CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED!

Jesus Christ is risen! Yes, He has risen for the last 2000 years! Sunday will be the second Sunday of Easter! The Gospel of John 20:19-31 points us to the first church and showed them hiding behind locked doors on the day of the resurrection of Jesus. The irony is that the doors of the world were wide open. The world was at the door of Jesus’ grave making sure he stayed dead. But death could not hold him! For the resurrection power was too powerful for death and the world. Jesus rose victoriously over death and the grave! Death and the grave could not keep him from his small congregation of twelve hiding behind closed doors. Yes, they were scared. Yes, they were hiding behind closed doors. Yes, their faith failed them, especially since they witnessed their Pastor, leader, master, and Rabbi brutally taken from them and put to death. Who wouldn't hide! But Jesus Christ was not about to give death and the grave victory over his church. With the resurrection power, He rolled away his grave stone, silenced the world at his grave door, and walked through the locked door of his house church to give the promised ‘peace’ through the Holy Spirit to his small congregation! To rid any doubt from his congregation, Jesus encourages them, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” One member cried out, “My Lord and my God!” Today we can shout Praise God! Praise God! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! The church is alive! And upon this rock, Jesus Christ, the church is built and the gates of hates cannot prevail against it! 
Because of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection, the church no longer hides behind locked doors. The church is no longer an inner circle of twelve. It is Christ’s Universal Church, comprised of every nations, languages and tongues. And unites together all around the world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh what an awesome God! Oh what a savior!!!

THE RESURRECTION POWER

The resurrection power is awesome. It heals the sick, raise the dead, and set the captives free. And that’s what Jesus did all through his ministry. His crucifixion is fresh in our minds. He was crucified, nailed to a cross, because He had the audacity to heal the sick, raise the dead and set captive people free. 

That was part of his purpose in the world and in the church. Jesus had the awesome power to bring to life dead things. He had the audacity to demonstrate the resurrection power by calling his friend Lazarus to come forth from his grave after he had been dead for four days. Not only that when Jesus called Lazarus from the dead, other dead people took advantage of the call and walked away from their graves. 

When God calls the child of God, ordains and sends him or her to go into the world and proclaim the Gospel to all nations, and promise to be with him or her always to the end of the age, God will empower that person with the audacity to set free those who are held captive by sin. 

Jesus instructed bystanders at the grave site of Lazarus to take off the grave clothes off of Lazarus and let him go. Jesus is a friend of sinners, and he wants to remove sin from the sinners lives. The grave cloth is symbolic of the bondage of sin. And God wants to remove the grave cloth of sin with all of its stench and set the sinner free from the grip of sin. 

If you do not yet know Jesus, He is reaching out for you today. If you let him, he will remove your grave cloth of sin and set you free.

As children of God, as church leaders, let us take off from our church grave cloths that hinder and prevent the Holy Spirit from being welcomed in our midst. When grave cloths are removed broken people are made well.

The church is the hospital where Jesus lives and Jesus is famous for removing grave cloths. If you do not know Jesus, He is your friend. And he is calling you like he called his friend Lazarus; He is calling you to come forth from sin and death to a new life in Jesus. 

PENTATEUCH QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Pentateuch Questions and Answers:

What is the Pentateuch? 
The Pentateuch is the first five Books of the Old Testament Bible

What are the names of the first five Books of the Bible called the ‘Pentateuch’?

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

Who is the Author of the Pentateuch? 
The answer is Moses

Where does the term Pentateuch comes from?  
It comes from two Greek words:

The Greek word ‘pente’ meaning ‘five’ (5) and

The Greek word ‘teuchos’ meaning ‘volume’ or ‘scroll.’

How does the Jewish religion refer to the Pentateuch or the first five Books of the Bible? 
They refer to it as the Torah

What is another name for Torah? 
Law

Is the word Torah in the Bible? 
No. however, the Scriptures refer to ‘the book of the law of Moses.’

Genesis is referred to as? 
A Book of Beginnings

What does Genesis deals with? 
It deals with:

The world as the habitation of humanity, the origin of the human family, marriage and home life, and civilization (Gen. 1, 2, 4 ).

The ‘fall’ or human sin (Gen. 3)

The promises of redemption (Gen. 3)

Diverse human languages

God’s ‘call’ of Abraham from Haran to the land of Canaan.

The beginning of the twelve tribes of Jacob, or the house of Jacob, or the children of Jacob  

What is another name for the twelve tribes of Jacob? 
The children of Israel

Why was the twelve tribes of Jacob called the children of Israel? 
It was because God changed Jacob’s name from ‘Jacob’ to ‘Israel.’ Thus Jacob and his twelve sons and their children were called ‘the children of Israel.’

Are Jacob’s children of the Jewish Religion? 
No. The Jewish Religion had not yet started.

Did Jacob and his twelve tribes read the Torah? 
No. They are the Torah. They are the Pentateuch. They are the history of the Pentateuch -  the Torah.

Who is the father of Jacob? 
Isaac 

Who is the father of Isaac? 
Abraham

  

What were the names of Jacob twelve (12) sons which made up the twelve tribes or the children of Israel?

Reuben

Simeon

Levi

Judah

Zebulun

Issachar

 Dan

 Gad

 Asher

 Naphtali

 Joseph

Benjamin

Are any of the twelve tribes of Israel alive today? No. The Bible has no record of any of the twelve tribes of Israel who are alive today, and the descendants of the twelve tribes of Jacob seems to be untraceable to the modern worlds.

Does the Bible refer to any relatives of the twelve tribes of Jacob? Yes. The Bible refers to Paul the Apostle as being a descendant of the tribe of Benjamin. Paul was a First Century follower of Christ. (Philippians 3, and Romans 11). Mordecai the adopted father of Hadassah or queen Esther was from the tribe of Benjamin.  

The Bible also refers to Joseph and Mary as being from the descendants of David, who is a descendant of the Tribe of Judah. (Luke 2:4). So, we could trace some Bible characters from the descendant of David, such as Solomon, David's son, who is from the tribe of Judah. Jesus, John the Baptist and his family are from the tribe of Judah.