The Ark of the Covenant; was its construction influenced by Egyptian traditions?

Christian response,

The Ark of the Covenant, the construction of same, meticulously provided by God, is a foreshadowing of the Messiah that was to come; that is, for those who have eyes to see…

1) The gold on the Ark represented Messiah’s deity.

2) The wood represented Messiah’s humanity.

3) The mercy seat of gold where blood was sprinkled by the High Priest for the covering of Israel’s sins and the cherub angels that were positioned on each end of the mercy seat were ultimately observed in fulfillment by Mary who viewed these angels in Messiah’s tomb as the blood of Messiah stained the stone upon which He had been laid subsequent to the Crucifixion (John 20:12). Mary observed the “true” Mercy Seat.

4) Inside the Ark was a pot of manna that represented Messiah would be the “Bread of Life” (John 6:35).

5) Inside the Ark was Aaron’s rod that was a dead-stick but had budded to life representing that Messiah would be the “resurrection and the life” (John 11:25); Messiah would die and resurrect to life to defeat death, Hell, the grave, the Devil, for all who believe.

6) Inside the Ark was the Decalog etched in stone representing that Messiah would have the Law of God internalized, He would be the Law of God in flesh and its ultimate fulfillment (Matthew 5:17).

In conclusion,

God, in many ways, meticulously and carefully pointed the children of Jacob to their Messiah yet they failed Him, they missed Him, they did not see Him, they denied Him, they murdered Him. Please, do not take part in this eternal error; trust in Jesus as your God and Messiah, exclusively, and LIVE!

A denier of Messiah’s deity stated: “God sent forth his Son made of a woman, made under the Law. I don’t ever recall hearing this preached in church.”

Christian response,

Jesus was first prophesied to enter the World from the virgin seed of the woman in Genesis 3:15 to do battle with the Devil and destroy the works of the Devil as pictured in Genesis 3:21 and explained in 1 John 3:8b. No “man” could perform this task; therefore, God entered Time in flesh (Colossians 2) and fulfilled the Father’s Plan of defeating the Evil One with selfless love and thereby provide redemption for sinful mankind; sin that was first introduced by the Devil (John 8:44).

This Plan mandated absolute perfection in word, thought and deed; man is a sinner (Romans 3:23) therefore, the God-man via the hypostatic union, Jesus our Messiah, lived a sinless life and fought for and earned your redemption in His perfection (2 Corinthians 5:21). Messiah’s perfection was made possible by the union of God with the virgin seed of a woman, not the seed of Adam.

If you reject Jesus as God and Messiah over your life, His work on the Cross will not be imputed as atonement for your sins (John 8:24); the Father has set-forth the parameters and mandate by which you must be saved (John 3; John 8:24); that is, believe in the One He has sent (John 6:29)…Jesus is God (John 1; Hebrews 1; Colossians 1; Colossians 2:9); therefore, if you don’t see this, if you don’t understand this, you are not born again of the Spirit and if you’re absent the Spirit, you are not redeemed by the innocent blood of Messiah (Ephesians 1:13-14). The redeemed in Messiah KNOW that Jesus is God in flesh and they worship Him as same. It is this eternal Truth, Jesus is God and Messiah, that separates the Christian from every religion, cult, sect, on the face of the Earth.

Question asked concerning evolution/creation the human genome and purpose?

Christian response, Jesus Christ, God, in conjunction with the Father and the Spirit, created the human genome on the Sixth-Day and formed mankind, a spiritual being, into His own image and imparted certain communicable attributes to human kind that are integral with/to God.

Mankind was created in response to a rebellion that had manifest in the Kingdom before the creation of Time and matter; mankind, created in God’s spiritual image, plays an intricate role in our God’s dealing with evil, the Evil One and the angels that followed him in the rebellion.

The ONLY reason God has endured the depravity of human kind for 6000-years is in response to His desire to demonstrate the horror of evil and the repercussions of disobedience while maintaining volitional love with His faithful angelic creation whom He loves beyond human understanding. In the beginning, God created them male and female and this mystery has not evolved but was “created” for cause with rapidity.

The Father’s Plan is summed-up in the appearance of the Son who destroyed the works of the Devil through selfless, sacrificial, love; life in eternity with Jesus Christ is granted to all who believe that Jesus is God who died to pay their sin-debt, a debt they could not pay themselves (John 3:16-18).

What ETERNAL TRUTH separates Christianity and the Christian from every religion, cult, sect, in the World today?

Why is Christianity different, unique, among the religions of the World? Christianity recognizes, acknowledges, proclaims, the ETERNAL TRUTH that Jesus Christ is God, Creator, Messiah, Judge, having manifest in flesh within the realm of Time via the hypostatic union (Philippians 2:5-11). Christianity acknowledges that mankind is unable to earn salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; 3:10), eternal life, but only by trusting-believing in Jesus as God who died to pay our sin-debt is mankind justified, forgiven of sin, before the Father (John 3:16-18; Romans 10:9-10). Jesus is the unique, only begotten, Son of God, coequal with the Father and the Spirit, eternal, everlasting (Hebrews 1); Jesus has and will dwell among mankind and it is Jesus that has made the Father known as the Father is Spirit (John 1:18; John 4:24; 6:46; Matthew 11:27).

Be warned,

Anyone who denies Jesus is God who entered Time in flesh to atone for the sins of the World will not enter the Kingdom of God (John 8:24) as the Holy Spirit testifies of this truism; if anyone is absent the Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14), they are not redeemed, they remain in their sin, they will NOT enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5; John 8:24). Jesus is God and the redeemed know this, believe this, trust in this, because the redeemed are God’s children and the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13) has sealed them with the Covenant of Promise, forever (Ephesians 1:13; John 10:28-30).

Every Jew; every child of Jacob, take heed of this Truth lest you not be named among the remnant (Isaiah 10:22; Romans 9:27). Every Muslim – Islamist, Jehovah’s Witness, Mormon, Buddhist, Atheist, be warned, unless Jesus Christ is your God and you believe with a sincere heart that He alone has made atonement for your sin via the Crucifixion, you will NOT enter the Kingdom of God subsequent to the death of your body in Time (John 14:6; 3:16).

Life and Purpose in Time? What is the purpose of life constrained by Time and physics?

The most relevant and all-consuming question in the life of a man or woman is: “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God who died to pay your sin-debt, a debt to God the Father that you could not pay yourself?” How one responds to this question will determine whether or not their life within the Ream of Time is lived and ultimately culminates with purpose and glory or nihilism and futility. With all of our cares and concerns in this life, the only subject truly worthy of ultimate consideration is the primary reasoning for our existence in Time; that is, our relationship with the One who created us and created this Universe for cause with rapidity i.e. Jesus Christ our God.

Jesus is God, Creator, Messiah, Judge.

Jesus said the Father and He are ONE (John 10:28-30)…He who has seen Him (Jesus) has seen the Father (John 14:8-11). Jesus said that before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58). Jesus pleaded with the Father to glorify Himself with the glory He shared with the Father before the World was (John 17:5). The Father calls Jesus “God” (Hebrews 1:8-9). Jesus is the Creator of all things (John 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1). Jesus said that unless you believe He is I AM, you will die in your sins (John 8:24). Unless you see, understand, believe, that Jesus is God who died to pay your sin-debt, you remain in your sin. It is the Holy Spirit that testifies of Messiah’s deity and if you’re absent the Spirit, you’re absent life and you have no relationship with the Father (Ephesians 1:13-14; John 6:63).

Muslim suggests Jesus denied being God: “Jesus not good, “jesus said none is good, save one, that is, God. Luck [Luke]18,19”

Christian response,

Jesus asked the rich young ruler why he was calling Jesus “good teacher” (Luke 18:18) because no one is truly “good” but God. Jesus was not denying His deity but Jesus was asking the young man if he recognized that Jesus is God and believed this as this “belief” would have justified the young man for salvation and their conversation would not have needed to continue concerning the Law and the young man’s failure to keep the Law and ultimately the young man’s rejection of Jesus’ invitation to “follow me.” Far too often, Muslims and Jews use Messiah’s discourse with the rich young ruler to suggest that Jesus denied being God but just the opposite is true; Jesus is validating Himself as God and wanted the young man to confess this and believe this which would have fulfilled the young man’s quest for “eternal life.”

Muslim seeking to disparage the Gospels asked: “How many Contradictions in Crucifixion between Matthew, luck [Luke], mark [Mark], John [?]”

Christian response,

They are not contradictions, they are witness statements from various vantage points, times, backgrounds, personal biases; if you’ve ever investigated a crime scene or taken witness statements, you’re aware of the fact that those statements are wholly contingent upon where the witness was, their visibility, their understanding of what was occurring; there are incredible variables that must be considered when listening to and certifying a witness statement.

Many seek to invalidate the Scriptures – Gospels because they are not a mirror image of one another but these are generally atheistic and/or apostate hypocrites seeking to justify their sin; truth is, subsequent to 31-years in law enforcement, I find the witness accounts in the Gospels compelling because they’re NOT mirror images but they’re true accounts of what the witnesses observed and how the Gospel writers interpreted and recorded those observations.

The Holy Spirit does not turn the authors of Scripture into robots but allows their humanity, their worldview, their life experiences, their personality, their biases and prejudices, to flow through the words while accurately recording EXACTLY what God the Father wants His created beings to know; therefore, TRUST HIM! Stop listening to men and sects and cults and religions with an agenda who have no interest in your soul or your eternal destiny. Read and study God’s words with confidence and assurance that the same God who created the Heavens and the Earth and our complex genome has provided you with the EXACT words He desires you have so that you can know Him personally; love Him intimately; live with Him eternally because He first loved you!