Sunday, March 29, 2026

Abide in Jesus Christ This Morning and Bear Much Fruit 🍑 🍑

Let us  🙏🏽 pray that you will grow in grace today.

Dear heavenly Father, I'm so ready to become a person known by your Holy Spirit. 

 I want to be a tree, like Psalm 1 explains, one that bears fruit in and out of season with leaves that never wither. It's hard to not get burnt out over it and exhausted. 

 But God, as long as l am planted next to your river of living water, I will flourish. 

Help me to stay near you by laying down the other things vying for my attention. 

Jesus Christ said that love is the greatest command. It's the beginning and the end. 

 I pray right now for a deeper revelation of how much you love me. You created me beautifully and wonderfully without flaw or error. After creating Adam and Eve, you stepped back and said, "That is very good. 

God, help me to see myself through your eyes. The truth is that I am loved, accepted, and good enough. 

All of my shortcomings were already paid for by the precious blood of Jesus. 

So I can walk openly and boldly in this life. l am loved by the Creator of the universe. For it is from this place of knowing I am loved that I can love others in my own life. 

May joy overflow from all I do. With my identity secure as your beloved, 

I feel a deep and pure joy rising up from my insides. Father God, when I look at your creation, I can see you have a sense of joy. 

 Show me the little things you do every day to make me smile.

I want to shine my light brightly and cheerfully so that others are drawn to ask what makes me so happy and I can testify about you. Christ that living in me. Amen. 

When others look at me, may they also see your peace that transcends understanding. 

Help me to not escalate tense situations but to be a person of peace. Make me patient, Lord. 

Whether I am waiting in line or waiting for a breakthrough, show me how to wait well. 

You develop my character when I do not get my way immediately. Help me to put my trust in you, patient and enduring until the time is right. 

Lord, make me kind. 

When I'm hard and full of sarcastic remarks or judgment, I make it hard for others to see you in me. Soften my heart,  Father God. 

I want to mirror your goodness to the world around me. You are so kind. Help me today to be generous and fair to every person who crosses my path.

 When it is within my means to give, may I do so. Help me to not withhold good from someone when I am able to bless them.  

You are so faithful, Father God. 

 Help me to radiate that faithfulness in my own life. 

 I want my no to be no and my yes to be yes. 

 I want to be a trustworthy person who always does what I said I would. 

It's hard, Father God, when I get distracted or forgetful. 

From the first day of my life, you have been so faithful. You never leave my side. You never take your eyes off me. 

I want to be faithful to you, too,  Father God. 

Forgive me when I get a little lost and lead me back to your everlasting love. 

Above all, God, keep me gentle. 

I don't want to hurt, offend, and run over others. I want to listen more than I speak. 

The perfect example of this gentleness I find in none other than Jesus Christ himself, my Lord and Savior. 

He did not come to be served but to serve. 

Even though he was God incarnate, he humbled himself and went low. 

Father God, my ego often gets in the way of being gentle and lowly of heart. 

And Lord, teach me how to practice self-control. 

Whether by fasting or abstinence or routine, I realize I need to teach my body and mind how to be controlled. 

Father, please show me one practical way to grow in self-control. This week, make my life full of all these fruit of the spirit. 

These are not things that I summon from within myself by trying or striving. 

Sure, I have a role to play, but ultimately Father God, these fruits come from abiding in you. 

 Apart from you, I cannot do any of this. 

Help me grow in your grace daily and become the person you made me to be. I want to bear much fruit so that my life will sing of your goodness. 

In Lord Jesus Christ's name, I ask and received with thanksgiving to you, my Father God. I love you, I trust you. 

 Amen. 


Respected visitor,

May you spend the rest of this day tucked in close to Jesus Christ's heart and leaning on Him all the way. Your life will overflow with the fruits of the Spirit when you keep abiding in Him and living His way. 

Thank you so much for tuning in. If you are going through any difficulties these days, we would be  truly humbled to pray for you. Please feel free to share in the comment section. God bless you and may His peace be with you. Amen, to our Father, be the honor and glory.



Psalm 1:

1 Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.


4 Not so the wicked!

    They are like chaff

    that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.


6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,

    but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.


Saturday, March 28, 2026

Forgiveness ( 6 of 13)


Horizontal and Vertical Breaches

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. – Luke 10:27

Trespasses and Sins

A trespass might not always be a sin.  Sometimes, however, sin could result from a trespass.  By “trespass” here is meant sin against a person, and by “sin” is meant trespass against God.  (You must be wondering what strange ‘dictionary’ this is.)  Trespasses are committed against fellow humans, and sin against God.  When the brothers of Joseph had the chance to meet him and address their regretted past, they confessed to both “trespass” (against Joseph) and “sin” (against God), but the trespass before the sin.

Why confess the trespass before the sin?  Because it is the one that often leads to the other, and one cannot properly seek peace with God while they ignore the offended humans with whom they ought to make peace first; one cannot properly atone for a sin at the altar of God without due amendments or reparations, where possible, to the human that was negatively impacted by that act (Matthew 5:22-24; 1 Peter 3:7).  The ‘pass’ that gives the guilty an access to God is the ‘clearance’ that they have received from the human.  The sense comes out in the conjunction “and” that connects the two: “Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, AND [or as well as] their sin” (Genesis 50:17).  In other words, two cases: a trespass “and” a sin, both emanating from the single act of betrayal.

The statement, being addressed to Joseph, might seem on the surface as supplication asking Joseph to forgive both their ‘trespass’ against him and the resultant ‘sin’ against God.  No.  Their confession was merely a recognition of the fact that they were, at that point, dealing with two matters instead of one: a trespass and a sin; also, that they were dealing with two persons rather than just Joseph.  God had been cojoined in the case, their trespass against man having also become sin against God, as it often happens.

Horizontal and Vertical Breaches

Every crime or sin has a horizontal (-) and a vertical (l) dimension; the two dimensions together make a cross (†).  The horizontal bar connects human to human (offender to offended; trespasser to trespassed, etc.), the vertical axis connects the offender or sinner to God, or to the supreme and universal laws of God and/or the laws or constitution of the land (e.g. criminal vs police; criminal vs judge; sinner vs God, etc.).

  • horizontal = human plus human;
  • vertical = human plus supreme laws/God;

vertical ( I ) plus horizontal ( – ) = cross (✝).

In a general sense, a trespass against a person, a crime in a community, or sin that breaks generally accepted principles of living, would ultimately be both horizontal (directly affecting a fellow human) and vertical (secondarily breaching the supreme laws of God and/or the laws of the people).  In other words, whereas there is a primary aspect of trespass, which impinges directly on the person(s) trespassed against, there could also be a secondary dimension bordering on the common laws of the people or the laws of God.  For example, if someone steals, they have, firstly and directly, trespassed a fellow human being, whom they have caused pain and discomfort by taking their property and denying them the use of it.  That is a horizontal breach, as all humans are on the same plane.  Nevertheless, that thief has also broken the laws of the land as well as the Law of God that declares, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:5), which is vertical in nature.  The thief could get forgiveness from the person they have deprived: that would be a horizontal resolution; but that thief also has to ask forgiveness from God for a supreme commandment broken.  The thief cannot say to God, “God, I have no business with You in this matter; after all, I did not break Your Sabbath or take Your name in vain.”  Neither can the thief say to himself/herself, “Since the owner has pardoned me, I have no confession to make to God.”

The forgiveness that one human being dispenses to another human being merely clears the trespasser from horizontal liability.  It does not also automatically settle the vertical dimension connecting the trespasser to the government of men or the Law of God.  The same applies in the reverse.  Sometimes complete absolution lies not merely in confessing to God but also in confessing to the person against whom one had committed the error confessed to God.  If I should steal your only stool (horizontal), then go and confess to God or His priest (vertical), I cannot retain the vertical forgiveness (from God) so long as I still keep the stolen stool in my house while you suffer the many inconveniences of the denial that I have caused you (horizontally).  Even you would not take my God-ward vertical penitence seriously if I took no steps to also make horizontal peace with you.  Not only will you be injured in your soul each time you find me on your stool, but you will also find it difficult to believe that I have made peace with God.

Securing Horizontal Harmony

Dr Omo Oba-Jesu of western Nigeria was a very fetish and brutal Satanist, with membership in over ten evil fraternities before he got saved in very dramatic circumstances.  In his days of sin, he had killed the only son of an aged couple.  When he got saved, God instructed him specifically to go and ask forgiveness from the parents he had bereaved.  He struggled with it for a long time.  By the way, nobody knew the killer, and God had forgiven him, he argued.  Ultimately, the voice of God prevailed, and he went to see those parents.

“I am the one who killed your son,” he said to them, after the traditional courtesies of respectful greetings.  “Now I am changed.  God has forgiven me, but I have come to also ask your forgiveness.”  He was prostrate on the floor in the traditional fashion of respect and penitence.  Their reply was profound: “If God has forgiven you, who are we not to forgive you?”  At that, they prayed for him and let him go.  He was free.

Each time I recall that story, I wonder, If the Most Mighty God had truly forgiven him, why would the same God insist on his also seeking the forgiveness of mere mortals?  Why didn’t God’s vertical forgiveness override every other horizontal liability? What was the significance of Omo Oba-Jesu’s horizontal step in the vertical realm of spirits?  What was the heavenly implication of that earthly obedience?  Why did the brothers of Joseph need to confess to him, when they could have settled with the Mighty God and left the matter there?

Sins and Consequences

When David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba the wife of his trusted army officer who was away on military assignment, he not only breached a horizontal trust, sinning against a fellow human, he also broke the Law of God that forbade adultery.  God subsequently got involved in the matter, addressing both the vertical and horizontal implications of David’s act.

Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the LORD to do evil in his [God’s] sight? [vertical],

thou hast killed Uriah … and hast taken HIS wife to be thy wife…. [ horizontal]

Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great [horizontal] occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme [vertically]… (2 Samuel 12:9, 14).

When David eventually realized his error, he addressed only the vertical dimension of his act, asking forgiveness from God.  I find no record that he also sought horizontal reparations.  He confessed to God but made no confession to the family of the slain man.  Accordingly, even though God forgave the sin (vertically), it did not also remove the horizontal (or earthly) consequences of the sin, so, there was bloody violence among his sons, there was molestation of females in his household, and other continuing forms of private and collective horizontal tribulations.  Ultimately, the child that was born from that illicit (horizontal) relationship died as further expression of God’s (vertical) displeasure.  This has taught me to not only seek forgiveness from God for sin, but also pay attention to and penitently request the deletion of likely horizontal consequences of the sin that has been confessed and forgiven.

Harmony with Heavenly and Earthly Fathers

The issue of horizontal and vertical dimensions in human relations is clearly illustrated in the confessions of the Prodigal Son to his father.  That penitent transgressor confessed to both “sin against heaven” and sin “before thee” – the father; he addressed his confession towards Heaven (vertically) and to his father (horizontally).  He did not assume that his confessions towards Heaven had covered all other dimensions of his act.  He did not claim that his clearance with God had also erased or overridden any obligation to man.  He recognized the three parties in the matter: Heaven, father, and himself.  Even though in his case he confessed first to Heaven, he still acknowledged his debt to the earthly father.

The Prodigal Son confessed first to Heaven and next to the father; he made peace with Heaven and, next, with the father on earth against whom he had trespassed.  Even before he started the long journey back home from his “far country,” he had already made peace with God and with himself.  He was already ‘born again,’ we might say, before the restorative meeting with his father.   The homeward journey was only a ‘walking out’ of the miracle that had already taken place in him.  It was the outward expression of his new inner state.  In both the story of Joseph and that of the Prodigal Son, the word “and” connects the heavenly and earthly transgressed parties; it connects the confession of trespass and the confession of sin.  We can therefore speak of two confessions made towards full restoration of relationship: one to the Heavenly Father, firstly; and the next to the earthly father or earthly party, secondly.

18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven [vertically]AND before thee [horizontally],

21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven [vertically]AND in thy sight [horizontally], and am no more worthy to be called thy son (Luke 15:18, 21).

One lesson from both accounts of Joseph and the Prodigal Son is that, confessing to God does not always totally absolve the trespasser, especially where there is also an earthly party to appease. The brothers of Joseph did not say that because they were “the servants of the God of thy father” they owed no man a confession.  The prodigal trespasser did not claim that because he had already confessed to God, and God had ‘forgiven’ him, he had no business talking with anyone else.  There was a first step of repentance towards God and the next of restitution towards man.  Anyone who has truly penitently encountered God will also proceed further with their penitence towards men.  Paul refers to this when he speaks about maintaining “a conscience void of offence toward God [first, vertically], and toward men [next, horizontally] (Acts 24:16).  Unlike Paul, some are so religious that they bother only about not ‘sinning against God’; they couldn’t care if they were sending the whole world to hell by their questionable ‘righteousness’ and adamant unruliness.

Trespassing unto Sin

We may now consider the relationship between trespass and sin, and how one might lead to the other.  If I were driving a car on a hot Sunday afternoon and splashed muddy water on your white shirt or dress, that would be a trespass without it having become a sin.  If the rapture should take place at the point of that accidental splash, that action alone would not be the reason for my missing that Flight. If, however, I became aware of the trespass, had every opportunity to pull over and offer an apology, but decided not to do so because I thought you deserved none from my eminent person, then that which had merely been a trespass would also have become a sin of pride.   Furthermore, if the act had been premeditated, planned and executed, it would have been a sin long before it became a trespass and, maybe, an offence.

Sometimes an act is merely a trespass against a person without it also being a sin against God.  Other times, it is both a sin and a trespass, or a trespass and a sin.  For example, if someone raped another’s wife, the act is both sin (of adultery or fornication) against God, as well as being a trespass against the husband and the woman.

A further illustration might be the personal and legal dimensions of a violation.  For example, if someone kills another, the family of the victim can sue the killer and seek damages.  If, however, they should choose to forgive, and decide to pursue the case no further, that does not free the killer from still answering for murder under the laws of the land.  In spite of the horizontal forgiveness (person to person), that killer could still be sent to jail or sentenced to death according to the laws of that land.  The killer has sinned not only against a household but also against a land, against a set of laws governing the land.  Settling the case with one party only does not entirely free the killer from the consequences of the act at the hands of the law.

Sometimes we let a simple trespass degenerate into sin because we are too proud to admit to an error and too stiff to bow to repair it.  Sometimes we cover up damages with a false spirituality that claims that because we have made vertical peace with God, every other horizontal obligation has been obliterated (Mark 7:10-13).  Matters of forgiveness are more horizontal in nature, yet they can block vertical frequencies, which stresses how crucial earthly matters can be in heavenly considerations (Matthew 5:22-24; 1 Peter 3:7).

Bearing God's image

 דָם in Hebrew, dam which means blood. Do you see what's happening here? The very name of the first human being contains both the substance from which he was formed and the life force that animates him. He is Adam because he comes from Adomar and he lives because of dam, earth and blood, dust and vitality, the mortal and the divine woven together in a single word. 

Genesis 2:7 makes this explicit. Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. Notice the sequence. 

First, God forms. The Hebrew word here is yatsa. The same word used to describe a potter shaping clay. God's hands are in the dirt. He is sculpting, molding, fashioning a physical form from the raw material of the earth. This is intimate. This is artistic. This is intentional. 

The animals were spoken into existence through the earth. But the human is formed by God's own hands. 

And then comes the second act. God breathes. The Hebrew word is napach. A forceful intentional exhalation. God leans in close, places his mouth near the nostrils of this clay figure, and exhales his own breath into it. 

And in that moment, the dust becomes nephesh chaya, נשמה חיה, nishma chia, a living soul. But here's the critical point. Nephesh chaya is the same phrase used for the animals in Genesis 1:24. 

Both humans and animals are living souls. Both are animated by the breath of life. Both move, eat, reproduce, and eventually die. So if being a nephesh chaya doesn't distinguish humans from animals, what does? 

צלם אלוהים tzlam elohim; Image of God

The answer is in the next phrase, tselem elohim, the image of God. This is where the paradigm shifts. 

This is where the modern church has missed the mark because we've been taught to think of image as a photograph, a physical resemblance. 

We imagine God with a form, a face, a body, and we assume that humans look like that form. 

The Hebrew word "tselem" (צֶלֶם) means "image" or "likeness," often referring to a reflection or representation of something, such as a shadow or a statue. It is used in the Bible to describe humanity being created in God's image, emphasizing the idea of resemblance and representation.

But the Hebrew word tselem doesn't mean physical appearance. 

It means something far more functional, far more powerful, and far more terrifying. 

The word tselem in ancient Hebrew culture referred to a statue, an idol, or a representative image that was placed in a location to signify the presence and authority of a king. 

When an ancient near eastern king conquered a territory, he didn't visit every city personally. 

Instead, he would erect a statue at tselem in the public square. That statue didn't look exactly like the king in every detail, but it represented him. It carried his authority. It reminded the people that they were under his rule even when he was miles away. To deface the statue was to insult the king. To honor the statue was to honor the king. The tselem was not the king himself, but it functioned as his presence, his voice, his power in that place. 

Now bring that understanding to Genesis 1:26-27. When God says, "Let us make man in our image," he is not saying, "let us make a creature that physically resembles us." 

He is saying, "Let us make a creature that will represent us on the earth. Let us place our tselem, our representative image in creation so that wherever humanity goes our presence, our authority and our character will be visible. 

This is not about anatomy. 

This is about function. 

This is about vocation. 

To be made in the image of God means that you are God's representative on earth. You are his ambassador. You are the living statue that reminds all of creation who is king. You don't just have the image of God. You are the image of God. 

 You are the walking, breathing, thinking, acting presence of the Creator in the physical world. 

This is why Genesis 1:26 doesn't stop with "let us make man in our image." It continues, "And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 

Do you see the connection? 

The image is directly tied to the dominion. 

The representation is inseparable from the responsibility. You are made in God's image so that you can exercise his authority over creation. 

The image is not a passive attribute. It's an active commission. You were designed to reflect God's character, his justice, his mercy, his creativity, his order by governing the world in alignment with his will. 

This is the first key, but it's not the full picture yet because we still need to understand what that dominion actually looks like. 

And that's where the next layer gets even more profound. 

Let me ask you a personal question. Do you ever feel like your life doesn't matter? Like you're just going through the motions, waking up, working, eating,  sleeping, repeating, without any real significance or purpose? Do you ever look at the world around you and feel powerless to change anything, like you're just a small, insignificant speck in a massive, indifferent universe? 

If you've ever felt that way, I want you to hear this. That feeling is a lie. 

It's a lie that contradicts the very foundation of your identity as a human being. 

Because according to Genesis 1, you are not insignificant. You are not powerless. You are not just another creature trying to survive. 

You are the tselem of God  placed on this earth with authority, purpose, and responsibility. 

Now, let's talk about that authority. 

Genesis 1:28 records God's first words to humanity. Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. 

Two key words here, subdue and dominion

 In Hebrew, subdue is kavash and dominion is שְׁלִיטָה shemlita . These are strong words, forceful words, and they've been misunderstood and abused for centuries. 

Some have used these verses to justify exploitation, environmental destruction, and cruelty toward animals. 

But that's not what the Hebrew conveys. Kavash means to bring under control, to cultivate, to develop. It's the word used for taming wild land, for turning a wilderness into a garden. It's not about domination for the sake of power. 

It's about transformation for the sake of flourishing. 

Rada, on the other hand, means to rule, to govern, to shepherd. 

It's the same word used to describe a king's relationship with his people. And here's the critical point. A good king does not exploit his people. He serves them. He protects them. He creates conditions for them to thrive. 

That is the kind of dominion God is calling humanity to exercise. You are not a tyrant over creation. You are a steward. You are a caretaker. You are a gardener, a shepherd, a governor who reflects the character of the God who made you. 

And here's the beautiful part. 

This calling is not just for pastors, missionaries or spiritual people. This calling is for you right where you are. 

In your job, in your home, in your relationships, in the way you care for the environment around you, every act of creativity, every moment of compassion, every decision to bring order out of chaos, that is you  fulfilling the image of God, that is you being exactly what you were designed to be. 

But now we have to confront something uncomfortable. 

Because if being made in the image of God means carrying his authority and reflecting his character, then we have to ask, are we doing that? 

Look around at the world we've created. 

Look at the brokenness, the injustice, the violence, the exploitation, the environmental devastation. 

Look at the way we treat each other. 

The way we hoard resources. 

The way we dehumanize those who don't look like us or think like us. 

Is this the image of God? 

Is this what it means to have dominion? 

Or have we somewhere along the way twisted our calling into something dark, something selfish, something that dishonors the very God we were meant to represent? 

Genesis 3 tells the story of how the image became fractured. Adam and Eve standing in the garden were given everything they needed to fulfill their calling. They had relationship with God.

They had meaningful work. They had authority without corruption. 

But then came the lie, "You will be like God, knowing good and evil." The standing upright serpent didn't offer them something they didn't already have. They were already like God. They were his image. But the serpent convinced them that the image wasn't enough, that they needed to become God, to seize autonomy, to define good and evil for themselves apart from their Creator. And the moment they  ate that falsehoodthe image didn't disappear, but it became distorted. 

Humanity still carried the tselem Elohim, but now it was warped by sin, by pride, by rebellion. 

We still have dominion, but now we use it to dominate. 

We still have authority, but now we abuse it. 

We still have creativity, but now we create weapons, systems of oppression, and monuments to our own glory. 

And here's the devastating truth. 

The image is still there. Even after the fall, Genesis 5:13 reaffirms that humanity is made in the likeness of God. 

Genesis 9:6 grounds the prohibition against murder in the fact that humans are made in God's image. 

James 3:9 warns against cursing people because they are made in God's likeness. 

The image is not erased by sin, but it is corrupted. It is like a cracked mirror. It still reflects, but the reflection is broken, distorted, incomplete. 

And that's the tension we live in every single day. You are the image of God. You carry his authority. You have his calling. 

But you are also fallen, fractured, prone to use that authority for selfish ends. 

You have the capacity for great good and great evil. 

You can create or destroy. You can bless or curse. 

You can reflect God's character or obscure it. 

And the weight of that responsibility is staggering. Because every choice you make, every word you speak, every action you take, it's either polishing the image or cracking it further. 

So the question is not just what does it mean to be made in the image of God. The question is what are you doing with that image? 

Now let's come back to Genesis 1:31.

After God creates humanity in his image and commissions them to fill the earth and exercise dominion, something changes in the narrative. Up until this point, after each stage of creation, God looked at what he had made and said, "It is good." Six times the refrain repeats. And God saw that it was good. 

But in verse 31, after the creation of humanity, the language shifts and God saw everything that he had made. And behold, it was very good. Not just good, very good. Why? 

What changed between verse 25 and verse 31? 

The answer is simple. Humanity entered the picture. 

The earth was good. 

The animals were good. The ecosystems were functioning perfectly. 

But the creation was not complete until the image bearer arrived. Here's the profound implication. 

The world doesn't reach its full potential without you. 

God designed creation to be governed, cultivated, and developed by His image bearers. 

The earth was not meant to remain a wilderness. It was meant to become a garden, a place where divine order and human creativity work together to produce flourishing. The animals were not meant to wander aimlessly. They were meant to be named, understood, and cared for by a creature who could see them as God sees them. The cosmos itself was  waiting for humanity to step into the role of co-governor, Co-creator, co-sustainer alongside God. This is why the creation becomes very good only after humanity is formed. Because now the system is complete. Now the purpose can be fulfilled. Now the image of God is present in the world ready to reflect his glory in every corner of creation. 

But here's where it gets personal. If the world was very good because humanity fulfilled its role, then the opposite is also true. When humanity fails to fulfill its role, the world suffers. 

This is exactly what apostle Paul describes in Romans 8:19-22. 

He writes, "For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 

Did you catch that? The creation is waiting for humanity to be fully restored. 

The earth itself is groaning, longing for the imagebearers to be healed, renewed, and recommissioned. 

The brokenness of creation is not just a punishment for human sin. 

It's a direct result of humanity's failure to fulfill its calling. 

When the image is distorted, the world suffers. When the representative fails, the kingdom   crumbles. 

So here's the realignment. Your life is not insignificant. Your choices are not inconsequential. 

Your presence on this earth is not accidental. 

You were designed to be God's representative to carry His image, to exercise His authority with wisdom, justice, and compassion. 

And the world is waiting for you to step into that role. Not perfectly because none of us can do that this side of eternity, but faithfully, intentionally with the awareness that every moment of your life is an opportunity to reflect the character of the God who made you. This is  not about earning God's love or proving your worth. This is about living into the identity you already have. You are that Elohim. You always have been. 

The question is, will you live like it? 

Now, we're ready for the final layer, the one that connects everything we've explored. 

 Because there's one more question we haven't fully answered. If the image of God is fractured by sin, if humanity is incapable of perfectly reflecting God's character and exercising his authority in the way he intended, then how do we fulfill our calling? Is the image just a tragic reminder of what we were supposed to be but can never fully become? 

Or is there hope? Here's where the entire biblical narrative comes into focus. 

Because Genesis 1 is not the end of the story. It's the beginning. And the story moves forward toward one central figure, Jesus Christ. 

The New Testament calls Jesus Christ the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15. 

Not an image, the image, the perfect, uncorrupted, fully realized representation of God in human flesh. Where Adam failed, Jesus succeeded. 

Where humanity distorted the image, Jesus restored it. Where we abused dominion, Jesus exercised it perfectly. Not by dominating, but by serving,  healing, teaching, and ultimately dying to reconcile creation back to God. And here's the stunning truth. 

Jesus  Christ didn't come just to be the image. He came to renew the image in us. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 says that as we behold the glory of the Lord, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

 Colossians 3:10 speaks of putting on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator. 

Romans 8:29 says that God's purpose is for us to be conformed to the image of His Son. 

Do you see what's happening? The image is being restored, not through our effort, but through Christ's work. Through his life, death, and resurrection, the cracked mirror is being repaired. The distorted reflection is being clarified. 

The fallen image-bearers are being renewed into the likeness of the perfect image bearer. And this brings us full circle back to day six. 

God creates humanity in His image, commissions them to have dominion, and calls the creation very good. 

But the story doesn't end there because in Christ, we see the full realization of what that image was always meant to be. 

Jesus is the second Adam, the true human, the faithful image bearer, the one who perfectly represents God on earth and restores humanity to its original calling. And through union with Him, we are invited back into that calling. Not as independent rulers, but as sons and daughters of the King, co-heirs with Christ, empowered by the Spirit to once again reflect God's character and exercise His authority, not for our own glory, but for His and for the flourishing of alI creation. 

This is the hidden meaning of image of God that most people never discover. 

It's not about looking like God. It's about representing God. It's not about a static attribute you possess. It's about a dynamic calling you fulfill. 

And it's not something you do alone. It is something you do in Christ, through Christ, and for Christ. 

The image was given in Genesis 1. The image was fractured in Genesis 3. The image was restored in the Gospels. And the image is being renewed in you right now every day as you surrender to the Spirit 's work and step into the identity you were created to carry. 

So when you read Genesis 1:26-27, don't just see it as ancient history. See it as your story. See yourself in that moment when God said, "Let us make man in our image. See the dignity, the responsibility, the calling that was placed on humanity from the very beginning. 

And see the hope, the promise that even though the image has been broken by sin, it is being restored by grace. You are the tselem Elohim , image of God, and that changes everything. 

I want to bring the intensity down for a moment because after everything we've explored, the Hebrew meanings, the theological layers, the weight of our calling, I don't want you to walk away from this truth feeling crushed by the responsibility. 

I want you to walk away feeling empowered, equipped, and hopeful. Yes, being made in the image of God is a profound calling. 

Yes, it means that your life has weight, significance,  and eternal consequence. 

Yes, it means that every choice you make is an opportunity to reflect God's character or obscure it. But it also means that you are not alone. You were never meant to carry this calling in your own strength. 

From the very beginning, God designed humanity to live in relationship with Him, to be sustained by His presence, to be guided by His wisdom. 

And through Christ, that relationship has been restored. You don't have to be a perfect image.  bearer. You just have to be a faithful one. And faithfulness does not mean perfection. It means showing up day by day, choice by choice, asking God to shape you more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. 

Respected reader, so, here's my challenge to you this week. Pay attention to the moments when you have the opportunity to reflect God's image. 

Maybe it's in how you treat a co-worker who frustrates you. 

Maybe it's in how you care for the environment around you. 

Maybe it's in how you speak to your children or how you use your creativity or how you respond to injustice. 

In those moments, remember who you are. 

You are the tselem Elohim, the image of God, called to represent His character and exercise His authority with wisdom and compassion. 

You are not insignificant. You are not powerless.

You are not just surviving. You are image bearing. 

And the world is waiting for you to step into that calling. 

Before you go, I want to remind you that this channel exists to help you encounter the depth, beauty, and power of God's Scripture in ways you've never experienced before. If this revelation opened your eyes to something you'd never seen, if it challenged you, if it gave you a deeper understanding of who God is and who you are, then please do not keep it to yourself. 

And share this truth with someone who needs to hear it. 

Because the truths we've uncovered today are not just interesting information. 

They're life-changing revelation. And there are people in your life who need to encounter the God who made them in His image and called them "very good." 

Thank you for walking through this with me. I thank God for you, too.


Humbling or being humbled

 1 Peter 5:6 ,  Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

Question: Do we know what it means to humble? I know John talked about it last week, please can our teachers remind us?



When God Humbles His People

To be sure, we are not left without some postures we can cultivate and means to pursue. Daily humbling ourselves under the authority of God’s word, and humbling ourselves by obeying His words, and humbling ourselves by coming desperately to Him in prayer, and humbling ourselves in fasting — these all have their place in our overall response as creatures to our Creator. But first and foremost, we need to know humbling ourselves is responsive to God.


He is the one who created our world from nothing by the power of his word (Hebrews 11:3). He is the one who formed the first man from the ground (Genesis 2:7) and the first woman from his side (Genesis 2:21–22). Father God is the One who chose to reveal Himself to us, to speak words into our world through His prophets and apostles, to make known Himself and His Son and His plan for our redemption. And he is the One who, through the gentleness and merciful severity of His providence, humbles His church again and again, from without and from within, and in his humbling brings us to the fork in the road: Now, how will you respond to my humbling purposes in this trial? Will you humble yourself?


When the next humbling trial comes, will you bow up with pride, or bow down in humility? God has a particular promise for you in these moments. The God of all power will exalt the humble in his perfect timing.


“When trials come, will we bow up with pride, or bow down in humility?”



How Do I Humble Myself? 


Humility is not something we can achieve. We might consider it quintessentially present citizens to think we could. You can do it. Be proactive. Take the first step. Grab the bull by the horns and be humble.


In other words, humble yourself by your own bootstraps.


But if we come to the Scriptures with such a mindset, we find ourselves in a different world. Genuine humility, as with true faith, is not self-help or a life hack, but a response to divine initiative and help.


God Opposes the Proud

Make no mistake, we do have a part to play in humility. It is not only an effect but a command. In particular, two apostles tell us to humble ourselves. And both do so in strikingly similar ways, adding the promise that God will exalt us on the other side:


Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. (James 4:10)


Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you. (1 Peter 5:6)

  So far as we can tell, apostle James and apostle Peter have not been inspired by each other on this point, but by the Old Testament. In the immediate context of instructing us to humble ourselves, both quote the Greek translation of Proverbs 3:34 (“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble,” James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). But before we run off to create our own program for self-humbling, we should consider the context in both passages.

Again, let's ask ourselves, “When trials come, will we bow up with pride, or bow down in humility?


Humbling from Within

For our purposes here, observe that both calls to self-humbling come in response to trials. Apostle James refers to quarrels and fights within the church:


What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. (James 4:1–2)


Conflict among those members claiming the name of Christ humbles the church. It serves as a test of pride, and humility. Apostle James reminds them not only that they are “sinners” and “double-minded” but he also reminds them of Proverbs 3:34. He charges the church to submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God (James 4:7–8). In other words, “Humble yourselves before the Lord.” The church is being humbled from within. Now, how will they respond to God’s humbling purposes in this conflict? Will they humble themselves?


Humbling from Without

So also in 1 Peter, the church is under pressure. Society is mouthing its insults and maligning these early Christians. They are beginning to suffer socially and emotionally, if not yet physically. They are under threat, and tempted to be anxious. And at this moment of humbling, apostle Peter turns to Proverbs 3:34, and exhorts them, “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another” (1 Peter 5:5).

“Humility, like faith, is not an achievement.”


Here the church’s humbling is coming from without. Outside.

 Now, how will they respond to God’s humbling purposes in these insults? Will they humble themselves? Will they bow up, reacting with pride and self-exaltation, or will they bow down, humbling themselves before the gracious hand and perfect timing of their Lord?


Self-Humbling as Responsive

Over and over again in the Bible, self-humbling is not something we initiate but something we receive, even embrace — even welcome — when God sends his humbling, however direct or indirect his means. The invitation to humble ourselves does not come in a vacuum but through our first being humbled.


Humility, like faith — and as a manifestation of faith — is not an achievement. Humility is not fundamentally a human initiative, but a proper, God-given response in us to God himself and his glory and purposes.


We don’t teach ourselves to be humble. There’s no five-step plan for becoming more humble in the next week, or month. Within measure, we might take certain kinds of initiatives to cultivate a posture of humility in ourselves , but the main test (and opportunity) comes when we are confronted, unsettled, and accosted, in the moments when our semblances of control vanish and we’re taken off guard by life in a fallen world — and the question comes to us:

How will you respond to these humbling circumstances? Will you humble yourself?


Gladly Receive the Uncomfortable God

For Christians, self-humbling is mainly responsive. It is not something we just up and do. We don’t initiate humility, and we don’t get the credit for it. It’s no less active, and no less difficult, but it is responsive to who God is, what he has said to us in his word, and what he is doing in the world, specifically as it comes to bear in all its inconvenience and pain and disappointment in our own lives. Self-humbling is, in essence, gladly receiving God’s personalities, God's words, and God's acts when it is not easy and comfortable.


First comes the disruptive words or circumstances, in God’s hand and plan, that humble us — as it happened for King Hezekiah seven centuries before Christ. God healed him from his deathbed, and yet the king “did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart was proud.” God then acted against Hezekiah’s pride. God humbled him. In whatever form it took, we’re told that “wrath came upon him and Judah and Jerusalem(2 Chronicles 32:25).


“Genuine humility is not self-help or a life hack, but a response to divine initiative and help.”

Then comes the question that presses against our souls, as it did for the king: Will I receive God’s humbling or resist it? Will I try to explain it away or kick against it, or will it serve to produce in me genuine repentance? 

And if I do not humble myself, then, further divine humbling will follow in time. God’s initial humbling leads unavoidably to some further humbling. The question is whether it will be our self-humbling or further (and often more severe) humbling from God.


For Hezekiah, he acknowledged the divine wrath as opposition to his own pride, and he “humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord did not come upon them in the days of Hezekiah” (2 Chronicles 32:26).


When the next humbling trial comes, will you bow up with pride, or bow down in humility? God has a particular promise for you in these moments. The God of all power will exalt the humble in His perfect timing.


[ Philippians 2:1-11 . ¹ So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ² complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³ Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴ Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,[a] ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,[b] ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,[c] being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.


Footnotes

[a] Philippians 2:5 Or which was also in Christ Jesus

[b] Philippians 2:6 Or a thing to be held on to for advantage

[c] Philippians 2:7 Or slave (for the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos)


Philippians 2:1-11 emphasizes the importance of humility and unity among believers, encouraging them to adopt the mindset of Christ, who humbled himself and served others. It highlights that God exalted Jesus Christ , and every knee will bow to Him, acknowledging His lordship.

 

Overview of Philippians 2:1-11

Philippians 2:1-11 emphasizes the importance of unity, humility, and the example of Christ. The Apostle Paul encourages the Philippians to adopt a mindset similar to that of Jesus Christ .


Key Themes

Encouragement and Unity

Encouragement in Christ: Paul begins by urging believers to find strength and comfort in their relationship with Christ.

Call for Unity: He asks them to be of the same mind and love, promoting harmony among themselves.


Humility and Service

Attitude of Humility: Apostle Paul instructs them to act without selfish ambition and to consider others as more significant than themselves.

Example of Christ: He highlights that Jesus Christ took on the nature of a servant, demonstrating ultimate humility.


Exaltation of Christ

God's Exaltation: The passage concludes with the declaration that God exalted Jesus to the highest place, giving Him a name above all names.

Universal Acknowledgment: It states that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, glorifying God the Father.


Conclusion

Philippians 2:1-11 serves as a powerful reminder of the values of humility, unity, and the example set by Lord Jesus Christ, encouraging  His believers to live in a way that reflects these principles.


Philippians 2:1-11 Meaning and Commentary


INTRODUCTION TO PHILIPPIANS 2

This chapter contains several exhortations to unity, love, and concord, to humility, and lowliness of mind, and to a becoming life and conversation; and concludes with commendations of two eminent ministers of Christ, Timothy and Epaphroditus. The arguments engaging to harmony and mutual affection, are taken from the consolation that is in Christ, the comfort there is in love, the fellowship of the Spirit, and the bowels and mercies which become saints, Php 2:1, 

as also from the joy this would fill the apostle with; and the things exhorted to are expressed by likeness of mind, sameness of love, and unity of soul, Php 2:2, 

and the manner directed to for the preservation of such a spirit, is to do nothing in a contentious and vainglorious way, but in an humble and lowly manner, having a better opinion of others than themselves; and observing their superior gifts and graces, and so submit things unto them, Php 2:3,4, 

and which humble deportment is further urged, from the instance and example of our Lord Jesus Christ, Php 2:5, 

which is illustrated by the dignity of his person, the glorious divine form in which he was, and his indisputable equality with his Father, Php 2:6, 

and yet such was his great condescension, that he became man, appeared in the form of a servant, and was humbled to the lowest degree, even to die the death of the cross, Php 2:7,8, 

nevertheless God exalted him as man, and gave him superior honour to all creatures; and will oblige all to be subject to him, and acknowledge his dominion over them, to the glory of his divine Father, Php 2:9-11, 

hereby suggesting, that in like manner, though not to the same degree, such who are humble and lowly minded shall be exalted by the Lord; and then with the greatest affection to the Philippians, and with high commendations of them, the apostle renews his exhortation to do all the duties of religion with humility and modesty; knowing that all the grace and strength in which they performed them was owing to the internal operation of divine power in them, Php 2:12,13, 

and therefore should be done without murmuring against God, or disputings among themselves, Php 2:14, 

and next he proceeds to exhort to an unblemished and inoffensive life and conversation, as the end and issue of a modest and humble behaviour; and this he enforces on them, from the consideration of their relation to God, being his children, which would appear hereby; and from the wickedness and perverseness of the people they lived among; and therefore should be careful, lest they be ensnared by them, to the dishonour of God, and the grief of themselves; and from their character as lights in the world, whose business it was to hold forth the word of life; and also from this consideration, that it would be the joy of the apostle in the day of Christ, that his labours among them had not been fruitless, Php 2:15,16, 

yea, such was his love to them, that if even he was to die on their account, it would be matter of joy and gladness to him; and he desires they would express the same joy with him, Php 2:17,18, 

and though he could not be with them in person, he hoped in a little time to send Timothy, for this end, that he might know how things stood with them; which if well, would be a comfort to him, Php 2:19, 

the reasons why he picked Timothy as a messenger to them were, because there were none like him, for the sincere regard he had for their spiritual good, Php 2:20, 

and which is illustrated by the contrary disposition and conduct of others, who sought themselves, and not Jesus Christ, his honour and interest, Php 2:21, 

and besides, they themselves were witnesses of his filial affection to the apostle, and of his faithful service with him in the Gospel, Php 2:22, 

and then he repeats his hopes of sending him quickly, as soon as ever he knew how it would go with him, whether he should be released or suffer, Php 2:23, 

the former of which he had some confidence of, and that he should be able to see them himself in a little time, Php 2:24, 

however, in the mean while he thought it proper to send Epaphroditus to them, whom he commends as a brother of his, a co-worker, a fellow soldier, a messenger of theirs, and a minister to his wants, Php 2:25, 

the reasons of sending him were, because he longed to see them, and because he was uneasy that they had heard of his sickness; which was not only true that he had been sick, but his sickness was very dangerous, and threatened with death; however, through the mercy of God to him, he was recovered; and which was a mercy also to the apostle, who otherwise would have had an additional sorrow; wherefore another reason of sending him was, that upon the sight of him they might be filled with joy, and the apostle himself have less sorrow, Php 2:26-28, 

and then he exhorts them, that when he was returned to them, they would gladly receive him, and highly esteem of him; and the rather, since the dangerous illness he was attended with was brought upon him through his labours in the service of Christ, and also of the apostle, which he performed in their stead, even to the neglect of his health and life, Php 2:29,30.

Friday, March 27, 2026

Bride's Rapture Sequence Written in Stone & Your Body

 THE VERY STONES - PART 4: Rapture Sequence Written in Stone & Your Body 

The most essential part of the temple... wasn't even IN the temple. 

Before construction could begin, God required an operational altar built from ugly, unpolished fieldstones-stones cast out in fields, exposed to wind and rain, cursed by farmers as obstacles. 

Those rejected, heavy stones had to be transported to the temple site, splashed with blood, with fire burning on them constantly. 

That's what God required FIRST. 

This is not metaphor. It's a resume. 

And if you've been through the kind of fire that   should have destroyed you but somehow you made it, God does not waste His refining fire. 

This post reveals the stunning difference between altar stones (unhewn, no tools allowed) and building stones (hewn at the quarry with iron tools). 

Why does God forbid iron tools on altar stones but require them for building stones? 

Because iron represents the beast system - the crushing authority of tribulation. 

The quarry IS the tribulation period where building stones are shaped by iron before entering God's presence.

We'll discover how both stone types respond to fire differently: altar stones are consumed WITH the offering (becoming one with the sacrifice), while building stones scatter under direct flame. 

How souls under the altar in Revelation 6 are stored there waiting for temple construction - because the altar goes up FIRST, before the building can be erected. 

How the heart must beat first before the body can develop the same pattern across biology, architecture, and prophecy. 

You'll trace the pattern through Adam's sleep when Eve was taken from his side, through the disciples' sleep in Gethsemane, through Laodicea's lukewarm slumber. 

Extraction happens while the body sleeps. 

Wake-up is traumatic. 

Confusion and scattering precede resolution. 

But both stone types end up in the same eternal temple - different functions, different positioning, different timing, but same destination, same God, same forever. 

And we'll discover what the Hebrew word TSELA actually means (not 'rib") - and what God took from Adam's SIDE to build Eve. 


Chapter 1: The Most Essential Part Wasn't IN the Temple 

 The most essential part of the temple wasn't even in the temple. 

Before construction could even begin, God required an operational altar, built from ugly, unpolished fieldstones.  Stones that had been outcast in fields, exposed to wind and rain, cursed by farmers as obstacles, stumbling blocks. 

 And then those rejected heavy stones had to be transported to the temple site, splashed with blood, and have fire burning on them constantly.  

That is what God required first. 

 Not the beautiful carved stones, not the protected interior, not the ornate walls and floors, but the cast out, beaten, blood covered, fire tested stones. And that is not a metaphor. 

That's a resume.

 And if you've been through the kind of fire that just should have destroyed you, but somehow you made it. God doesn't waste his refining fire.  And you're about to find out why. 

So everything we've talked about so far in this series, the very stones, has focused on what kind of stones? 

That's right. altar stones unhewned, natural, ready as is. No tools, just presented as they are. But here's what's fascinating. 

 The temple structure had other stones, building stones of course, wall stones,  foundation stones, and God's requirement for those stones completely different. 

Chapter 2: 1 Kings 6:7 - Iron Tools Required vs. Forbidden 

First Kings 6:7. 

When the house was built,  it was prepared with stones prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built. 

Now, wait, hang on. Didn't God just say in Exodus 20 that if you use a tool on altar stones, you profane them? 

Iron tools defile the altar, right? 

They make it unsuitable for God's presence. Iron tools are absolutely forbidden on those stones. But now for the building stones, what does First Kings chapter 6 say? 

Tools are not just allowed, they're required.  See these stones must be cut, shaped, huned, worked with iron implements. 

So help me out here. How do we reconcile this? Same God, same temple complex. 

Two completely opposite requirements. 

 Altar stones, iron forbidden, defiles them. Building stones, iron required, prepares them. What's the difference? 

Well, remember First Kings 6:7. Stone prepared at the quarry. Where does the work happen? 

 It's not at the temple site, right? It's not in God's presence. Not where the altar stands, but where? 

At the quarry away from the actual temple site. 

 And during a preparation period, the stones are cut, shaped, and finished with iron tools. And then they're brought to this temple site already  completed so that no sound of hammers or chisels disturbs the holy ground of the temple site. 

Now think about this with me. 

Both stone types are holy and part of God's house. But what's different about them? Different prep requirements, different functions, right?

Different paths and timing to their final positioning. 1 Peter 2:5, "You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." 

So if believers are living stones and apostle Peter just told us that we're living stones being built into a spiritual house, then here's my question. 

 Who are the altar stones? 

And who are the building stones? 

 Because the building stones are different than altar stones, right? 

 Well, to answer that, we need to understand tooling because the building stones are shaped with quarry.

Chapter 3: What Does Iron Represent in Scripture? 

 But what are they shaped with? That's right, iron. Iron tools. In fact, the Bible specifically mentions hammer and chisel, both are iron implements. 

So, does anyone know what iron represents in scripture?  Let's walk through this together. 

Daniel chapter 2, Nebuchadnezzar's dream. You know this one, a statue with different metals representing different kingdoms throughout history. Gold, silver, bronze. 

And then what's the fourth kingdom? Iron. 

Daniel 2:40. 

And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron. In as much as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others. 

See, iron breaks in pieces. Iron shatters. Iron crushes. What kingdom is that? 

Yeah, Rome. The Iron Empire. And prophetically projecting forward to the revived Roman Empire, the beast system of the end times.

Now, let's jump to Revelation 9 with the demonic locustes being released.  Revelation 9:9. They had breastplates like breastplates of iron.  

Now, when are these guys released and during what period of time? Yeah, during the tribulation. 

And what do they wear? Iron again. 

Protection for the forces of darkness during the tribulation. Now, let's look at Revelation chapter 2. 

Revelation 2:27. 

And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. Jesus speaks of ruling the nations with an iron scepter. 

And iron represents authority, power, and in the negative sense, crushing oppression. Whether wielded by God or by the enemy, iron is force. Iron is power. Iron is crushing pressure. 


Chapter 4: Where Is the Quarry? When Is the Quarry? 

So now let me ask you again if the building stones are shaped with iron tools away from the temple during a preparation period before they can enter into God's presence and iron represents the beast system crushing power and tribulation authority. 

Where is the quarry? When is the quarry? 

Do you see it? 

The quarry is not just a generic place of difficulty, is it? 

The quarry is the tribulation period under the iron rule of the beast system, the first three and a half years of Daniel's 70th week before God's wrath begins. 

And remember, the church is promised protection from wrath, but not from tribulation. 

First Thessalonians 5:9, for God has not appointed us to suffer wrath, but to obtain salvation through ,right? They're out in the field where the treasure finder finds them like Boaz finding Ruth. You just gather them up and set them in place. 

But quarry stones, they're still embedded in the world's system, still fused to the bedrock, still locked into the formation. What do they need? 

The iron chisel to cut them loose. Now, think about believers. You know, some might have attachments to this world, right? They love Jesus. They're genuine believers, but they're also deeply invested in what? career advancement, , retirement portfolios, maybe real estate holdings, social status, political outcomes, the comfort and stability of spiritual Egypt's economy.

And if gentle leading won't separate them from Egypt, then what will? 

Egypt's rejection of them. 

And if prosperity won't turn their hearts toward him, what might? The removal of prosperity. Now listen carefully. 

This is not punishment. This is precision. 

God uses what works. He's not cruel. He's effective. 

But here's something most people miss about temple design. 

Chapter 6: Where Was the Altar Positioned? 

Where was the altar positioned? 

Outside the temple building in the courtyard. 

The altar wasn't inside the temple building itself, was it? It wasn't part of the building walls at all. It stood separate out in the open air under heaven's direct gaze. 

But was it part of the temple complex?

Absolutely. Same holy ground, same worship system. In fact, the temple couldn't be built until the altar was already established in its place. 

That's how essential to temple function the altar actually is. It's what sanctifies the entire grounds, including the temple building itself. 

The altar is architecturally separate. 

And that separation is not a glitch. 

It's the design because the altar's function required separation. It had to stand between the people and God's presence. It had to bear direct fire contact and it had to present offerings upward to the throne. And you can't do that from inside a building.  You have to be outside it because of fire and the need for the offering smoke to rise to the throne. 

Now something else about temple architecture is the volume difference. 

The altar, even a substantial bronze altar like the one God prescribed, occupied maybe what 15t by 15 ft, 20 by 30ish at the most. 

But the temple building is absolutely massive. Walls extending dozens of cubits high, foundations deep and wide, rooms upon rooms, chambers and courts, all kinds of space. 

The altar was absolutely tiny compared to the building's mass. But which one had to be there first? Which one sanctified the grounds? 

Which one made the building possible in the first place? The few fieldstones of the altar, right? 

Same pattern with the bride. A remnant, a small group, vastly outnumbered by the building stones,   but positioned first, essential for what comes after. 

It is not about size, it is about sequence and function.

Now think about the bride and the church. Same body, same redemption, same salvation with different positioning. The bride is not drawn out to be better than the church. She is drawn out to serve the church by presenting the church to Christ and being one with him. 

Just like the altar served the building by presenting offerings to God. 

Now before anyone misunderstands, Christ is the sacrifice that saves. 

That work is finished, is complete. 

But apostle Paul himself said in 2 Corinthians 11:2 that he would present believers as a pure virgin to Christ. 

And we know that the altar is the place of presentation, the meeting point between God and man. 

Christ saves, his blood covers, and the altar presents. 

Christ and his bride unified but two different functions.

No confusion between the two, just coordinated covering and service to the body, just like the altar served the building by presenting offerings to God. 

So the altar is a separate structure from the temple but part of the same complex. Both essential and the second cannot function without the first. 

That's God's design. 

But there's something else we need to see because both stone types might be crucial but that doesn't mean they respond the same way when tested. Now, let me show you what I mean. 

70 AD, the Romans are coming, Jerusalem under siege. And the temple, Herod's magnificent temple with its massive human stones, some weighing over 600 tons, is about to face fire. What happened to those building stones? 

Well, Jesus Christ prophesied it in Matthew 24:2. There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. 

Chapter 7: 70 AD - Fire Response Difference 

And when the fire came, what happened to those beautiful, perfectly huned building stones? 

What do they do? 

As a direct result of that gold melting fire, those stones were scattered.  Not one left upon another. 

Massive blocks expertly cut, precisely positioned, and when trouble came, displaced, broken apart, scattered. But now consider the Passover lamb. 

Exodus 12:10. 

Do not leave any of it until morning. If some is left till morning, you must burn it. 

The sacrificial lamb that facilitates covering and escape must be completely consumed by fire. Nothing can be left. 

But what about altar stones where sacrifices are offered up? 

First Kings 18:30-32.

Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. And Elijah took 12 stones and for each of the tribes and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. 

Mount Carmel, Elijah's altar. What type were these stones? They were unhewned. 

12 natural stones set in place for one purpose. 

And anyone remembered what happened when God's fire fell. First Kings 18:38. 

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. 

The fire didn't scatter those unhumaned stones, did it? It actually completely consumed them. 

Now, here's what makes this stunning. 

In that moment, the stones became part of the sacrifice itself. They didn't just hold the offering. They became one with the offering, being completely consumed together with it. 

Think about that. And did you ever notice that it's called first fruits, plural? 

 If Jesus is the only first fruits, then why is it plural? 

Romans 12:1, present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 

The stones that were consumed with the offering are like believers whoʻve already made their lives a living sacrifice, already poured out, already given over, already identified so completely with Christ's suffering that when the fire comes, there's nothing earthly to scatter. 

They're consumed with him. They become one with him in the fire. 

Altar stones. When fire comes, what happens?

They disappear in Elijah's time and again in 70 AD. 

Do you see this pattern just gone? Total intimacy was a flame.  

And scripture is clear on God's value in this distinction. 

 Hebrews 10:38. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back. 

 Ephesians 6:13. So that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground and having done all things to stand. 

 Luke 21:36, "Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." 

But in contrast, the building stones when fire comes, what happens? 

They're scattered. Direct exposure to flame undoes them.  Those stones are beautiful, yes, but not built for that level of direct contact with fire.

 Same fire, but two outcomes for two different stone types. One disappeared, the other scattered. 

 Why purpose determines survival? 

Chapter 8: Purpose Determines Survival 

 Altar stones were made for fire. Direct contact was their function.  Ongoing repeated intimate exposure to the consuming flame.  So when ultimate fire came, bam, they were home.  But building stones were made for structure, for display, for supporting weight. 

 Beautiful and necessary, but never designed for direct flame contact. 

So when the fire test came, they couldn't stand. They were scattered. 

But this is what you need to hear.

The scattering of building stones is not their destruction, is it? 

 It's the beginning of their preparation because those stones are still holy, still part of God's house, still necessary. They just need what we talked about earlier, the quarry, the iron tools, the first part of the tribulation period. What looked like judgment is actually positioning. 

 And by contrast again, look at those field stones, the altar stones. Where have they been? 

 Out in the field, right? 

For millennia. already exposed under God's heaven, directly facing him, exposed to extreme heat from the sun, freezing nights, rain, snow, freeze thaw cycles that crack unweathered stones,   lightning strikes, wildfires. 

Most stones cracked under that stress, turning to gravel centuries ago. But the ones that survived all that, those are the altar stones. 

But now, what about stones from underground? 

Quarry stones, river stones, or lake stones? 

Geology shows us they often have water vapor trapped inside, tiny pockets of moisture. And what happens when you put a stone with trapped water inside directly into altar fire? 

It explodes. The pressure builds and the stone shatters. 

But for his altar, God does not want stones that explode under fire.  He wants stones that have already been through fire and extreme weathering. 

Stones that have already proven they can handle it. Field stones don't need the quarry. 

They've already been refined by exposure, by elements, by direct contact with heaven's testing. They're ready now. 

 So, by now you must be asking the question, right? Which stone am I?

 Let's look deeper. Okay? Because the question isn't just which stone am I? 

 The question is when does this separation happen? 

 When did the altar stones get positioned? And when did the building stones arrive? 

Chapter 9: WHEN Does This Separation Happen? 

There's a mystery in Revelation 6 that answers this. It's where John sees souls under the altar. 

Revelation 6:9-11. 

 I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. 

They cried out with a loud voice, "Oh sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?" 

 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, under the altar. 

 Classic God timing, right? Hurry up and wait. 

Just like when you're a kid in the back of the car. Are we there yet? 

So, they're there under the altar waiting until the number should be complete. 

Now, what are they doing under the altar? 

Well, let's think about temple construction for a moment.  What goes up first? I mean before anything at all.  The altar. Always the altar. 

Before the walls, before the building, before any of it, the altar is erected first. Why? 

Chapter 10: What Goes Up First in Temple Construction? 

 Because worship and sacrifice first consecrate the grounds and then continue during construction. 

You build the sanctifying meeting place first. 

Then construct the building after sacrifices are making the grounds holy. 

So if the bride is raptured at the beginning of the tribulation, the altar goes up to New Jerusalem first and the bride is positioned. The meeting point between God and man is established. But the building isn't constructed yet. 

But why not? Because the building stones are being shaped and cut at the quarry on Earth during the first portion of the tribulation. 

So when the tribulation saints are martyed, where do they go? Under the altar, right? Not because they're rejected, but because the altar is the only structure standing yet. There's no building to house them in. The walls aren't even up. In fact, they'Il actually become the walls. 

 But the building stones are still being cut. They're stored under the altar because that's where God chooses to keep them safely stored, ready for rapid temple building construction as soon as the last stones arrive on site.  Logistics.

 Revelation 6:11. They were told to rest a little longer until the number of their fellow servants should be completed.  Until complete, until all the building stones are cut,  until the quarry work is finished. Then what happens?  Then we believers are raptured pre-wrath. The main harvest after the core shaping is done and now the building can be constructed. 

 Now the walls can go up and those souls under the altar,  they're incorporated into the building structure. The temple is completed. All living stones in place. And you know what's stunning about this? 

 Right now, today, the Temple Institute in Jerusalem has massive cornerstones ready. Stones from 6 to 13 tons each, consecrated with water from the biblical pool of Silom, stored in waiting. Waiting for what? 

Waiting for the moment they get clearance to build. They can't place them yet. The political situation won't allow it. But the first stones are ready right now. 

And the moment that clearance comes, they position the cornerstones and then rapid temple construction. 

 Same exact pattern God's using in the heavenlies. First stones prepared and stored, waiting for the full number to be complete, then rapid temple construction mirrored between heaven and earth. 

Chapter 11: Construction Order Across All Patterns 

 So, we've learned altar first, then building, that's construction order. 

 Bride first, then church. That's the rapture order. First fruit for its sheath, then full harvest. That's the agricultural order. But do you know what else goes first? 

Sorry, I get ecited about this part because this next pattern is just so mind-blowing to me. 

So, when a baby develops in the womb, what's the first organ that forms? 

Chapter 12: The First Organ That Forms 

It's not the brain. It's not the lungs. It's not the stomach. It's the heart . 

Around day 22 after conception the fetus's heart starts beating and it has to go first. 

Why? 

Because nothing else can develop without blood circulation. Brain can't form, lungs can't grow, organs can't develop. 

The heart must pump blood first, then everything else can be built around it. 

It's the same pattern. You see it? 

The altar must be established first, then the building can be constructed. 

The heart must beat first, then the body can be constructed. The bride must be positioned first. Then the church could be completed in full living stone format in New Jerusalem. 

 You seeing it? Biology, architecture, prophecy, all pointing to the exact same sequence. This is not just theological theory. 

This is how God builds life itself. First the heart, then the body. First the altar, then the building, first the bride, then the church. 

You can't construct a temple before the altar is established. You can't build a body before the heart starts pumping. 

You can't complete the church before the bride is positioned. First things first, always. 

That's how God builds. 

And when I saw this pattern tracing across all these different dimensions, I got to tell you, I was moved to tears by God's beautiful, masterful design. 

And you know, discovering these things doesn't happen in isolation. 

 It happens in community with people who believe God still speaks through his Word in ways we haven't even heard yet. It is written.

See, we're tracing the design of our bodies of history and his encoded layers. All things he hid for our discovery. 

Walking this path and discovering these mysteries with you is a true joy. 

God gives us these opportunities to grow together, to learn and stretch our faith. And just for a moment, I want us to think about all who are on this journey right now. 

The people keeping us going through prayer for others in need in the comments. 

Chapter 13: Eve - The First Bride Ever 

People sharing their own discoveries so we can all be amazed at what God's doing and they do that in the comments. These are the people who keep this heart beating, circulating truth so the body can grow. 

You just love learning this content and reading because truth matters. Truth is what sets us free and truth is what binds us together. 

Jesus Christ, he is truth. He's the binding agent. 


Now, there's one more layer to the sequence pattern, and it involves the first bride ever, Eve. 

God removed her from Adam's body at a very specific moment, not random, not arbitrary. The timing really matters. 

Adam was created as a complete unit, a whole body fully functioning, totally alive. 

Then all the animals were presented before him. But no suitable helper was found for him. Bone of my bone was not among them. So what does God do? 

Genesis 2:21. So the Lord caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. And while he was sleeping, God took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. 

So he puts Adam to sleep. And while Adam sleeps, God takes from his side something specific. We'll discover exactly what next time, but he takes it to form a separate being, a woman made from a portion of his own body. 

And Adam wakes and she's presented to him as help mate. She's already formed when he opens his eyes. Now think about the church with me. 

Jesus creates the church from his own body. This was symbolized from the blood and water birth fluids that came from his side when he was pierced at the cross. 

John 12:24, "Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a seed, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." 

So that body multiplies for 2,000 years, 43:15 cells becoming a full body. Christ is the head. But as the body grows, 

43:22 as it spreads across continents, as it becomes institutionalized and prosperous, 

43:30 as comfort replaces suffering, 

43:34 Revelation 3 shows us the final state of that growth. Not persecution, not poverty, not hunger for more of God, but Laodicean,lukewarm, wealthy, and self-satisfied, asleep. Revelation 3:17-18. You say, "l am rich. I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. I counsel you. Buy from me gold refined in the fire. 

Now, isn't it intriguing that fire melted gold caused scattering of the temple building stones? 

l can't say Jesus didn't warn. 

So in the end after all that growth , Laodicea lukewarm, asleep and scripture warns over and over don't  sleep, be wakeful, be watchful otherwise  negative surprise shame came not standing before the son of man. 

So, just like from the first Adam's sleeping body, now thousands of years later, from the last Adam's sleeping body, at the end of the age, God again takes out a portion to create the bride, the altar for Jesus. Still part of his body, bone of his bone, but also a separate entity, created as an offering to Jesus, which notice is actually the function of the altar itself. Remember. 

And then the body is roused from sleep after the bride has been taken. Just like the first Adam woke to find part of himself had been taken and formed into something new. 

Chapter 14: Another Garden - Gethsemane 

Mind-blowing to me. Think about it. Adam wakes to find Eve has been taken from his side. 

Then what happens soon after the serpent's temptation in the garden. Scattering from Eden, suffering under the curse and eventually the promised resolution through the seed of the woman. 

And do you know where else we see this pattern? In another garden. Well, let me ask you something. 

When Jesus was about to face his greatest trial,  essentially facing a sacrificial death to then give birth to the church. 

 Luke tells us Jesus sweated drops of blood, foreshadowing a woman's water breaking, water and blood. John 16:21, "When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come." 

His hour had come.

 And in his hour of sorrow, what did he ask his closest friends to do? 

 Matthew 26:38, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 

And what did they do?  He asked for one thing, just one. What was it? Watch with me.  And what did Jesus say when he found them asleep? 

Matthew 26:40-41. Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. 

Watch and pray so you don't fall into temptation. 

Now, what happened after they woke up? 

Matthew 26:31, I will strike the shepherd and the sheep of the flock will be scattered. They awoke to arrest, confusion, strange voices, and a scattering and temptation. 

 Peter's denial, the exact thing Jesus warned about. They didn't watch. They didn't pray. 

 And they entered into the very temptation he said to pray against. 

 Same pattern as Adam and Eve. Sleep. Wake to something unexpected, then temptation and scattering, then suffering, and eventually resolution. 

Chapter 15: Pattern Review: Sleep, Wake, Scatter, Suffer, Resolve 

In the same way, the disciples scattered, suffered through three days of confusion and grief. Three days.

 But post-resurrection came understanding and at Pentecost full-on readiness again same pattern. 

So let's review. Sleep, wake, confusion, temptation and scattering, suffering, resolution. 

So whether it's Adam and Eve, Jesus and his sleeping disciples, the 70 AD altar and building stones. or Christ with his body and bride, it's always the same sequence.

Chapter 16: Both Stone Types - Same Eternal Temple 


Extraction happens while the body sleeps. 

Wake up is traumatic and unexpected. 

Confusion and scattering precede resolution. 

But at the end of the story, both groups, both stone types end up in the same eternal temple. Different functions, different positioning, different timing, same destination, same God, same forever. 

Now, if you're sitting there thinking, um, I'm not an altar. I'm not ready. 

I still have attachments. I still need refining first. Know this. You believe in Jesus, you're still going to New Jerusalem. You're still going to become part of the temple of God forever. 

There's still a rapture scheduled for you. 

You might arrive slightly later, but still right on time with God's schedule. 

Maybe you need some iron tools to shape you first. You might go through the scattering, but your destination is the same. Your eternity is the same. 

And for what it's worth, speaking strictly for myself, I don't know which stone type l'lI be. I don't think apostle Paul knew either, judging by some of his things that he said about hoping and striving. But you know what? 

The difference between 3.5 years compared to eternity is nothing. And I completely trust my God to carry me through either scenario. And so can you. 

So altar stones and building stones, both in God's eternal temple, both essential, both forever, just different functions and a small timing difference. 

So this is our blessed hope that none should despair. 

We just have to recognize where we are when the time comes and know that the refining process, however hard, is preparing us for eternal positioning in the same house where all stones will be. Same temple, same God, same forever. 


Chapter 17: What God Took From Adam- TSELA Revealed 


 But there's one more thing about what God took from Adam. 

Something lost in translation for centuries. 

The Hebrew word translated as 'rib' is not actually rib. The word is tsela

And in the other 39 times it appears in scripture, it's never translated as rib. 

It means side. The sides of the ark of the covenant, the sides of the tabernacle, the sides of the temple, and the sides of the altar. 

God didn't take a rib from Adam. He took from Adam's side. 

And then Genesis 2:21, God closed up the place with flesh. Not bone, but flesh. So, Adam's side. 

Well, which side? And what was in that side? 

What exactly did God take from Adam's side to build Eve? That's next time. 

Now, thanks again to everyone keeping these deep dives adree. Origin of adree, From Middle English adreȝen, adreoȝen, from Old English ādrēogan (“to act, do, perform, practice, bear, suffer, endure, pass time, live”)

Hold fast, saints, and I will see you again very soon in the next one.