to do their own investigations of the symbolic meanings.

What can be said, however, is that each of the times mentioned refer to a phase of spiritual development, backsliding or renewal. They indicate that we are all somewhere in process of being Old/Covenant religionists, transitioning to becoming New Covenant disciples, backsliding from New Covenant to Old/First Covenant, or somewhere in between. These are not examples of unique events in our natural lives and relationships. They indicate that we are not  as stable in our religious lives as we might like to think. We are always either maturing or backsliding.

9 What gain has the worker from his toil?