The Mark of God - Do you Have His Mark?

In these last days, we truly need to read and study and discuss the powerful MARK OF GOD! It is well documented in Scripture. It is perfect and unbeatable! Yet, how well do we understand it as Christians?

Poster above created by Curtis Alexander using public domain graphics from: https://openclipart.org/share 

Before we jump into speculations and assumptions about futurism (a doctrine widely held by evangelicals today, created by the Roman Cathloic Jesuit Francisco Ribera to fight the Reformation) and the mark of the beast, we must FIRST investigate the ORIGINAL MARK, THE SUPERIOR MARK, THE MARK OF GOD.

Have you received it? Have you been Marked by Christ? If so, rejoice! You are SAVED. And the devil can't touch that mark!

The mark of God is spiritual, and cannot be ousted or erased by the devil. Do you bear the permanent, eternal, saving mark of God?

That is the REAL question.

Read about the nature of the MARK OF GOD:

God is the FIRST to use a protective mark on a man in Scripture (News flash: it wasn't the devil who invented this idea!!) ;)

Genesis 4:15
And the Lord said to him, “Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord set a MARK on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

What about us? We were sinners deserving of punishment! What MARK does God give to us to protect us snd SAVE US from Judgement??

It is the BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST HIS SON. We must apply His shed blood to our hearts in faith, spiritually.

The Mark is in the BLOOD OF THE LAMB.

Exodus 12:23
For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you.

1 Cor 6:19 says the Christian is the temple of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the blood of Jesus is the MARK on the doorposts and lintel of our HEART!

 1 Peter 1:18-19 New King James Version (NKJV)

18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Tell me, is there any mark greater than the blood of Jesus? Definitely not!! You cannot exaggerate the great power of Jesus' Blood sacrifice!! Keep boasting of Him alone!!

Galatians 6:14-16 New King James Version (NKJV)

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 

15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.

16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.

God spiritually marks, redeems, and protects those who hate sin and believe and trust in the Lord God. Ezekiel sees a vision of it. The mark is not literal, but spiritual.

THE MARK OF PROTECTION DURING GOD'S JUDGEMENT:

Ezekiel 9:4
and the Lord said to him, “Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it.”

Ezekiel 9:6
Utterly slay old and young men, maidens and little children and women; but do NOT come near anyone on whom is the MARK; and begin at My sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the temple.

The Mark of God is a real spiritual token of God that He places in our minds and hearts. It is unbeatable, unassailable. The Mark of God is the NAME and BLOOD of Jesus!

Revelation 22:4
They shall see His face, and His NAME shall be on their foreheads.

The Mark of God is the MIND OF CHRIST:

"...we have the mind of Christ."
- 1 Cor. 2:16b

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,"
-Philp 2:5

The MARK OF GOD is the SEAL of the HOLY SPIRIT:

2 Corinthians 1:22
who also has SEALED us and given us the SPIRIT in our HEARTS as a guarantee.

Ephesians 1:13
In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were SEALED with the HOLY SPIRIT of promise,

Can the devil undo the Mark of God in you?... the SEAL OF CHRIST'S BLOOD AND GOD'S SPIRIT? No. He cannot touch you or God's Mark on you.

The Seal is the Mark of God's Love!

"Set me as a seal upon your heart, for love is as strong as death..."
-Song of Solomon 8:6

The spiritual, eternal MARK of GOD is identified by WHO WE WORSHIP:

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. (Mat. 28:9)

What can separate you from God's Love and God's mark? NO devil. NO person. NO technology. NO vaccine. NOTHING can separate you from Him when God marks you as His own!! 😊❤

37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-Romans 8:37-39

Note that Paul here states that no spiritual force or natural force can separate us from the Love of God. The Blood sacrifice of Jesus marked on the door to our hearts is sufficient. Paul even says that NO CREATED thing can come between God and us, which means that no technology -past, present, or future-  can overrule the Mark Of God in you! Let us put our faith in God and in His reassuring, peace-promoting, inerrant and consistent WORD!  I hear much talk and fear surrounding the devil and his mark. But I rarely hear anyone promoting and the Mark of God. Once we understand the nature of the mark of God, we realize that Satan, microchips, vaccines do not possess the power to overrule or erase the powerful Mark of God on you.

Keep in mind, this is in no way a promotion of microchips, vaccines, or any other technology. I am not giving any advice regarding medicine or technology here. Please do your own research on those topics. My only point is that, doctrinally speaking, from Scripture, we can prove that the Mark of God is the Blood of Jesus and it is also the Seal, the guarantee of the Holy Spirit in your heart. Thus those natural, created things cannot affect your salvation. To say otherwise is to contradict the Word of God regarding the POWER of the Blood and Spirit of Christ.

This may require us to be humble, and "un-learn" some of the teachings we were taught in evangelical circles. I was taught in my youth that we must not get a microchip, or else my salvation could be in danger.

Now as I have grown, and studied the Word, The Reformers, history, and books and teachings on  Historicism, I can say I had to "unlearn" some things that are unsupported in Scripture, such as many aspects of futurism. No physical marking or chip or vaccine can nullify the blood of Jesus. We must be careful not to undervalue the PRICELESS BLOOD of Christ and His Holy Spirit.

God bless. Be fully assured of your security in believing Jesus. He fully marks you and protects you and cleanses you in His Blood.

You can have the eternal and superior MARK OF GOD. His mark is truly superior to all others, including the devil's counterfeit mark of the beast, which is also spiritual in nature. I urge you to study this more in Scripture. Study the genuine superior mark of God and it will help you understand the counterfeit one from Satan which is inferior by comparison.

Ask the Holy Spirit of Christ to open your understanding as you read, in Jesus' Name. Pray for revelation and discernment from Jesus!

God bless!

Pastor Curtis

Sun Feb 28 2021
2:39am EST

PS Learn more about historicism, futurism, and preterism and their origins here:

 https://historicist.info/articles/historicism-futurism-preterism/

God's Word: The Only Document NOT at the mercy of the Reader!

The Word of God is the only document in the world that is not at the mercy of the reader. Rather, it is the ONLY book the reader can read to discover God's love, grace and mercy! 

"...the Scripture cannot be broken " (John 10:35b)

"the word of God is not chained." (2 Timothy 2:9b)

 Why? Because it is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And it ultimately is fulfilled in the Living Word Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, came to give us salvation from our sin, and grant us mercy and grace and life and righteousness in His Blood!

Photo (c) 2020 Curtis J. Alexander

The Holy Bible is God's collection of inspired writings and it's power comes from God, not people. It is profitable for doctrine, correction, and instruction in righteous godly living!!

2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV

All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,

The written word leads us to Jesus, the eternal Living Word:

John 1:1 New King James Version (NKJV)
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:14 New King James Version (NKJV)
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

All other books and documents, good, neutral or bad, are merely human books and documents. These human works rely on the reader to read it/apply it. Human documents can only have power through human obedience. Don't get me wrong. Human writings and documents can be and are highly influential. They have had major impacts on society. YET.....  They are always at the mercy of the current generation and their level of literacy and comprehension and desire to learn. 

And, we actually see this in the Levitical order of the Old Testament. The Law of Moses came from God to Moses, for men to apply in order to deal with sin in Israel. But men failed to keep it as the generations passed. Yet the Word remains effective and powerful. Even if men fail to apply it, the Word continues to accomplish what God so desires and chooses to accomplish. Unlike every other rule book or document, the Word of God is NOT HINDERED BY HUMAN REBELLION or FAILURE. 

Isaiah 55:10-11 New King James Version (NKJV)

10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

And do not return there,

But water the earth,

And make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

And bread to the eater,

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

If a great human document or book is ignored or forgotten, its power is lost. Yes, it can even sit on the bookshelf, and look great. But as long as it remain closed, it remains impotent due to lack of readership and application.

BUT The Word of God has power in itself, and cannot be broken. Indeed, tyrants and oppressors have tried to get rid of the Holy Bible throughout history. But it was ultimately to no avail. Sure, for a time the Bible would be hard to find in certain areas. 
But I know people who God sent to these oppressed areas, and they secretly brought Bibles into fobidden zones. God has His ways of bringing His word to His people. God is God, afterall.

To this day the Word of God remains.

 It is still here. And it is translated into many languages.
Those oppresive regimes end. They never last because they are not eternal. Yet the Word of God remains. It is eternal. Even if every printed copy of God's Word were somehow removed from the planet, the Word is STILL Living and Active. It does not depend upon paper and ink in order to exist. But by God's grace, He put it into a book (a collection of holy God-inspired writings) for us to read and be saved and nourished by. The paper and ink is for our benefit, not God's. 

The Bible, even if it is often hated or dismissed as irrelevant by the doubter, is still the world's best seller. It is resilient beyond any other book.  It is because this Book is from the mouth of God. And this Book leads to, and is tied to, the Living Word Jesus. 

 The Word of God already has eternal power. It comes from the Lord's mouth. Reading it, and believing it and obeying it plants the seed of power within our hearts: Christ is the Seed. Jesus the WORD accomplished what the Levitical priesthood failed to do: Jesus accomplished PERFECT and FINAL ATONEMENT for the sins of the world. We need only to trust in Jesus' one and only sacrifice on the cross to be saved from wrath and sin.

Hebrews 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

 His death, burial and resurrection achieved what men could not do. Jesus is our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek. (See Hebrews ch.5-7).

Hebrews 5:5-10 NKJV

5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him:

“You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.”

6 As He also says in another place:

“You are a priest forever

According to the order of Melchizedek”;

7 who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, 

8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 

9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him, 

10 called by God as High Priest “according to the order of Melchizedek,” 

 THUS, the Law of Moses was FULFILLED in Jesus, not destroyed nor forgotten. THIS is how the Word of God has power even if people ignore it. See, Jesus is Living. Active. Powerful. Merciful. Gracious. Kind. Royal. Loving. We miss the point of the Bible if we fail to look to Jesus, the Living Word. The written Word is inerrant, and it tells God's story. It is also filled with many human stories and accounts along the way and how God interacted with them. Ultimately the Book culminates in revealing Jesus the Living Word, the Saviour.

 We must enter into relationship with GOD, through His Blood atonement. Jesus is the God of the Bible, and He is CURRENTLY and ETERNALLY ALIVE, and He is INTERACTING with His creation at all times!! 

The written Word is about the Living Word... and the Living Word is coming to judge the world whether you heed His Word or not. :)

Luke 4:36 Then they were all amazed and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.”

The WORD OF JESUS' POWER upholds all things! He purged our sins by His Own Blood!

Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

People can shelve the Bible if they want, and ignore it. Or they can choose to read it and believe Jesus the Word for salvation. They can choose to respond to the invitation of the living God, Jesus, and follow Him as a disciple daily.

Just rest assured, the Lord is the Word and the Word is sovereign. He is coming to collect His saints (those saved by grace through faith- see Eph 2:8) and judge the world!

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Revelation 19:15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Jesus' (The Word) and His rock-solid teachings:
Matthew 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

Jesus is THE LIGHT:

 John 8:12 New King James Version (NKJV)

12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

God's Word is Light!

Psa. 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.

Jesus is God's Word of LIGHT!

God's Word is TRUTH:

John 17:17 New King James Version (NKJV)

17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

Jesus is The Truth:

John 14:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus is God's WORD OF TRUTH!!

The Word cannot be bound (chained) or broken!

2 Timothy 2:9 New King James Version (NKJV)

9 for which I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even to the point of chains; but the word of God is not chained.

John 10:34-36 New King James Version (NKJV)

34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, “You are gods” ’? 

35 If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), 

36 do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?

God bless you!

Open the Word today, read, and absorb His Word, by the leading of Christ's Holy Spirit! Walk in daily RELATIONSHIP to the Living Word. 

-Pastor Curtis 

Feb 27 2021 2:31am EST

God's Love Builds Trust

God's active Love toward people is Character based. It is based on His own Character. And THAT is what builds trust in Him. And therefore love and trust are what all healthy godly relationships are based upon. 

It is endlessly flowing from within Him toward undeserving people. His love is not reactionary, based on what others do for Him. Instead, He initiated salvation and paid the price for all our sins. We simply need to believe on Jesus for salvation. Simply trust in HIS FINISHED WORK. (Believe in God, and believe in Jesus: see John 14:1)

Psalm 143:8 (NKJV)
8 Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness (khesed) in the morning,
For in You do I trust;
Cause me to know the way in which I should walk,
For I lift up my soul to You.

NOTE here that God's lovingkindness (khesed) is directly linked to TRUST. Trust is built by God's khesed love. God shows the same love to us in the NT with the word agape. He builds our trust. All worthwhile relationships are based on trust.... and trust is built on the khesed Love of God! 
Salvation comes when you TRUST in Jesus alone for your salvation, not in work or in good deeds! 
Why can we TRUST Him? Because He initiated LOVE for us by coming to earth. God came to earth as a man, Jesus Christ, and died for our sins. He showed love to us in that way, and it allows for TRUST and a RELATIONSHIP to GOD.

God Loves Because God is Love. We love each other, because we abide in that very same Love.

If we let God's love flow out of us first, before the other acts, we are actually demonstrating the kind of Love God had for us. That is how trust is built in godly relationships.

 THIS is the kind of love we should learn how to show others. Jesus teaches us to abide in His Love in the NT. The Law of First mention is a hermeneutical concept that teaches that the way God first uses a word in the Old Testament, is the way He will continue to use that word (or it's Greek equivalent) in the New Testament. So to help us understand God's agape love in the NT, we should start by understanding His love in the OT as described by the Hebrew word khesed. 

Watch a short 5 minute video on this from an independent Christian channel on youtube called Bibleproject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfbyFLgs_NM 

God's Love/mercy/kindness in the Old Testament is "Khesed" (Strongs H2617). https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H2617&t=KJV

His khesed love comes because of Who He is, not what we can offer Him, as the above video explains.

Keep this in mind when we love others, around the time of valentine's day, and at any other time. Love others based on who God is, and who you are IN CHRIST. God's khesed/agape love is our "battery power" - our source for enabling us to love people the way God loves us. We get that love from God only through the Son Jesus Christ. Pastor Rev. Steve Coates also has some great graphics on the Church page explaining the difference between human/romantic love and God's agape Love. (link is here: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1059006371284974&set=g.48711223086 ).

God loved me when I had nothing to give Him. I was born a rotten sinner. But Jesus' blood cleansed me.

All I have to give is the love that He Himself gave me. He gave me Jesus. He gave me salvation. I simply had to believe in Jesus that He paid for my sins in full. Now He abides in my heart and spirit.

Build all your relationships, by abiding in God's eternal and lasting love, as understood by both the OT word khesed and the NT word agape.

Even in dating or marital relationships between two serious Christian disciples, it's not about what the other person can do for you or give you. It's about how you can serve your significant other in the khesed/agape love that God has shown you. You are practicing love by demonstrating His Character-driven everlasting lovingkindness and mercy and goodness. Yes this is a growing process, for me and for everyone. We all make mistakes as humans. But God's forgiveness is part of His khesed Love. He forgives us for our sins when we repent and call on Him for mercy. So we should forgive one another as He forgave us.

Why do you love your significant other? I suggest we love them not because of what they can do or give, or produce. I urge that we love them because GOD IS LOVE. As we abide DAILY in that love, we too can learn to love, because that is part of our new Creation nature in Christ! That means we extend the khesed love of God to our spouse or romantic interest. It involves loyatly, mercy, kindness, goodness, love. 

 His love does not depend on how He is treated. He does not hold back until He is treated right. It does not depend on romance or romantic feelings (as nice as those feelings can be!). Romance is external, and temporary. Yet khesed and agape are internal, eternal, and they flow out of your spirit, from Christ in you the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27).

His love came first. And it keeps coming afresh, every day.

It initiates.

It loyally protects.

It gently tends.

It rejoices not in lies, but only in the Truth.

It lasts.

It forgives.

It builds trust.  

When others do not see any potential, God's love sees it, and provides room for it to grow.

When others do not see you.... GOD'S LOVE sees you, and extends out to you. There is no place where He cannot reach you.

Romans 8:15 (NKJV) For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.”

Galatians 4:6 (NKJV) And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

If we can tap into His love in our spirit, and let it flow out to others, we can build TRUST with others in the same way: by taking the initiative to show others the KHESED LOVINGKINDNESS of God!

God bless you!

Pastor Curtis

Thu Feb 4th 2021 4:30am EST