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LANNY SWAIM
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Kingdom Manna (2)
Theology vs Revelation: Free Will (2)
By Lanny Swaim
Many are called, but few are chosen.
Matthew 22:14
The above verse of scripture follows a parable of Jesus giving an example of what the Kingdom of Heaven/God is like.
Imagine that your son is getting married and you send out invitations to family and friends, but they all refuse to come to the wedding. Being very wealthy and having household employees (servants), you then send some of your servants to those you invited to give them an in person invitation, letting them know that a great wedding feast has been prepared and trying by whatever means possible to persuade them to come.
However, those invited continue to go about their daily business and even make light of being invited to the wedding. A small group of these invited guests get angry that you are trying to be so persuasive and become violent, actually killing some of your servants.
You call law enforcement and there is a showdown with this small group of your invited guests, with some of the invited guests being killed and their property destroyed, which leaves you with no guests coming to your son’s wedding.
So to fill the seats at the feast table, you send some of your remaining servants into the public arena to invite total strangers to the wedding feast, regardless of their social standing, and they come, not because they are qualified to come as were your family and friends, but simply because you chose to invite them in the absence of your family and friends.
I hope my modern day paraphrase of Jesus’ parable makes it clear that the purpose of this parable was to show the difference in being called (invited) and chosen. It isn’t necessary to overthink the details of the parable. I think we should just seek to understand the general interpretation of it, which is to point out the difference in being called or chosen.
The chosen ones were not family or friends, and therefore didn’t meet any qualifications to be invited to the wedding feast. They were chosen to come, not because of any choice of their own, but simply because they were available.
So it is with being invited to come into the Kingdom of Heaven/God. I believe all are invited (called) to come. However, many never receive the invitation because no one ever preaches the Kingdom to them. Others who do receive the invitation are unable to accept it for various reasons, which Jesus points out in the parable of the sower (see Matthew 13:3-8/Mark 4:3-9/Luke 8:5-8).
I am convinced, that if left to our own ability to choose, no one would ever choose to enter the Kingdom.
I suppose there was a point when those chosen guests made the choice to actually attend the wedding feast. They could have refused as did the family and friends. But they were probably not wealthy people, perhaps even poor people, and to refuse an invitation to a feast was not even a consideration. To accept a free meal, especially a very good meal, was a no-brainer. So in a sense there was no choice on their part.
So it is with those chosen to enter the Kingdom of Heaven/God. God orchestrates our lives in such a way that we have no other choice but to enter the Kingdom. I don’t live the life I live because I want to. I live the life I live because I have no other choice.
If you are chosen, you did not do the choosing. You were drafted.
While I do want to be in the Kingdom, that is only possible because He has enabled me to want to be in the Kingdom. And I must admit, I have had numerous days when I thought it would be much easier to not be in the Kingdom; just to live and die doing whatever, like most of mankind.
But God has to have someone to represent Him on Earth, eventually and ultimately bringing about a convergence of Heaven and Earth. And that’s why there are chosen ones, having nothing to do with free will, which is a subject the Bible does not address.
Again, as in our last teaching, I should point out that being chosen has nothing to do with an afterlife. We are not chosen to go to Heaven one day. We are chosen to bring Heaven to Earth. We are chosen for service. We are chosen for such a time as this.
Theology vs Revelation: Free Will (3)
By Lanny Swaim
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God…
Mark 1:14
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Jesus in John 3:3
The kingdom of God is within you.
Jesus in Luke 17:21
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
Romans 14:17
The kingdoms [nations] of this world are become the kingdoms [Kingdom] of our Lord [Jesus], and of his Christ [the Body of Christ]: and he [we] shall reign for ever and ever.
Revelation 11:15
The Bible makes it clear in the above scripture references and others that the Kingdom of God is not in Heaven, but rather is on Earth, first of all in believers, but also issuing out of believers, causing a convergence of Heaven and Earth.
Revelation 11:15 (above) even goes so far as to say that there will come a time when the nations of the world will become the Kingdom of God.
This is the Gospel that Jesus preached (see Mark 1:4 above).
For many, many years the Church has been focused on preaching what I often refer to as The Gospel of Personal Salvation, which is basically about getting people born again so they can go to Heaven when they die physically.
But Jesus clearly said in John 3:3 (above) that the purpose of being born again (born from above) is to see the Kingdom.
Ancient Israel was not focused on an afterlife, and there is not much in the Old Testament about an afterlife. Their dealings with God were about the here and now, as ours should be under the New Covenant.
Because of the focus on an afterlife, the concept of being chosen, which we have been studying, has been seen through the lens of chosen to go to Heaven. But we must see the concept of being chosen through the lens of chosen to see and experience the Kingdom of God here on Earth, which entails a life of service to improve life here on Earth.
That is the purpose of bringing people into the Kingdom. We are actually recruiting them for a mission. If and when you can grasp that truth, you’ll find the entire Bible will read much differently than you may be accustomed to. And your relationship with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will change, making you, like David, a person after God’s own heart.
We have reduced the Gospel down to getting people to say a so called sinner’s prayer (another term not found in the Bible), confess Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and get on the glory train to Heaven. As a result, we’ve allowed the devil to take over the world.
The Greek word translated as Church in the New Testament is Ekklesia. It literally means called out to be a governing or legislative body. It is not a religious or spiritual word, but a political word. The purpose for being born again is to take over the world, not by force or coercion, but by changing hearts.
I can assure you, as we have already studied in previous Kingdom Manna teachings, if we are truly born again and a part of the Lord’s Ekklesia, we were drafted to be a part of the mission we are on. So called free will played no part in it.
Free will is an assumption born out of a false gospel.
If we can embrace the real gospel, which is The Gospel of the Kingdom, we will cease the foolishness of a false, fear based gospel (the concept of Heaven and Hell), and literally change the world, discipling the nations, and bringing about a convergence of Heaven and Earth.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Matthew 6:10 (see also Luke 11:2)
Theology vs Revelation: Free Will (4)
By Lanny Swaim
We’ve been studying a commonly used religious term, free will, which is really not addressed in the Bible. What is addressed is the reality that if we are seeing and experiencing the Kingdom of God, we were chosen to do so.
This is the last teaching in this series on free will. Instead of looking at the subject from a scriptural point of view, in this last teaching on the subject we’ll be looking at it from a common sense point of view.
To reason that our exercise of free will determines if we make it to Heaven when we physically die is preposterous.
Not everyone is capable of exercising free will. There are so many things that affect the decisions we make. Some of those things enable us to make good decisions, while other things can make it almost impossible to make good decisions.
Here’s one example:
I had an uncle who went into the army as a young man, during WWII. He had grown up going to church, and believed in God. Whether or not he was actually born again I don’t know, but he was basically a good person.
Somewhere in France in 1944, while lying in a ditch, he was hit in his upper back by a piece of shrapnel, and lived the rest of his life as a paraplegic.
When I was a teenager we lived next door to him. I would often sit with him at night and watch television. He rarely talked about the war, and from what I have been told, for quite some time after the war he suffered from PTSD, which was never diagnosed back then.
One night we had watched an episode of a TV show called Combat, which was set in Europe during WWII. The show always portrayed the Americans as doing the right thing and the Nazis as breaking all the rules of war.
After the show ended, my uncle looked at me and said, “It wasn’t like that.” He then told me that they took German prisoners out behind barns and shot them.
Other conversations I had with my uncle made me realize that he was angry with God, probably not only for what he suffered but also for what he had to do. I also realized that my uncle couldn’t forgive himself for what he had done.
While in a hospital in England after he was wounded, my uncle became good friends with a German POW in the same hospital. He tried to persuade the German to return with him to the states, but the German wanted to return to his home in Germany, and did.
My uncle became friends with a German POW after having executed German POW’s. Imagine how that would play on your mind.
After I was born again at the age of nineteen, I began praying for my uncle that he too would have a relationship with Jesus, find forgiveness for the things he had done, and no longer be angry with God. But it didn’t happen.
After my uncle’s passing I was upset that my prayers for him were not answered. At that time I still believed the widely accepted concept of Heaven and Hell, and that if a person didn’t accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior before they took their last breath, they were destined for eternal punishment. I also still believed we had been given free will, and that if we didn’t accept Jesus it was simply because we chose not to, and that because of that bad choice, we deserved eternal punishment.
But I just couldn’t accept that my uncle was in Hell.
He was a good and generous person, but because of his war experience he was angry with God and couldn’t forgive himself for what he had done. My dad was his primary caregiver and when my dad died at fifty-six, my uncle added that to his reasons for being angry with God.
I knew what I had been taught and as a result, what I believed, but I just couldn’t accept that my uncle was now experiencing eternal punishment, after all he had suffered as a result of fighting for his country, ensuring freedom for generations to come.
My point is this:
Free will is not only false doctrine, it isn’t reality. The choices we make in life are the result of many things; our DNA, our upbringing, our experiences, etc.
The only reason anyone is able to enter the Kingdom of God is because God has drawn that person and revealed the Kingdom to him/her. So we are not in the Kingdom because of free will, but instead because we were chosen to be in the Kingdom.
And why were we chosen? Not because of being qualified or because of anything we did. God chooses who He will simply because He has to have a people to represent Him and be like Him on Earth, in order to, in the fulness of time, bring about the restitution of all of His creation.
As I say over and over, accepting Jesus as our Lord and Savior and being born again is not about going to Heaven. Rather, it is about bringing Heaven to Earth.
The reason we have not seen and experienced a complete conversion of Heaven and Earth is because we have believed the wrong gospel. But glory to God, at least a remnant is beginning to see the Kingdom clearly, ruling with Him, bringing about the fulfillment of Revelation 11:15.
The kingdoms [nations] of this world are become the kingdoms [Kingdom] of our Lord [Jesus], and of his Christ [the Body of Christ]; and he [we] shall reign for ever and ever.
Surely we were born for such a time as this!!!
Theology vs Revelation: The Fall of Man
By Lanny Swaim
The LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Genesis 2:15-17
When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
Genesis 3:6
Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
1 Timothy 2:14
A theological term frequently used to describe Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit of The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, is the fall of man. There are various doctrines concerning this event held by different Christian denominations, as well as by Islam.
But was it really a fall? Or was it a scenario destined to play out as it did?
My intention is not to study or have a theological discussion on the various doctrines relating to this event, but is instead to share revelation I believe I have received about this event.
You may or may not agree with what I believe to be revelation I have received, but I would encourage you to consider what I have written and seek revelation of your own.
As was the case with the recent teachings on free will, to cover this subject will take more than one teaching. My intention is not to convince you that I am right, but is instead to encourage you to seek revelation of your own and in doing so, to better get to know the God we serve.
An understanding of what took place in the Garden of Eden is important to our understanding of the entire Bible and of God’s plan for mankind and planet Earth.
In this first teaching on the subject, I want to focus on the apostle Paul’s statement to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2:14 (above).
Genesis 3:6 (above) informs us that Eve ate of the forbidden fruit first, and then gave some to Adam who ate of it as well. Paul told Timothy that Eve was deceived by the serpent to eat of the fruit, but that Adam was not deceived. Adam ate of the fruit knowing full well what he was doing,
Have you ever wondered what would have happened to Eve had Adam not eaten of the fruit. Would Eve, having already eaten of the fruit, have been driven out of the garden while Adam remained? Would she maybe have died right there on the spot, leaving Adam without his wife?
The Bible doesn’t tell us, but it stands to reason that considering both Adam and Eve, after eating of the fruit, were driven out of the garden; Eve probably could not have remained in the garden, causing the two of them to become separated.
Both Adam and Eve were immortal before eating of the fruit. In Genesis 2:17 (above) God told them that if they ate of the forbidden fruit they would die that day. 2 Peter 3:8 describes a day as a thousand years, so utilizing Peter’s math, they did die in that day (millennium).
So Adam knew that regardless of how things played out, he was going to lose Eve if he didn’t eat of the fruit with her.
Adam’s love for Eve must have been very great, and the thought of losing here was probably more than he could bear. Not only was she his wife and the love of his life, she was the only other person on the planet at that time.
So rather than lose her, he chose to become like her to keep from losing her.
Genesis 3:8 tells us that Adam and Eve heard the voice of God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and that they hid themselves from Him because of their disobedience. They didn’t seem surprised that they heard Him in the garden in the cool of the day, so this must have been a frequent occurrence. Being accustomed to hearing His voice, it stands to reason that they had come to know Him well.
I believe Adam knew that if he became like Eve in her sin to keep from losing her, God would somehow become like him in his sin to keep from losing him.
2 Corinthians 5:21 confirms this:
He [God] hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who know no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him [Jesus].
Jesus is referred to as the last Adam (see 1 Corinthians 15:45). As the last Adam, He succeeded where the first Adam failed. Without the first Adam’s failure, Jesus (the last Adam) would not have come. His coming was God’s plan since the foundation of the world (see Revelation 13:8).
God forbade Adam and Eve to eat from The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, knowing they would eat from it; not only knowing they would eat of it, but knowing they had to eat from it.
In our next teaching, we’ll look at why they had to eat from it.
Theology vs Revelation: The Fall of Man (2)
By Lanny Swaim
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
Genesis 1:26-27
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.
Genesis 3:22
In Genesis 1:26 (above) God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." There is much debate as to the literal meaning of image and likeness in this verse. My intention is not to look into that debate in this teaching, but instead to share revelation I have been given on the subject.
The Hebrew word for image is tselem, and can mean to be a representative of something. God created man to be His representative on Earth. In our Republican form of government in the United States, we elect representatives to represent the general population in congress. We also have ambassadors we send to other countries to represent the United States.
God created man to represent Him on Earth.
The Hebrew word for likeness is demuth, and has to do with character. To be made in God’s image has to do with representing Him on Earth while to be made in His likeness has to do with becoming like Him in character, having His nature.
In Genesis 1:27 (above) we are told that God created man, both male and female in His own image. But there is no more mention of likeness.
As I was reading this one day, I suddenly realized that God created man in His image but He did not create man in His likeness, right after He said, “Let us make man in our image after our likeness.” So I asked Him, “What’s the deal?” You created man in your image but you didn’t create him in your likeness, right after you said, ‘Let us make man in our image after our likeness.’”
Immediately I realized, “Image can be created. Advertising agencies create image all the time. Hollywood is all about creating image. But likeness, or character, cannot be created. Character must be developed.”
This tells me that Adam was created sinless but not perfect. Perfection has to do with character, and since character cannot be created but must instead be developed, Adam was not created perfect. It actually took what is commonly referred to as the fall of man, which necessitated the coming of Jesus as a man, to enable man to even begin to become like God in character.
God created Adam not only knowing he would disobey and fall, but knowing he had to disobey and fall, which is made clear in Genesis 3:22 where God says that man had become like God knowing good and evil.
It took man becoming like God in that respect (knowing good and evil) in order for Him to become like God in character.
Adam’s fall opened the door to sin and death, which has caused much suffering on planet Earth. But it is through suffering that we learn obedience and God’s character is developed in us. Even Jesus had to learn obedience through the things He suffered (see Hebrews 5:8).
We’ve blamed the serpent, we blamed Eve and we’ve even blamed Adam for the condition of mankind down through the centuries until the present time, but ultimately it was all part of God’s plan to have a people like Himself, which has been His intent since before the foundation of the world (see Ephesians 1:4).
So while the scenario in the garden appears to be a fall, actually it was a step up toward not only becoming like God, knowing good and evil, but to becoming like God in character.
Theology vs Revelation: The Fall of Man (3)
By Lanny Swaim
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil.
Genesis 3:22
I form light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.
Isaiah 45:7
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work: and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
Isaiah 54:16-17
I have often thought of darkness as the absence of light, and as evil as the absence of goodness (peace). While this may be true, Isaiah informs us that God creates light and darkness, goodness (peace) and evil.
When I first discovered this scripture reference in Isaiah, I had a hard time reconciling that God would create these opposites, but by creating one, in essence He also created the other.
We often attribute darkness and evil to Satan, but clearly God created not only darkness and evil; He also created Satan to be the waster that destroys, according to Isaiah 54:16 (above).
We’ve been taught that Satan was once an angel in Heaven named Lucifer, who rebelled against God and was cast out of Heaven, but that cannot be substantiated by scripture.
The proper name, Lucifer, is nowhere to be found in the Bible. Lucifer is actually an invented name in the Latin Vulgate, which the KJV translators also used, mistranslating Isaiah 14:12, which is about King Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. A proper translation would be light bringer or light bearer. This is the only place in the entire Bible that the proper name Lucifer appears.
(As a side note, isn’t it interesting that modern day Satanists, globalists and secret societies refer to their god as Lucifer, a name which in reality does not exist.)
There are other scripture references used to support the idea that Satan was once an angel in Heaven, but all of them are gross misinterpretations. An excellent book that exposes all these false assumptions is The Enlightened Church: satan who? by Dr. Karl A. Barden, with the foreword by Kelley Varner.
So a thorough study of scripture proves that God created Satan to be the devil, and that He created darkness and evil with a purpose, which is to enable believers to become overcomers, acquiring the character of God in the process.
As overcomers with the character of God, which is unadulterated, genuine love, we step into our heritage, which is revealed in Isaiah 54:17 (above).
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
So you see, it takes a knowledge of good and evil to overcome the waster that destroys, enabling us to become like God in character, having His nature. What is commonly referred to as the fall of man was actually a scenario that had to play out in order for mankind and all of God’s creation to be perfected.
In essence, it wasn’t a fall at all, but a step up toward the fulfillment of God’s glorious plan for mankind and the created cosmos.
Theology vs Revelation: The Fall of Man (4)
By Lanny Swaim
He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
Ephesians 1:4-7
We’ve studied how Adam wasn’t deceived like Eve was in the eating of the forbidden fruit, but that he did so to keep from losing Eve, knowing that if he became like her in her sin to keep from losing her, God would somehow become like him in his sin to keep from losing him, which Jesus accomplished when He went to the cross.
We’ve also studied how God set Adam and Eve up to fail, knowing not only that they would eat of the forbidden fruit, but knowing they had to eat of the forbidden fruit in order to eventually acquire the character of God, becoming like Him.
If you have missed any of these teachings they can be found on my website. Simply click on “Kingdom Manna” at the top of any page and scroll down to read individual articles.
Applying these revelations to my own life, I can see how God has used even my failures and shortcomings to steer me into my destiny, like a rudder steers a ship to its destination.
As a newly born again Christian at nineteen years of age, I told the Lord, “I’ll do anything you want me to do and go anywhere you want me to go.”
Having already read books about great men and women of God, who went on incredible missions and did great exploits, I wanted to be like them. I was very zealous to do something like they had done and take my place alongside them, having people look up to me as I looked up to them.
What I didn’t realize was that while I desired to do good things, there was a lot of selfish ambition in my willingness to obey God and accomplish something great for the Kingdom of God.
Self has no place in the Kingdom. The Kingdom is all about Him and His plans for mankind and planet Earth; not about my selfish desires to appear great in His Kingdom.
Unaware of this error in my life, and thinking my desires were all about pleasing Him, required some failures on my part to sort of put me in my place, causing a dying to self that couldn’t be accomplished any other way.
While these failures were the result of poor decisions or choices on my part, He orchestrated my life in such a way that I would make these poor decisions and choices, ultimately humbling me and actually putting me in a position to be of use to His Kingdom.
Only a few months after I told Him I would do anything He wanted me to do and go anywhere He wanted me to go, He gave me a direct order and I disobeyed, due to poor reasoning on my part.
To obey that order would have been life changing. Disobeying that order was also life changing, setting in motion irreversible events that caused me and others much pain and suffering.
I wish I could tell you that failure was the only one, but there have been others since then. But looking back on them now, I can see how each one not only drove me toward my destiny, but also changed me on the inside, building in me the character of God in a way nothing else could have.
Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easier way to gain the character of God and become useful to the Kingdom of God? But there isn’t. And if you read your Bible, you’ll find examples of this in the lives of those we consider to be great men and women of God.
So, like what is commonly referred to as the fall of man wasn’t really a fall at all, our failures weren’t really failures either, but were instead a part of God’s plan to drive us into our destinies.
And while that knowledge is not an excuse to continue to fail, I take comfort in knowing that even my failures were a part of God’s plan for my life.
Knowing that, while I don’t want to repeat any of it, I wouldn’t change it either. And I can see how all of it has been a part of His love, mercy and grace at work in my life, and in the destiny of mankind and planet Earth.
Glory to God!
Theology vs Revelation: The Fall of Man (5)
By Lanny Swaim
Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty [arrogant] spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Proverbs 16:18-19
In the third chapter of Genesis is the account of Adam and Eve eating of the forbidden fruit, realizing they were naked, and sewing fig leaves together to hide their nakedness (shame).
Shame was a new experience for them. Isn’t it interesting that experiencing shame then produced pride. It seems their disobedience produced much more than physical death, which they didn’t experience for many years to come. Immediately it produced shame and pride, telling me that death comes in many packages other than dying physically.
Pride led to blame. Adam immediately blamed Eve for his disobedience, and Eve then blamed the serpent.
We’ve studied in previous Kingdom Manna teachings that the so called fall of man wasn’t so much a fall as an incident that had to take place in order of God’s man to become like Him, first of all knowing good and evil, in order to eventually acquire God’s character. But it appears that initially there was a fall of sorts.
However, the fall wasn’t Adam and Eve’s initial disobedience, which produced pride as a result of shame and then led to blame. The fall followed, as Proverbs 16:18 (above) says.
Pride/arrogance precedes a fall/destruction.
Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, into a world that produced weeds and thorns, making it difficult to produce the food needed for survival. In the garden they simply gathered fruit and vegetables, but in the wilderness they had to struggle to grow plants for food; certainly a fall from their life in the garden.
We often think of pride as being proud of something good we’ve done, but initially pride was in a sense false pride; an effort to hide shame because of something bad they had done.
And that pride was then passed on to their children, which led to the first murder when Cain killed his brother, Able.
I realize that sin is sin, but if sin could be rated, I think pride would be at the top of the list.
In 1 John 2:16, John mentions three things that are not of God, but are instead of the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Lust is simply pressure. The pressure of what we feel and see can lead to our involvement in actions that are not of God, which then produces the pride of life; wanting to look good when in fact we are not good.
This is the equivalent of Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves together to try to hide their shame. We try to look good by our own efforts, when the only way we will ever look good is to humbly realize that the only way we will ever look good is by accepting the Lord’s crucifixion.
Fig leaves could not hide Adam and Eve’s shame. It took the shedding of blood, when God killed animals and made clothes of their skins to cover their shame, just as it has taken the shedding of Jesus’ blood, to not just cover our shame, but instead to do away with our shame; literally making us new creatures in Christ Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).
He hath made him [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
2 Corinthians 5:21
So once again, while obviously there was a fall of sorts, ultimately it was a step toward the completion/perfection of all things.
And today, there is a remnant who is getting a glimpse of this reality, tasting of it and prophesying it, literally becoming what Jesus has already made us to be.
Surely we were born for such a time as this!
Theology vs Revelation:
The Second Coming of Jesus vs The Continual Coming of Jesus
By Lanny Swaim
In recent Kingdom Manna teachings we’ve been looking a theological terminology commonly accepted by Christians that is not in the Bible. Beginning today and in the next several teachings we’ll be looking at another of those terms: the second coming of Jesus.
Actually, the Bible does not speak of a first or second coming of Jesus. He was here in the beginning when everything was created (see John 1:1-5). He appeared as Melchizedek to Abraham (see Genesis 14:18-20 & Hebrews 7:1-3). He was born as a baby in Bethlehem (see Luke 2:1-16).
After His crucifixion and resurrection He appeared to many and continues to do so. One morning several years ago He walked through the closed door of my bedroom at 6:00am, sat down on my bed and talked with me.
And He is continually coming in a people, as we will see in today’s teaching.
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: and all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: and Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Genesis 5:22-24
The Hebrew rendering of the English translation of the name, Methuselah is Methushelach. It is taken from two Hebrew words, math and shelach. In Hebrew math means of full stature, like an adult. Shelach means a missile or spear (weapons of war) or a shoot of growth or branch.
As you may know, Biblical names, especially Hebrew names, have meanings that often establish or declare the destiny of the individual bearing the name, prophesying who that individual will become and what that individual will accomplish in life.
As you probably also know, Biblical numbers, like Biblical names, also have meanings. In Jude, verse 14 we are informed that Enoch was the seventh generation from Adam. Seven in scripture is representative of completion or perfection. And that would make Methuselah the eighth generation, eight meaning a new beginning.
And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.
Jude 14
Of these in Jude 14 is referring to ungodly people mentioned in the preceding verses. Verse 15 speaks of the Lord coming to execute judgment on these ungodly people.
So in essence, the name Enoch chose for his son, Methuselah, prophesies of the coming of the Lord to execute judgment.
The word that is translated as cometh in Jude 14 is the Greek word, erchomai, which signifies an action begun in the past and continuing in the present, with the emphasis on the present, or an act in progress (a process). So, when Enoch prophesies the Lord’s coming, he is not speaking of a future one-time event, or of a first and second coming. Instead, he is speaking of a continual coming.
Jude 14 speaks of Jesus coming with a very large number of saints, or believers. The Greek word translated as with in this verse is en, and literally means in. So, Enoch’s prophecy in Jude 14 actually says, “The Lord continually comes in ten thousands of His saints.”
Jude, verse 15 informs us that Jesus is coming to execute judgment on ungodly people. Again, this is a continual event and not a one-time event. The English word judgment in this verse is the Greek word, krisis. From krisis, we get the English word crisis.
Krisis in Greek implies a separating or surrendering, a trial or contest, especially when justice and injustice, right and wrong are considered.
We first learn of Enoch in Genesis, the first book of the Bible, (Genesis meaning beginning), very early on in the fifth chapter.
To clearly understand scripture, especially prophetic scripture, we must compare scripture with scripture. I find it incredibly enlightening that in the beginning of the Bible a biblical truth is established; that Jesus’ coming is continual. Not future, not first and second, but continual (past, present and future).
Without this knowledge, it becomes very easy to misinterpret much of the rest of the Bible. And a misinterpretation of prophetic scripture greatly affects the way we function as the Lord’s Ekklesia (Greek for Church, meaning a governing or legislative body).
In the next several Kingdom Manna teachings we’ll be looking at different aspects of the continual coming of Jesus, and shed light on some of the misinterpretations of His coming. You aren’t going to want to miss any of them, because, surely we were born for such a time as this.
Theology vs Revelation:
The Second Coming of Jesus vs The Continual Coming of Jesus (2)
By Lanny Swaim
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him; to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace; without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.
Hebrews 7:1-3 & Genesis 14:18 (note: a difference in spelling – Melchisedec in Hebrews, Melchizedek in Genesis but the same person)
In our last Kingdom Manna teaching we took a prophetic look at the name, Methuselah, the first son of Enoch, from the fifth chapter of Genesis and the New Testament Book of Jude, which indicates that Jesus’ coming is continual and not a first and second coming, or any other number for that matter.
If you missed that, I encourage you to read it before reading this one. If it is no longer in your inbox, you can find it on my website. Simply go to “Kingdom Manna” at the top of any page, click on “Kingdom Manna (2)” and scroll down.
In this teaching, we are going to look at another Genesis confirmation that Jesus’ coming is continual.
There has been much speculation as to who Melchisedec actually was. Hebrews 7:3 states that he was made like the Son of God. When taken at face value, this statement seems to indicate that he wasn’t the Son of God, but only like the Son of God.
But let’s put this statement in the perspective of when Melchisedec appeared on the timeline of history, long before Jesus was revealed as the Son of God when He was born in Bethlehem.
When we look at the description of Melchisedec in Hebrews and then at the fact that He served Abraham what we commonly refer to as communion (see Genesis 14:18), long before Jesus went to the cross on the timeline of history, and that Abraham tithed to him (see Genesis 14:20), it appears that he was made more than like the Son of God. It seems he must have been a pre-incarnate appearance of the Son of God.
The fact that he served Abraham communion long before the crucifixion took place on the timeline of history is confirmation that Jesus was crucified from the foundation of the world (see Revelation 13:8), from an eternal perspective. He was not initially crucified at the time of a so called first coming but instead has always been crucified.
Another way of saying this is that His crucifixion was revealed when He was crucified on the timeline of history.
Melchisedec was the king of righteousness and the king of Salem (Salem meaning peace). He wasn’t born into the world having a father and mother, nor did he have ancestors. His life had no beginning and no end on the timeline of history.
Who else could he have been other than a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus?
And, if he was in fact a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus, then Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem many years later was not His first coming. And if there is no first coming, there will be no second coming.
His coming is continual, period.
Theology vs Revelation:
The Second Coming of Jesus vs The Continual Coming of Jesus (3)
By Lanny Swaim
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. And the Word was made 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
…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13:8
In the last two teachings on the continual coming of Jesus, we have looked at His coming being continual on the timeline of history. In this teaching, I want to look at the eternal aspect of His continual coming.
Revelation 13:8 informs us that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 tells us that we were chosen to be in Him before the foundation of the world.
So everything that has happened, is happening or ever will happen on the timeline of history in a time/space universe, has not only already happened and will forever be happening; it is continually happening.
Someone has said that God created time to keep everything from happening at once. Perhaps another way to look at eternity would be to say it is an ever present now.
The Hebrew view of eternity is a never ending circle, going round and round and round.
The better I get to know the Lord, and the better I understand scripture (especially prophetic scripture), the more I experience eternity even though I still live in a physical body on a physical planet in a physical universe.
While on a day to day basis we make choices and decisions that have benefits and/or consequences, from the eternal perspective, we have no control over our lives, having been chosen to be who we are and on the path we are on. From that perspective our destiny is sealed, period.
The primary revelation that has opened up this eternal perspective to me and caused me to realize that Jesus’ coming is continual rather than a first and second coming, is an understanding of the prophetic significance of The Feasts of God; Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles, with Passover and Tabernacles being three part feasts. So there are three main feasts with seven total feasts.
The coming of Jesus as the Son of Man, being born on Tabernacles and crucified on Passover, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost as recorded in the second chapter of Acts, are the first prophetic fulfillments of the feasts. However, there is another prophetic fulfillment of them that has and is taking place during the Church Age of the past two thousand years and the Kingdom Age, which we are now entering into.
For more on the second prophetic fulfillment of the Feasts of God, go to “More” at the top of any page on my website and scroll down to read an entire book on the subject, free of charge.
Without a working knowledge and understanding of the prophetic significance of The Feasts of God, it is impossible to fully understand the New Testament or any of the prophetic scriptures in the Old Testament or the New Testament.
The Feasts of God contain understanding of God’s plan for mankind and for all of creation.
To realize that Jesus’ coming is continual rather than a future second coming will change your understanding of the purpose of the Gospel and of God’s purpose for you and the ministry He has called you to and chosen you for.
And, if you are one of the chosen remnant for this new day we have now crossed the threshold of on the timeline of history, this realization will help you to better understand and navigate the tests and trials you have and very possibly are continuing to be subjected to, as you are being prepared to reign with the Lord, ruling and discipling the nations as the Kingdom of God comes in/on Earth as in Heaven.
Surely, absolutely we were born for such a time as this!
Theology vs Revelation:
The Second Coming of Jesus vs The Continual Coming of Jesus (4)
By Lanny Swaim
But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Matthew 24:36 & 42
In Matthew 24:34 Jesus said that the generation He was speaking to would not pass away before the things He was prophesying in this chapter came to pass. That being the case, the coming He was speaking of here is past history, not future history as many want to believe.
However, considering the continual coming of Jesus we have been studying, perhaps there is a principal set here that encompasses additional time periods other than the fulfillment of this chapter in AD 70 when Rome destroyed much of the city of Jerusalem, including the temple, killing many of the Jews and shipping many others off to the slave markets of the world, leaving only a remnant in Judea (the fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew).
Jesus’ coming is not confined to a first and second coming or to any specific number of comings. It is continual, and those continual events in the lives of individuals or of the Church or even nations, usually if not always are unexpected in the moment they actually happen.
When I have had supernatural experiences, some of which Jesus actually appeared to me, I wasn’t expecting them when they happened. Often I wasn’t in a spiritual state of mind at all.
So, while we can be expectant or watching for these occurrences to come, the manifestation of His presence or the presence of angels or some other dream or vision, seems to usually be somewhat of a surprise.
I have and usually experience His manifested presence when I lead worship as a worship leader in a group setting, but I have learned that even then it is a mistake to expect Him to show up in a specific way or in the way He has done in the past. He seems to enjoy taking us by surprise.
I say this to make a point.
We have tried so hard to put future history into a chronological order based on what I believe is usually an intellectual understanding of prophetic scripture rather than a revealed understanding of it, with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit refusing to be put in our boxes.
He wants us aware of the significance of the time in which we live so we know how to proceed in faith and in agreement and corporation with His plans, but that kind of knowledge only comes by revelation of the Holy Spirit. Intellectual knowledge just will not cut it. In fact, intellectual knowledge will mislead us and cause us to fail in our callings.
At such a crucial time in history, we cannot allow that to happen.
We must do what 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us to do:
Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Theology vs Revelation:
The Second Coming of Jesus vs The Continual Coming of Jesus (5)
By Lanny Swaim
This is God speaking to the Israelites in the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land:
Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared. If thou shalt indeed obey his voice, and do all that I speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary unto thine adversaries. I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.
Exodus 23:20, 22, 29-30
Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.
Isaiah 28:9-10
We have been taught that Jesus will one day touch down on the Mount of Olives, set up His earthly Kingdom and rule the world from Jerusalem.
Have you ever thought about what a kingdom like that would look like and how it would function?
That kind of civil kingdom would have to have laws and those laws would have to be enforced.
Does that concept not go against Jesus ruling the world by changing people’s hearts?
In the wilderness, before they began conquering the Promised Land, the Israelites were given laws to follow, only to prove their inability to follow those laws.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people.
Hebrews 8:10
The people of Israel could not obey God’s laws by attempting to do so. They proved that over and over. It took another action on the part of God to enable them to keep His commandments. It took the coming of Jesus as the Son of Man, going to the cross and then being resurrected and sending the Holy Spirit to indwell believers.
That action established a covenant between God and His people, changing their nature and character, enabling them to obey His commandments.
As Christians we would like everything to be instant. But more often than not, God’s way of dealing with mankind is a process rather than instant.
That’s why mankind has suffered through the past six thousand years of pain and death to bring us to this new day (millennium) when mankind and creation will be perfected.
Perfection cannot happen instantly. Perfection where mankind is concerned is about character, and character cannot be created; character has to be developed.
That’s why Adam and Eve had to fall in order to become like God in character. They had been created sinless but not perfect. In order to begin the process of perfection, they had to come to a knowledge of good and evil, without which Jesus could not have come as the Son of Man, enabling mankind to begin the process of perfection, which is completion.
As we enter this new day, the continual coming of Jesus is bringing us closer and closer to the completion of God’s plan of redemption and restitution, not only for mankind but for all of His creation.
Surely we were born for such a time as this!