Tag: Universal Messiah

IN CHRIST WE TRUST

Generally speaking, when we were little children, we viewed our parents through an almost entirely positive lens. They could do nothing wrong in our eyes. Later, when we became adolescents and young adults, we tended to view our parents through an almost entirely negative lens. They could do virtually nothing right in our teenage and young adult eyes. And periodically during adolescence, teenagers will slip in and out of a childlike orientation toward their parents as they grow. However, if we had a loving and faithful set of parents, we then matured to realize in our full adulthood (usually around 25-30 years of age) that our parents are basically good and decent people (despite their various imperfections), and that they actually know a thing or two regarding the most important matters of life.

In a similar way, our United States of America has arguably been in its adolescent phase of development in recent decades as our national life has been marked by a great deal of adolescent-like angst about our national history, heritage and identity. So, while some Americans maintain a childish view of the USA as virtually doing no wrong in the world, there are many Americans who view the USA through an almost entirely negative adolescent lens.

Of course, the truth is that there’s no such thing as a perfect nation. All nations have negative aspects to their histories and present realities. Yes our United States of America is not perfect, but our history and heritage are not a horrible travesty either. The USA has been, by far, and continues to be, by far, a great blessing within our world. Therefore, it is indeed right and salutary that we should have a healthy sense of patriotism for everything that is good and laudable about our national founding, history, heritage and identity, especially as we approach the coming Year of our Lord, Two Thousand and Twenty-six, which is the 250th anniversary year of the USA.

While acknowledging the bad historical aspects, and learning lessons from these without falling into a kind of national self-loathing, we can make sure to uplift and give thanks every single Thanksgiving Holiday for the great many good aspects of our nation over and above the negative — and it’s these many good aspects of our nation that our national symbols point toward and represent, particularly the US Flag. Consequently, as we are on the brink of the yearlong national celebration of a quarter millennium of federal statehood, I believe it is important to be mindful of the fact that our national inheritance is truly a great good overall — although we have at times failed to live up to our highest ideals enshrined in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Federalist Papers. I also believe it’s important to remember on this coming Thanksgiving 2025, and over the 250th anniversary year ahead in 2026, that our two national mottos (like two strong national pillars) declare the following: In Deo Confidimus (meaning “In God We Trust”) and E Pluribus Unum (meaning “Out of Many, One”).

In his book Mere Christianity, the great Christian author and lay theologian C.S. Lewis wrote the following… “God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there.”

As the people of the Church of Jesus Christ, we know this wonderful statement by C.S. Lewis to be most certainly true of both individuals and entire nations. So, no matter what, we recognize that it is in God alone that we place our trust and hope (first and foremost!), because our supreme citizenship is God’s Universal Kingdom of grace and truth in Christ Jesus our Lord. As it says in Philippians 3:18-20… “For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

And we also ought to recall the following biblical admonition from Psalm 146:3-5… “Do not put your trust in rulers, in mortals, in whom there is no salvation. When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish. Happy are those whose salvation is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.”

The ever-flowing Fount of Life is our Lord Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah. Therefore, no matter what, let’s always remember our first citizenship in God’s Kingdom and our eternal salvation in, with and through our Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is in Christ alone that we the Church place our ultimate trust.

Christ is our King! And all glory, thanks and praise be to God Most High!

This November 2025, may you have a blessed All Saints’ Sunday (11/02), a joyous Christ the King Sunday (11/23), and a very happy Thanksgiving Day (11/27)!!!

By God’s Grace in Christ, Pastor Tim

JESUS & MATZAH BREAD

During the festival of Pesach (Passover), our Jewish brothers and sisters around the world connect themselves to one of the greatest stories ever told by celebrating the Seder, which is an interactive dinner where the events of the Exodus from Egypt are retold. And for Christians, this annual liturgical meal also points to Mashiach Yeshua (Christ Jesus), and this is perhaps in no place more clearly illustrated than in the tradition of hiding the broken afikoman matzah bread (also spelled afikomen).

For the uninitiated, one of the traditions of the Passover Seder Meal is a special bag called a matzah tash that has three compartments, each containing a whole matzah (unleavened bread). The tradition is to take the middle matzah out and break it in half. Half of the matzah is placed back in the matzah tash, but the other half is wrapped in a linen napkin. This piece is called the afikoman (from the Greek epikomon), meaning “that which comes after,” and it’s considered a substitute for the ancient Passover sacrifice which was the last thing eaten at the Passover Seder during the historical eras of the First and Second Jerusalem Temples. The afikoman is then hidden by an adult for the duration of the first part of the Seder, and after dinner the children search for it and bring it back to their parents to be redeemed for a prize. Traditionally, the Seder cannot end until the afikoman is found.

The searching and finding of the afikoman is a beloved Passover tradition, but Judaism has no authoritative explanation as to the origin or the meaning of the afikoman. A number of diverse and often conflicting theories have emerged over the centuries. One tradition holds that the three pieces of matzah represent the three casts of Judaism: the Israelites, the Levites, and the Kohanim (the Priests). Another theory is that the three matzah breads represent Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But these are later innovations; they are not mentioned in either the Mishnah or the Talmud (the authoritative writings of Rabbinic Judaism).

Moreover, why is the middle matzah broken? What would breaking the Priests or Isaac accomplish? Some rabbis believe that breaking the matzah represents the splitting of the Red Sea, but if that’s the case why is a half piece of the ocean hidden away? Lastly, one tradition even says that the afikoman is hidden so that it doesn’t get eaten by accident before the meal is over.

Of course, none of these theories are truly authoritative or satisfying. However, there is one other explanation that makes perfect sense, and it ties all of the symbolism together and tells a cohesive story.

First presented by Austrian-Jewish scholar Robert Eisler in 1925, the most coherent explanation of the tradition of the afikoman was likely conceived by the First Century Jewish followers of Mashiach Yeshua (Christ Jesus) and that the afikoman is a symbol of Jesus himself. In fact, the very texture of the matzah bread and the way it’s prepared is indicative of Jesus. Matzah has stripes burned into it from the oven rack and it must be pierced with holes to prevent it from rising. In the same way, our Lord Yeshua was literally striped by the lashes of a whip, and he was pierced by nails and a spear.

In addition, the three compartments of the one matzah bag represent the three ways we experience the One Almighty God as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier. And the middle matzah (representing the Son of God) is broken, just as Yeshua our Savior was broken for us (see Isaiah 53). And after his death on the cross, Yeshua’s body was wrapped in a linen shroud and buried away for three days until his resurrection. So too, the afikoman is wrapped in a linen cloth and hidden until the end of the Passover Seder Meal.

When the meal ends, the children search for the afikoman to gain the prize that comes from finding it. In this act, the salvation and redemption that comes through the sacrificial offering of the Divine Messiah is illustrated. And how fitting it is that it’s the children who seek the afikoman, for Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these (Matt 19:14) and that we all must become like little children to enter the Kingdom (Matt 18:3). And just as the Seder cannot end until the afikoman is found, the Kingdom of God will not be established in its fullness until the great return of The Universal Afikoman (Jesus the Messiah).

Now it’s true that the word “afikoman” is often translated as “that which comes after,” but according to Prof. David Daube (a preeminent Twentieth Century scholar of Biblical law) a better origin and definition of afikoman is the Greek word aphikomenos which means “the one who has arrived.” And of course, if nothing else, we know that our risen Lord Yeshua is with us always, and that he has identified the matzah bread of the Passover with his very own body and mystical presence. For at his Last Supper (his Passover Seder that he ate before he suffered) Jesus took the matzah, gave thanks, and broke it, and gave it to all of them, saying, “This is my body, which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me” (First Corinthians 11:24).

Together in Christ, Pastor Tim

THE EASTER EGG & THE EMPTY TOMB

Although Christianity is essentially a form of Judaism, over the centuries the Christian Faith has incorporated and inculcated itself into the various cultures of Pagan societies. So Christianity’s spiritual inheritance is a blend of ancient Hebrew faith mixed with some Christianized archaic Pagan practices. And while this fact is often greatly overstated these days by those who wish to discredit and malign Christianity, the reality is that Christian observances (such as the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ) include some formerly Pagan elements as well. Consequently, things like colored eggs, bunny rabbits, and so on, have been given new and eternal significance by the grace and truth of God revealed in Christ our Savior. For “God has placed all things under Christ’s feet and has made him the head over all things for the church…” (Ephesians 1:22).  

Moreover, while the name of the annual celebration of the resurrection of Jesus maintains its Hebrew roots in many non-English languages (Pascha in Greek, Pascua in Spanish, etc.), in English the name of this most holy of all Christian holy days is taken from an Anglo-Saxon spring festival centered on the goddess Eostre, a Germanic goddess of the sunrise whose symbol was a rabbit or hare. So this is only the case in English (Easter) and German (Ostern), not in other languages. In most languages, the paschal connection between the celebrations of Passover and Holy Week is maintained, stemming from the Hebrew root word of Pesach.

Now that all this has been said, how are we Christians to regard symbols like colored Easter eggs?

The egg is an obvious candidate for a resurrection symbol of renewal and regeneration. The egg has been honored during many spring rites throughout the ages: Egyptians, Jews, Persians, Romans, Celts, and even the Chinese, have all understood the egg as representing new beginnings. Whether it was the commencement of building a bridge across a river, sowing a field of wheat, or launching a new fishing boat, the egg was used as an emblem of renewal. So Christians naturally adopted the egg symbol to specifically and preeminently represent the new life received through the cross and empty tomb of Jesus. For, again, “God has placed all things under Christ’s feet and has made him the head over all things for the church…”

The good news is that God enacts, establishes and extends his absolute love for all nations and peoples through the crucifixion, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ the Son of God, offering the free gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life to everyone by God’s grace through faith. Therefore, according to the biblical gospel, Christianity ascribes the ancient Hebrew symbolism of the Passover lamb and the archaic Pagan symbolism of the decorated egg to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Universal Messiah.

So for us Christians, a colored Easter egg (and its emptied shell after eating it) represents the empty tomb, and it calls us to be empty tombs as well. For the truth is that we can sometimes be overwhelmed by our unrealized expectations, disappointments, losses and grief; we can sometimes be overcome by despair, frustration and an apocalyptic mood. We can become so spiritually and emotionally severe that we become tombs filled with the deadly stench of judgment and condemnation, directed at ourselves and others. However, we must realize that we cannot force the Kingdom of God to be perfectly manifest in others any more than we can force God’s Kingdom to be perfectly manifest in ourselves. So we must love and forgive ourselves and others, just as God loves us and forgives us in Christ.

In other words, by the grace of God, let us become empty tombs in our lives — empty of our desire to control and our attachment to specific outcomes. By God’s grace, we must LET GO and LET GOD! By God’s sovereign grace and will, let us TRUST IN THE LORD and be at peace. God is the Lord of human history (including you and me) and God’s steadfast love endures forever.

“O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:2)

Blessed & Happy Eastertime!!! Pastor Tim

EVOLUTION & RESURRECTION

I consider myself a science buff; not an expert, but an informed enthusiast. Consequently, ever since the successful deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), I’ve been amazed by its unequalled ability to see through time and space into the deep history of the cosmos. Of course, as a Christian, I always emphasize that the evolution of the universe was not by “chance” processes, but by the designs of the infinite and eternal Mind of God. That is, according to the principles of both faith and reason, it is quite clear that the entire universe (from the very large scale to the infinitesimally small) is intentionally fine-tuned toward the manifestation of life. And this reality leans strongly toward the conclusion that the genesis and evolution of all things is not by chance.

Interestingly, the science of quantum physics tells us that there are eleven dimensions in order for the universe to make mathematical sense, and this tells us that there are higher aspects to existence than we perceive with our five physical senses. We can use mathematics and creative metaphors to describe these higher dimensions, but we can never truly wrap our minds around the reality that our existence has far more dimensions than we can fully comprehend. Nor can we wrap our minds around the scientific fact that there was a “time” before time and space. And of course, the fact that our universe is so finely orchestrated to produce life is a clear indication of a Grand Orchestrator — an infinite, eternal and transcendent Orchestrator of all that is, both seen and unseen.

Certainly, there are still those who seek to perpetuate the archaic notion that there is a war between faith and reason. They insist that a person must be either spiritual or rational, but not both. I completely disagree with this false dichotomy. Science addresses a certain set of questions and religion addresses another set of questions. In other words, science addresses questions dealing with the function of the universe, while religious faith addresses the meaning of it all. Therefore, these are not mutually exclusive pursuits. Rather, while respecting the boundaries and limitations of both science and religious faith, these are actually complementary disciplines. Simply put, to be a person of faith does not mean that you have to turn off your intellectual self, and to be a person of science does not mean that you have to turn off your spiritual self. We can be both scientific and faithful.

So, how does the Resurrection of Jesus the Universal Messiah factor into all of this cosmic evolution? Could it be that resurrection itself is a “quantum leap” forward in God’s evolution of our universe? Could it be that God, who is beyond time and space, is drawing all things toward his universal renewal? In other words, by Divine Providence, we can say that God is still creating and re-creating, and that we might not know exactly what the future holds, but we have come to know the One who holds the future.

What a blessing it is to live every single day in a personal relationship with the Creator and Redeemer of the entire cosmos! And in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior, we intuitively know this truth according to the spiritual “sixth sense” of God’s grace through faith by the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

The gospel truth is that God is still creating, renewing and redeeming, and this is what resurrection life is all about. For the Apostle Paul writes in First Corinthians 15…

“I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. For I am the least of the Apostles, unfit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God… What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And as for what you sow, you do not sow the body that is to be, but a bare seed, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain… So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a physical body, it is raised a spiritual body. As there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body.” – (1 Corinthians 15: 3-9, 36b-37, 42-44)

From Easter Sunday through all seven weeks of Eastertime, we have been commemorating and celebrating (“as of first importance”) the living hope of resurrection life with Jesus in the Eternal Kingdom of our Heavenly Father. Because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we Christians believe and trust in “the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting” (from the Apostles’ Creed). And the Apostle Paul described this resurrection of the body as relating to some sort of “spiritual body” (First Corinthians 15:44) that has the following supernatural characteristics: imperishable, glorified and powerful. Thanks be to God!

So the New Testament declaration is that resurrection life beyond this present life is the ultimate stage of our existence in Christ, and the Resurrection of our Lord is the foretaste of the great universal resurrection yet to come. Like a caterpillar before its metamorphosis into a butterfly, unable to conceive of flying in the sunlight from flower to flower, we also cannot conceive “what God has prepared for those who love him” (First Corinthians 2:9d). And the eventual “end” of our ever-expanding (and accelerating) universe shall be the fulfillment and consummation of all things (of all worlds and all beings) in the One Eternal God of All.

Hallelujah! Jesus is Lord! Christ is risen!

Together in Resurrection Hope, Pastor Tim