Perfection: The Abandoned Key - Softcover

Kuehn, Richard P

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1595543538 ISBN 13: 9781595543530

Verlag: Elm Hill, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

Are you equipped to reach perfection? God has called his people to a powerful way of living. We are meant to be fully alive in the authority God has ordained. Perfection is a clarion call to God-empowered righteousness, to remember who we are in Christ Jesus, and to evaluate God’s expectations for those who claim to be born again in Him. The church can no longer afford to ignore the gospel that empowers it to be both relevant and powerful. It must purvey unsullied the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit and become the solution to the world’s ills that God intended and predestined it to be. Pastor Richard Kuehn clearly outlines the problem of man’s sinful nature, the carnal state of rebellion against God, and indifference to the well-being of others, which continue to be the source of all interpersonal and international maliciousness. Although man has tried many philosophies, psychologies, governments, religions, laws, and organizations, none has provided a lasting peace or a framework for harmonious multi-cultural living. Perfection provides a framework for fulfilling God’s righteousness in us and walking as Jesus walked. Discover God’s full plan for man’s reformation, conformation, and transformation and comprehend the depths and the beauty of His plan to bring His kingdom to pass on earth as it is in heaven.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Pastor Rick has been an Air Force commander, a small business president, and a missionary pastor. After a powerful conversion experience, a call by God to ministry, and several mission trips to Haiti, he was called to Asia by another nighttime vision. He and his wife, Jackie, moved to Baguio City, the Philippines, and planted the New Covenant Bible Fellowship Church.  For several of the ensuing 10 years he served on the Council of the Association of Metro Baguio Christian ministers.

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Perfection

The Abandoned Key

By Richard P. Kuehn

Thomas Nelson

Copyright © 2018 Richard P. Kuehn
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-59554-353-0

Contents

Preface, xi, 
The Purposes of God in Christ, 1, 
The Purposes of God in the Holy Spirit, 45, 
The Purposes of God in Man, 113, 
Perfection: The Abandoned Key, 177, 
Conclusion, 217, 
Postscript for Those with Ministerial Gifts, 221, 
Appendix, 227, 
Notes, 231, 
Bibliography, 235, 

CHAPTER 1

The Purposes of God in Christ

To begin our quest into the mind and heart of God with regard to Jesus the Christ, we must first understand God's purposes in sending his Son to earth. His decision did not proceed from a vacuum. He considered it from the beginning of time. His prophets had spoken in many places concerning his promises of a messiah. But why this great focus on a coming messiah? What was he going to do when he came? What were God's purposes in sending himself as a man? The principal answers to these questions are found in the prophetic word of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, before either John or Jesus were born. The definitive text is from Luke and reads as follows:

Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: "Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, For He has visited and redeemed His people, And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David, As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began, That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us, To perform the mercy promised to our fathers And to remember His holy covenant, The oath which He swore to our father Abraham: To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear, In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life."

Luke 1:67–75 (NKJV)

Let's unpack this prophecy and look at the five main reasons God sent the Messiah, his only begotten Son, to man. As the light of understanding dawns in these areas, so will our love for the Father and the Son grow deeper.

* * *

Visit Mankind

From the above prophesy, we see that the first purpose of God in sending his Son was to personally visit his creation. This was a huge event for mankind. God had not visited earth to live with his people in person since the garden of Eden. In fact, man's sin had so separated him from God (Isaiah 59:2) that God was not willing to speak with him except on specific occasions through his chosen people, and even then only for specific guidance or prophetic reasons. And those theophanies were rare and generally of very short duration. This time he came personally for very specific purposes and remained in man's presence for thirty-three years. It was unique in the history of God's dealings with man. It was the one and only time in history that God's Spirit hovered over a virgin to supernaturally impregnate her with his Son, Immanuel — God with us — as prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah.

But why did he manifest himself in this way and not to another "Moses" on a mount engulfed in lightning and thunder, for example? Why didn't he come by an earthquake and smoke and fire as he had done for the Israelites in the wilderness on Mount Sinai? Undoubtedly it was because the Jews knew that history, and the results had not been what either God or they had hoped. The people had repeatedly rebelled against his commandments. Again and again they had returned to idols, astrologers, sorcerers, witches, mediums, and the like. The priests had desecrated the sanctuary and prophesied for reward (Zephaniah 3:4; Micah 3:11–12). People had sacrificed their children to Molech in the fire (Leviticus 20:1–4; 2 Kings 23:1–20, esp. 10). There was no fear of God, there was no integrity, and there was no conformity to the statutes and ordinances that God had given for instruction in righteousness. The people whom God had personally chosen to bless, protect, and exemplify godly government and living on earth had failed their mission and brought reproach and scorn on God.

To Clean House

Because of all these provocations, unmet covenant terms, and unheeded prophetic warnings, God kept his promise and brought the curses of his covenant (Deuteronomy 28:15ff.) upon the tribes of Israel and destroyed or scattered to the winds all but a remnant. The remaining tribes, especially Judah, had not fared much better. And the remnant that remained at the time that the Romans conquered Jerusalem was divided into various sects. Their excesses are portrayed in Matthew 23. It was time for God to intervene personally in history to remove the dross that had accumulated in the writings and actions of his people over the previous millennia. Things were not well with his people at this time, and it was clear that the rest of the world was not going to respect or follow the God of Israel, the creator of the heavens and the earth, if things did not change.

To Fulfill Prophesy

A second and very simple reason for his personal visit was that he had promised it. Over and over again, details of his visit as the Messiah had been prophesied in the scriptures. There are actually hundreds of such prophesies in the Old Testament — everything from his being born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) to his triumphal entry (Zechariah 9:9) and his crucifixion (Isaiah 53; Psalm 22:12–18). And God is faithful in keeping all of his promises, big and small. None of his words falls to the ground. Every detail of Christ's appearance was carefully planned and executed so that even his promise to come out of Egypt was fulfilled (Hosea 11:1; Matthew 2:13–15, 19–21). Consequently, it was imperative that at some point in history he come and fulfill the prophecies of his servants. About 4 BC to AD 29 was that appointed time.

To Reveal Himself

The third reason for a personal visit was to show mankind the character, humility, love, and power of God who created the universe. He showed the first three of these in the way he dealt with various types and conditions of people in the gospels. He showed the latter in his signs and wonders, which he used to confirm both his word and his power over creation and natural law. Since he was the original means of creation of the universe, this should come as no surprise to us, but rather as a confirmation of the scriptures' proclamation of his godhood and of his creative hand on earth since the very beginning. Note the following:

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. ... 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.

John 1:1–3, 14 (NKJV)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell.

Colossians 1:15–19 (NKJV)

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Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Elm Hill
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1595543538
• ISBN 13: 9781595543530
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 256
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: gpsr@libri.de; gpsr@libri.de; ; Europaallee 1; Bad Hersfeld; 36244; Deutschland