Issued: 2/20/24

“I saw all the work…that God has done from beginning to end [which men cannot fathom no matter how wise they think they are]…O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!  Who has known the mind of the Lord”?

Ecclesiastes 8:17, 3:11; Romans 11:33-34 [edited and conflated by author]

PLEASE NOTE:  Because Bible versions sometimes differ from each other in crucial ways, the version quoted here will be the one that best clarifies the point being made.  For a quick comparison between versions, please go to: http://www.biblehub.com.

   All bracketed material may be authorial comments, attempts at proper syntax, or minimal rewordings of Scripture for the sake of clarity and continuity.  These emendations will not be italicized.

   The “/” will be used to signify “and/or.”  The symbol “↔” is used to connect verses corroborating each other and so establishing doctrinal truths (Matthew 18:16↔2Corinthians 13:1).

   In differentiating between Yahweh Son [Jesus] and Yahweh Father [the Most High God], lower case letters have been used when discussing the former; upper case letters are reserved for the Only and Most High God.  Since Jesus was at pains to differentiate himself from Father, we have followed his lead here.

   The term neo-Christians will be used to differentiate between false Christians and Jesus’ true followers.

 In this series we will attempt charting Father‘s plan of redemption from conception in His mind to its demise at the hands of men. By definition, Father‘s mind is unknowable (Romans 11:33-34), so that in His case, we can only extrapolate from what He has chosen to reveal to men through the Holy Spirit (1Corinthians 2:10↔John 16:13), the proverbial ‘ghost-writer’ of Scripture (2Peter 1:21-20).

 While relying partly on conjectures, arguments are not strictly off the top of our heads, but suggested by quoted Scriptures; so that rather than violating doctrinal integrity, we are attempting to ‘fill in the blanks’ following the methodology Paul used in his Epistles. If he opened the door, we can walk in albeit with reverence and trepidation, being justified as long as we—as he did—rely only on the written record (Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Ecclesiastes 3:14; Acts 17:11, 26:22; Titus 1:9).

Conception

 When did Father conceive His plan of redemption? This can never be answered, since it must have taken place before time was. How do we know this? Because the first undertaking in implementing that plan was the creation of Light, symbolizing Yahweh Son‘s/Jesus’ being called into existence (Genesis 1:3; John 1:9-10, 8:12; Colossians 1:15↔Revelation 3:12); as attested to in Psalms 2:17: “I [Yahweh Son] will tell of the decree: Yahweh [Father] said to me, “You are My son. Today [a measure of time] I have become your father.” Though these words are attributed to David who lived in a different time frame, the original conversation took place on First Day of Creation.

 Please note that the preceding two verses, Genesis 1:1-2, only mention Father and Holy Spirit; Son is not accounted for because he was not eternal—and therefore not consubstantial—with the Dyadic Divinity. Through Paul in 1Timothy 6:16, the Holy Spirit confirmed: Father—and naturally His Spirit—alone has ‘innate’ immortality. While at the time 1Timothy was written Jesus had become immortal with his resurrection (Colossians 1:18↔1Corinthians 15:51-52; Psalms 17:15↔1John 3:2), it was Father Who conferred that immortality. Since Jesus was dead [or rather asleep], he had no way of resuscitating unless Father awoke him (Acts 13:30, 17:31; Romans 8:11); in flesh suitable to enter spiritual realms (1Corinthians 15:50) different from the corruptible nature of the inserted embryo in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:35).

A Brief Digression

 Before we proceed, please note that Father and Holy Spirit are used interchangeably—as in Acts 13:30 and Romans 8:11. They are both part of the Deity we call God; but different in rank and function. Father tells the Holy Spirit what Father wants to reveal to men (John 16:13↔Amos 4:13); so in this sense, the Spirit is ‘under orders’ from Father. Yet in function, the Holy Spirit is not only privy to the totality of Father‘s mind (1Corinthians 2:10), but relays back to Father through Jesus the spiritual needs of people “anointed” with the Spirit (Romans 8:26-27). It would thus appear that the Spirit serves as Father‘s spiritual ‘probe,’ tasked with searching every human heart and understanding every human plan and thought [↔1Chronicles 28:9].

 The question now is, what is Jesus’ role in this synergy? We will come to that in the course of our discussion.

Continuing…

 We know that the names of the redeemed and the damned¹ were written down in books before the world was (Exodus 32:32-33; Psalms 69:28; Daniel 12:1; Revelation 13:8, 17:8, 21:27) and that Yahweh Son, the preexistent Jesus, was the inscriber (Revelation 3:17)—which in turn identifies him not as the never heard Yahweh Father (John 5:36-37) but as Yahweh Son Angel God who spoke to Moses face to face (Exodus 3:2-6, 33:11; Numbers 12:7-8).² In addition, Peter—or rather the Holy Spirit through him—told us that Jesus’ crucifixion was a done deal before the world began (1Peter 1:20); so that Paul could then conclude that Father’s work had been completed back then (Hebrews 4:3)—even before sin had entered the world.

 Here we add conjecture. In timelessness, Father decided to create humanity; but being All-Knowing, He must have known that creation would be corrupted by Satan, necessitating a Plan B to set matters right. If sin would contaminate all men through Adam, Father deemed it fair to de-contaminate them through Jesus—hence Paul’s Holy Spirit-inspired ‘first Adam/last Adam’ arguments (Romans 5:14, 18-19; 1Corinthians 15:21-22).  Jesus’ sacrifice would not only invalidate flawed Mosaic Law (Ezekiel 20:25↔Acts 5:10; Galatians 3:13-14; Hebrews 7:19,27), but his blood would remit human sins continually (Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 9:23-26)—the “sprinkled blood better than Abel’s,” (Hebrews 12:24) superseding that of sacrificial animals (Exodus 24:8; Hebrews 9:19-22) conferring only temporary remission of sins.

 A Deity by nature, Father Himself could not be expected nor would consent to submit His Majesty to the abuse of men; but someone lesser in rank and reverence could be expected to—hence the need to add a third person to Father‘s plan of redemption: Son, the first-born [read first-created] of all things (Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:12). Please note that Paul, not having been present on First Day and not having been privy to any divine arrangements, had no way of ascertaining Son‘s origin unless told so by the Holy Spirit—the gist of 2Peter 1:20-21; but Son, who did, corroborated Paul in his new-appointed capacity as Interim proxy God (Matthew 28:18; Revelation 1:18)—a reign totally different from his proxy-Godship in the Old Testament. We will come back to this in Part II: Implementation.

 Whatever dialogue transpired between Father and Son before the undertaking of Creation is impossible to ascertain; but in Scriptures like John 10:15,17 and Hebrews 10:5-7, it is clear that Son agreed to his incarnation in order to sacrifice his life so that his followers could be forgiven their sins. Paul alludes to Jesus’ mindset in Philippians 2:5-10: Son, “while in the form of God,” clearly implying like-Father but not Father Himself, consented to divest himself of his God-like attributes in order to assume human form and play the role of sacrificial Lamb in Father‘s plan. Let us play attention to detail. In Mosaic Law the sacrificial lamb had to be first-born, male and without blemish, so that this rite foreshadowed the very essence of Jesus’ role; not only in terms of sanctifying the people, but as the Paschal Lamb that had to be eaten before the mortal Exodus from Egypt into Canaan—itself a metaphor for the spiritual passage of Judeo-Christians from this world into Father‘s Promised Land. Hence the meaning implicit in Jesus’ words during the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26-28) and Paul’s identification of Jesus as the Pascal Lamb (1Corinthians 5:7).

 Further confirmation is found in Hebrews 10:5-7: “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you [Father] did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings [given under Mosaic Law] you were not pleased. Then I said, I have come to do your will, my God [↔Revelation 3:12], as it is written about me’” in Scripture. While it is tempting to ascribe these words to the Jesus born circa 4 BCE or thereabouts, Paul’s source is Psalms 40:6-8, written centuries before Jesus’ incarnation; so that these verses prophesy what Son speaking through David planned to accomplish in human form—which he was not at the time of Psalms. Therefore, this was part of Father‘s conception before Son came into being, at which point Father expressed His position to Son and Son agreed to abide by Father‘s will. Please note the correspondence between Hebrews 10:7 and Jesus honoring that commitment during his arrest (Matthew 26:53-54; John 18:10-11).

 Because Son was willing to die for others, Father committed Himself to give Son what he asked for (Psalms 2:7-8↔Revelation 3:27). Please bear in mind that during his ministry, Jesus attributed ownership of everything to Father (John 4:2, 6:3, 18:9)—the gist of Job 41:11 and Romans 11:35; so that Jesus had nothing of his own to give or share with his followers except what Father bestowed upon him [↔Matthew 20:20-23]. This further corroborates the fact that Father and Son are not the same person, just as ‘donor’ and ‘donee’ are not; reconfirmed in Revelation 3:12 by the resurrected Jesus, where he states having a God, whereas Father admits to no Deity other than Himself (Deuteronomy 32:39; Isaiah 45:5).

Hierarchy

 From the outset, there were three divine beings managing Father‘s plan of redemption, working in such a way that they agreed on everything (1John 5:6-8). But they were not of equal ranking: Father was the ‘decider,’ while Jesus mediated ‘the flow’ of the Holy Spirit (John 15:26) Who dispensed Father‘s wisdom. By calling the Holy Spirit “the Advocate,” Jesus laid the groundwork for Paul’s argument in Romans 8:26-27: The Holy Spirit “helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should.  But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words; and God [Father], Who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).

 Two points of interest. First, the Spirit can only assist men if their wishes are in agreement with Father‘s, which is John’s point in 1John 5:14: “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.” Or not, if people wish for things contrary to expectations in His plan of redemption. Because Father has proscribed every worldly thing or desire men crave for and lust after (James 4:3-4), He is not involved in human pursuits [↔Luke 17:26-29], monetary windfalls (Proverbs 23:4-5; 1Timothy 6:10), fame (John 5:41,44), or anything that has nothing to do with spiritual edification and growth. Contrary to self-serving pipe-dreams, Father is not Aladdin’s genie.

 Secondly, John calls Jesus “our advocate” (1John 2:1), which is how Isaiah 51:22 portrays Yahweh Son. It would then seem that just as Jesus is Teacher of doctrine while the Holy Spirit imparts Father‘s wisdom (Matthew 23:8; 1Corinthians 2:10), so Holy Spirit reports back to Jesus and Jesus ultimately pleads the saints’ cases before Father. Granted that this sounds somewhat convoluted; but except for the need of having Jesus come to earth to teach Father‘s doctrine and die for men, why involve Jesus in matters that Father and the Holy Spirit could handle between Themselves? Why must Jesus direct the flow [i.e., “anoint with” as in 1John 2:27] of the Holy Spirit if not to highlight the fact that as Judge of all Flesh (John 5:22),³ he must be privy to all the facts before rendering Judgment in Father‘s presence (Isaiah 45:22-23; Daniel 7:9-10); necessitating that the Holy Spirit must first report His findings back to Jesus? After all, only Jesus endured the human condition first-hand [↔Hebrews 2:10]; making him uniquely qualified to supplement the Holy Spirit‘s reporting with mitigating factors in favor of each individual ‘saint.’

But what can be definitely ascertained is that Jesus is not on a par with either Father or Holy Spirit. We are told Father is Spirit (John 4:24), or rather two Spirits in One Person:  Himself and the Holy Spirit. What does that mean? Using the human body as a point of reference, we may visualize Father as the ‘body’ and the Holy Spirit as the ‘soul’; but this is no definitive answer. Son, on the other hand, was first amongst the angelic host and probably like them,⁴ yet superior to them in rank (Hebrews 1:5-14. The Old Testament refers to Son as the Angel of Yahweh (Genesis 16:7,13, 18:2,13,25, 22:11,15, 48:15-16); most notably in Exodus 3:2-6, where he, as the Holy Spirit corroborated through Jacob/Israel (Genesis 48:15-16), identified himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Paul himself called Jesus “the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve” (Acts 27:23)—who could not have been any run-of-the-mill angel co-serving with men (Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 22:9). Also recall that Yahweh Son is sometimes referred to as winged-creature (Ruth 2:12; Psalms 36:7, 91:4; Ezekiel 17:3↔note allusion to multi-colored feathers as was Joseph’s coat (Genesis 37:30], or as the human Jesus himself did in Luke 13:34.

 Let us consider that this may just be poetic imagery describing divine protection; but in Father‘s plan of redemption, Son is Israel’s de facto protector (Exodus 14:19, 23:20; Numbers 20:16; Zechariah 12:8). For reasons discussed earlier, Father will never personally intervene in the affairs of men until Armageddon (Deuteronomy 32:35; Revelation 20:9); nor is He ever portrayed in Scripture as having wings—unlike Cherubim (Exodus 25:20; Ezekiel 10:5) and Seraphim (Isaiah 6:2) who do. In point of fact, Satan, who was conceived as a cherub (Ezekiel 28:14), is symbolically portrayed in Scripture as a winged-creature (Isaiah 14:29, 30:6; Ezekiel 17:7, 29:3↔Revelation 20:2; Daniel 7:4), but not depicted as such when factually present (Job 1:6-7, 2:1-2; 1Chronicles 21:15-16; Zechariah 3:1-2; Luke 4:3-13). So are wings imagery depicting angels’ ability to fly or do they really sport wings? Yahweh Son and Satan do not. You decide.

 Jesus torpedoed notions that he was the high-ranking, doctrine-drafter Father (John 14:14,28); or that he was All-Knowing like Him (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:7; Revelation 1:1).  Jesus too was ‘under orders’ but not co-equal in substance or reverence to Father and Holy Spirit.  This is why men’s blasphemies and sins against Jesus will be forgiven, but never ever those leveled against the Holy Spirit (Matthew 12:31-32)—and by extension, since Father and Spirit are One, against Father Himself.  Furthermore, worshipping Son as Father deprived Father of His rightful worship [↔Hosea 7:13 [Son], 11:7 [Father]. Irrespective of His exalted position, the Holy Spirit is never personally the subject of worship.

 This tri-partite synergy meant that only Father‘s will got to be obeyed and implemented: He told the Holy Spirit and Son what to do and they complied. The offshoot of this was that though three distinct beings with individual wills and minds, they operated as one because Father called the shots—which is the specific ‘oneness’ Jesus claimed to have with Father in John 10:30.

The Divine Syllabus

 With a plan and an implementer in place, Father next codified and explained redemption is a series of books written over time that had to be studied and meditated upon (Joshua 1:8; Job 23:12; Psalms 1:1-2, 119:17; 2Timothy 4:13). Though some of these books are lost—not those men call ‘Apocryphal’ which are extant, but those like Nathan’s, Ahijah’s, Shemaiah’s, Iddo’s, and Joash’s (2Chronicles 9:29, 12:15, 13:22, 24:27). This suggests that Scripture was a work in progress, being upgraded to address timely issues. The Bible we now have is remarkably similar to the Qumran parchments; which suggests that from Maccabean times up to 68 CE, when the settlement was abandoned, much of what we accept as doctrine was still in force. By the end of the first century CE, books to be regarded as Scripture had been assembled; but to think that Father left that task entirely up to men’s discretion is to ignore how little He thinks of them (Isaiah 29:10-14↔Mark 4:11-12; 1Corinthians 1:20-21, 3:19-20; Jeremiah 8:8). Rest assured He had a hand in the proceedings.

Vetter/Assessors

 While this syllabus was designed to entrap unbelievers (Isaiah 28:13), it provided means for the faithful to navigate Satanic dogmas [↔1Timothy 4:1]: In the final analysis, none of the wicked would understand, but the ‘enlightened’ would (Daniel 12:10). While the adjective of choice in most translations of this verse is “wise,” we want to differentiate between Biblical scholars/interpreters who know their Bible but are not empowered to understand it [↔Mark 4:12]. ‘Enlightened’ as used here means illumined by Jesus, the “light of the world,” the one whose Gospel dispels Satan’s darkness by making the blind see, the deaf hear, and the lame walk upright—literally and spiritually (Luke 7:22↔Isaiah 35:5-6). Jesus’ provides this ‘enlightenment’ by “anointing” believers with the Holy Spirit (John 15:26, 16:13; 1John 2:27), the revealer of Father‘s “hidden wisdom” (1Corinthians 2:7-12↔Deuteronomy 29:29); so that believers can discern spiritually what unbelievers cannot (1Corinthians 2:13-14). This process is strictly under Father‘s control: Without Him, no matter if any person’s IQ = 1 googol to the nth power, that person will not be privy to Father‘s “hidden wisdom” (Isaiah 29:10-14).

Truth Checking

 Next came an in-built system of checks and balances: The necessity for two or three Biblical writers/witnesses to agree on sound/correct/irrefutable doctrine. In this manner, as was required by Law (Deuteronomy 19:15↔Matthew 18:16; John 8:17), Jesus corroborated Father‘s perspectives as Father Himself corroborated Jesus’ through his miracles (John 5:36)—precedents Paul would later preach (2Corinthians 13:1; 1Timothy 5:19) and invoke to validate his ministry (1Corinthians 2:4-5). This synergy involved a third being, the Holy Spirit bearing witness to Father‘s and Son‘s words and acts, which is the gist of 1John 5:6-10. John added the crucial teaching that the faithful knew they were in sync with all three as long as the Holy Spirit mediated through Jesus remained in them (1John 2:27, 3:24) “opening” their understanding [↔Luke 24:45; John 20:22]. The objective here was to free believers from untrustworthy/compromised/predatory religious teachers.

Timelines

 This, in turn, delimited what Scripture calls “times of ignorance” (Acts 17:30) from “times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). Since the crucial difference between the two is the “anointment” of the Holy Spirit, “times of ignorance” refers to Jews relying of priests/interpreters of the Law who were more concerned with self-gain/prestige than in spiritual guidance (Jeremiah 8:8-11; Ezekiel 22:27, 34:2-10; Zephaniah 3:3-4; Matthew 23:5-7); whereas “times of the Gentiles” refers to the evangelization of non-Jews via the Holy Spirit without need of men (1John 2:27).

Perspective

 The later required that Jesus be on earth to liaise communications between Father and men (John 14:6; 1Timothy 2:5), something he had done from Heaven in his pre-existence as Yahweh Son. Dispensation of the Holy Spirit back then had not been general but targeted, as with Balaam (Numbers 24:1) Gideon (Judges 6:34), Samson (Judges 14:19, 15:14), Saul (1Samuel 11:6), David (1Samuel 16:13) and most prophets; yet their various deeds had had nothing to do with revealing Father’s “hidden wisdom.” In point of fact, Peter tells us that Jewish prophets spoke of things not meant to be understood by them, but by future Christians with the intercession of the Holy Spirit (1Peter 1:10-12). Proof of this is Daniel 12:9, where Daniel wrote down things to be kept “concealed and sealed” until end-times, when they would be understood by the faithful as they became fulfilled. Paul speaks of a time when prophecies of any kind would no longer serve any purpose (1Corinthians 13:8); ushering in Jesus’ second coming after Father declared His plan of redemption completed (Revelation 16:17).

Purpose of the Divine Syllabus

 First and foremost, we assume that the main purpose of Scripture is for men to know Father, an objective He finds “pleasing” (Jeremiah 9:24). This does not mean comprehending Father‘s nature but appraising Him in terms of morality, justice, and His intentions towards us (Jeremiah 29:11). While it is true that He will rake us over burning coals in the process of perfecting us to be His ‘legitimate’ children (Hebrews 12:5-8), this is not done in a vacuum: Upon acknowledging our transgressions even before knowing the Gospel, we are required to make atonements of some kind that will sorely test the mettle of our faith (Psalms 51:4; Jeremiah 30:11; Micah 7:9; 1Peter 1:5-7, 2:20-21, 4:12-13,6). Neo-Christians who believe that ‘by accepting Jesus as their Lord’ their past sins are erased have not the least conception of what Christianity is about. When Scripture says Father “will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (Numbers 14:18; Nahum 1:3), we are being told He will allow Satan to beset us but never beyond the point of individual endurance (1Corinthians 10:13). This is why Paul reminded us to temper our sense of Father‘s kindness with His severity—which included being cut off is not toeing His line (Romans 11:22).

 Secondly, Father wants people to know where He is coming from and what He plans to do. Yahweh Father “will do nothing, unless He reveals his secret to His servants the prophets,” for He favors having everybody on the same page (Amos 3:17, 4:13). In a way, this is Father‘s application of “forearmed is forewarned”; but more specifically, the means by which He inculpates the sinner—the gist of Scriptures like Ezekiel 3:18-21⁵ and John 15:22. Following Jesus’ lead, Paul later argued that even in a sinful world, guilt was not imputed on those ignorant of Father‘s Law, but that having come to know it, they automatically became guilty of sin (Romans 3:20, 4:15, 5:13).

 Thirdly, there were lines not meant to be crossed; and covenants meant to be obeyed unconditionally. These covenants specified binding rules and regulations, plus consequences and punishments for defaulting on their terms (Deuteronomy 30:11-20; John 14:23).  Men were given the free will to choose or reject them:  The first promising life immortal; the other ensuring eternal death (Romans 6:16-23).  This may sound heavy-handed, but Creation and everything in it pertains to Father (Job 41:11↔Romans 11:35) and what goes in it must meet His standards—the compliance, by the way, demanded by any human wielder of power. Father‘s love of mankind does not mean getting a free ride: Even Jesus had to bite the bullet to prove worthy of his inheritance.

 The ‘bullet’ in question is Father‘s harsh discipline; and until having patiently persevered at (Luke 21:19) and endured it in hopes of success [↔Philippians 3:12-14], no one obtains citizenship in Father‘s Kingdom. For this reason men are viewed as pilgrims rather than full-fledged tenants (Leviticus 25:23↔Hebrews 11:13; 1Peter 2:11); a status to be achieved before the time of grace expires (Isaiah 55:6, 57:16; Zephaniah 2:2-3; 2Corinthians 6:2). Obedience is the main requirement; the alternative for non-compliers is extermination at Armageddon (Hebrews 10:27,30-31; Revelation 20:7-10, 14-15). In this respect, Father and Jesus are radicals, not middle-roaders (Hebrews 10:38; Revelation 3:15-16).

 Paul provided a fourth reason in Romans 15:4: “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” It was necessary to have a record that gave historical perspective to Jesus’ followers, in order to show—at the very least—Father‘s impartiality across past generations of believers. Paul’s focus on “hope” may have been an attempt to dilute the unquestionable downsides of the Christian life, where hope did not translate as ‘mission accomplished.’ Believing Father would honor His promise to Abraham at some future time (Romans 4:18) certainly did not give Abraham any cause to celebrate—unless we jump forward to the time when he comes face to face with his children in faith in another order of things. Paul’s “great could of witnesses” died without receiving what had been promised them (Hebrews 11:17-39, 12:1); and even Paul, facing death and exulting in his sense of victory, acknowledged that his crown of glory lay in the future (2Timothy 4:6-8).

 Hard as it may be to accept, faith is both an expectation (Romans 8:24; 2Peter 3:13) and assurance of things we are not getting in life. And since it involves belief in a God Who proves His existence to us in subjective and suggestive ways, it is that faith which He sees fit to reward (Hebrews 11:6). Why? Because by rejecting what is at hand for the far more satisfying ‘piece-of-the-pie-in-the-sky,’ we show Him that we want nothing on this earth better than what we are sure He will give us someday.

Future Amendments

 Solomon said that adding wisdom brought pain (Ecclesiastes 1:18), given that despair could only result from a full understanding of the human lot. This is why Ecclesiastes, attributed to an older Solomon reflecting back on his successes and failures, is such a pessimistic albeit sobering book. And while Ecclesiastes is full of bitter realizations, the most distressing appear in Ecclesiastes 3:18 and 7:14: “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals”; and, “In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one and the other so that men cannot find anything after Him.” What is Solomon saying? That in our inhumanity to each other, we behave instinctively like irrational animals rather than moral beings [perhaps why nature was made to mirror our behaviors]; and that in the existence we cling to for dear life, Father has stacked the cards against us in hopes that we realize nothing truly lasting and worthwhile can be achieved alienated from Him.

 Towards these ends, Father gave us two things which are at the root of human suffering: Hidden wisdom to understand the dynamics of evil; and free will, the choice between embracing Him—therefore willingly submitting to His harsh discipline; or rejecting Him, leading to painful incineration at Armageddon [↔Luke 16:24]. While essential to Father‘s plan of redemption, these two will be rescinded at plan’s completion: Hidden wisdom, because with Jesus come and Satan vaporized, there will no longer be a need for the redeemed to know anything they already know. If prophecy is to expire, so will the need for written Scripture; the way we rely on books on our way to master some expertise. Readers may have heard the pious crock floated about in some denominations that the redeemed will spend eternity studying the Scriptures, which sounds pitiful in view not only that Father intends to forget our previous sins (Isaiah 43:25) but that there will be no memory of the past (Isaiah 65:17↔Ecclesiastes 1:11).

 This is not to say that Jesus’ doctrine will be forgotten (Matthew 24:35): For the whole of eternity, we will conduct ourselves according to its precepts. This was the aim of the ‘perfecting’ Father sought with His harsh discipline (Hebrews 12:10); and the state of grace achieved through the imitation of Christ (Luke 6:40↔Hebrews 5:8-9); John 13:15). The results are clearly stated: “You [are] a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people acquired, that you may show forth the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1Peter 2:9); thus “we wait for the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14); with whose blood he redeemed “people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” making them kings and priests in an everlasting Kingdom (Revelation 5:9-10).

 Do not make the mistake of misinterpreting Paul’s comment in Titus 2:14 to mean Jesus is God the Father. Paul was keenly aware, as he argued in 1Corinthians 15:24-28 that the time would come when Interim proxy God Jesus would abdicate his post to subject himself to Father‘s sovereignty, his God (Revelation 3:12). In Titus Paul was intimating that at the time of his coming, Jesus was still acting as Father‘s proxy Ruler; so that the transfer of power will take place after Father had suppressed all human governance—presumably after Armageddon and creation made anew.

 It should not escape us that since free will is what got Adam and Eve into trouble, it is the second thing Father will rescind in the restoration of all things.  “A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.  I will put My spirit within you [He will literally live in each one of us (Ephesians 4:6)], and make you follow My statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances.  Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be My people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:26-28). There will absolutely be not another chance to engage in insurrection.

Conclusions

 We might as well ask, why this convoluted approach to salvation? Would it not have been easier for Father—and pain-free for mankind—to have made the human race pre-wired for obedience? On the one hand, we know from experience that people do not appreciate the value of what is given them unless they work hard for it or after they lose it. Adam and Eve were sitting pretty in Eden without a care in the world; yet they could not thank their Creator with the one thing he asked of them. Earlier still, Lucifer had been made perfectly beautiful and wise (Ezekiel 28:12); but what he lusted after, given the fact that he was such a knockout (Ezekiel 28:15,17), was power-sharing equal to Yahweh Son‘s role as Father‘s proxy.

 Note that in Isaiah 14:14, Lucifer’s stated goal was to sit on a throne “to be like the Most High,” which does not necessarily mean bumping the Most High off his seat. In both Job 1:6-12 and Job 2:1-7, let alone Exodus 12:23, 2Samuel 24:16 and Zechariah 3:1-2, Satan was subservient to Yahweh Son. It must have seemed to him, given his attributes, that he was qualified for the post; what was needed was insurrection and leverage to achieve his goal—the standard MO in his worldwide realm of politics (Luke 4:5-6; 1John 5:19). Thus like Adam and Eve, Lucifer wanted more than the bounties bestowed upon him; so that as in the former’s case, free will seduced him into believing everything was possible if he just dared to upset the status quo.

 But more to the point is that unlike despots and autocrats past and present, Father wants to be loved in appreciation of what He stands for and represents. Human rulers exact worship under fear and duress; what matters to them is the sense of control irrespective of how the oppressed feel about it; and the awareness that no matter how egregious their thinking and deeds, they stand above everybody god-like. We have seen this time and again in propaganda, monuments and semblances of cultic worship built around abominable leaders untroubled by the fact that all of these were/are built on bankrupt notions of superiority. Father and Jesus, while demanding obedience, do so from the perspective that nothing perfect can exist outside Perfection Himself; and that to prove their goodwill and love towards men, One sacrificed His Son (John 3:16) to pave the way towards an eternal utopia (Hebrews 11:16); and the other endured the unmentionable to be regarded as brother, friend, and equal (Psalms 22:22; Luke 6:40; John 15:15).

   In God’s Kingdom business will not be as before:  Before it comes to pass, everybody must have experienced firsthand how things work outside of Father.  If men have nothing material, moral or intellectual to contribute to a new order of things, nothing is expected of them other than dutiful compliance and worship to its Creator/Sustainer. Surely this is not asking too much of creatures who expect and insist of being loved back as deeply as they love their significant others.

 In the final analysis, the objective behind human suffering is to wean mankind of its ‘our-way-or-the-highway’ penchant; disprove the ego-massaging delusion that people are ‘in control’ of their destinies; and to acknowledge that desires and aspirations common to all are only possible with Father at the helm.  Humankind is on earth along for the ride, not as prime movers of anything except as enablers/abettors of and complicit in evil deeds.  As long as Satan and his minions continue ‘sniping’ human souls until torched into ash, human suffering will continue.

   We conclude, then, that the world needed to be the hell it is so that angels and men would experience firsthand the perspective between a world where anything goes and a Kingdom where everybody is on the same page—a page dictated by a Perfect Deity whose perfect system could never be improved upon.  In order to establish that perspective, Father allowed the world to go to pot:  There is no more convincing teacher than personal experience, especially the one endured at great cost to self.

¹ But irrespective of the ‘predestination’ posited by Calvinism—an obvious misinterpretation of Romans 9:14-23. Every forewarned person has the right to either choose or reject salvation (Ezekiel 3:5,17-21; John 15:22-24↔Romans 5:13); so that when Paul wrote about men ‘predestined’ to be damned, he was referring to those who even before the creation of the world were foreknown to reject the Gospel.

² This singular honor amongst men was bestowed only upon Moses, simply to emphasize the fact that Jesus, who in time would supersede Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15), would be to Christians what Moses had been to Israelites—i.e., lawgiver (Exodus 31:18↔John 7:16), intermediary between Father and men (Exodus 7:1↔1Timothy 2:5), and judge (Exodus 18:14↔John 5:22). But unlike Jesus’ high priesthood in Heaven and in Father‘s Kingdom (Hebrews 7:21-28, 8:1-2, 10:19-22), Moses was no high priest to his people; yet he was able to freely enter the Tabernacle’s Holy of Holies, which his brother High Priest Aaron could not do (Leviticus 16:2), except once a year after performing cleansing, blood rites (Leviticus 16:3,11↔Hebrews 9:17).

The difference here is that with his resurrection, Jesus had been cleansed of sin for all eternity—sin, by the way, not his own but others’ piled upon him (Isaiah 53:4-6; 1Peter 2:24). Thus only Jesus, like Moses inside the earthly Holy of Holies (Numbers 12:7-8), could approach the mercy seat and speak with the Divinity face to face in the heavenly counterpart [↔Hebrews 8:2-5]. Whereas Moses’ interlocutor was Yahweh Son, technically ‘Divinity’ in the sense that he was Father‘s proxy just as Joseph had been Pharaoh’s proxy (Genesis 41:40-44), Jesus’ could dialogue with Father (John 15:15), the One and True Divinity, have the right to approach Him (Jeremiah 30:21; Ezekiel 44:3; Revelation 5:5-7) and sit by His right (Psalms 110:1↔Acts 7:56; Romans 8:34).

³ Which identifies him as the Yahweh who remained talking to Abraham while the other two “men” went on towards Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18:2,22,25).

⁴ As in Genesis 18, where he was one of the three “men” [i.e., angels] appearing to Abraham. Or as the “man” [i.e., angel] who wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32:23-30) and Jacob understood to be God (verse 30)—as confirmed by Hosea 12:4: “He [Jacob] struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him [the angel]. He [Jacob] found him [the angel identifying himself as the God of Bethel↔Genesis31:11-13] at Bethel, and there he [Jacob] spoke with us.” Please note the “us,” the plural pronoun Yahweh Son proxy Creator used in Genesis 1:26 denoting Father‘s involvement; though in Hosea, “us” may include all three divine Persons working in tandem.

Other examples of Angel Son‘s “maleness” occur in Joshua 5:14-15↔Exodus 3:5, and Judges 13:9-13,28,22. Please note the following correspondences: Judges 13:11↔Exodus 3:2-4,14↔John 18:6; Judges 13:18↔Genesis 32:29↔Isaiah 9:6.

⁵ Paul’s basis for his argument in 1Corinthians 9:16; and indeed the onus placed on male believers [↔1Timothy 2:12] to preach the Gospel no matter the consequences.