Picture: David was anointed as king to replace Saul. He was set to play the harp as therapy for Saul, but had to escape to save his life. He prophesied that Christ was God’s Messiah (anointed), he was killed, but God raised him from the dead and installed him as his Messiah at his right hand in heaven.

In the Psalms, many testified to their faith in God, and the psalmist Asaph prophesied that God would stand in the “assembly of the gods” and render judgment.

Moses told the people that they were to be children of God, so that through his instruction and training they would grow up to be “gods”. But Moses foresaw that they would rebel, so that they would lose their land and be taken away. When they were then allowed to return to their land by God’s grace, they were to be circumcised on heart.

God had Samuel anoint David as king, even so he had to flee from Saul and his army, but it was in this way that he took refuge in the Lord and asked Him to save him from the enemy and then it happened that the enemy was judged and lost in battle and that was his salvation. We see this time and again in the Old Testament and that hope is expressed in their prayers as well.

Asaph was a psalmist in David’s time and he said that God stands in the “assembly of gods” and holds judgment, and that is precisely what happened with David and he made many prophecies about the Messiah.

Psalm.82,1  A psalm of Asaph.

God stands in the assembly of El;

in the midst of the gods he renders judgment.

2 He says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions

and show favoritism to the wicked? (Selah)

3 Defend the cause of the poor and the fatherless.

Vindicate the oppressed and suffering. 

4 Rescue the poor and needy.

Deliver them from the power of the wicked. 

5 They neither know nor understand.

They stumble around in the dark,

while all the foundations of the earth crumble.

6 I thought, ‘You are gods;

all of you are sons of the Most High.’

7 Yet you will die like mortals;

you will fall like all the other rulers.”

8 Rise up, O God, and execute judgment on the earth!

For you own all the nations.

Salms.95,3 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.

Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.

2 Let us enter his presence with thanksgiving.

Let us shout out to him in celebration.

3 For the Lord is a great God,

a great king who is superior to all gods.

.

Psalme.136,1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,

for his loyal love endures.

2 Give thanks to the God of gods,

for his loyal love endures. 

3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,

for his loyal love endures. 

4 To the one who performs magnificent, amazing deeds all by himself,

for his loyal love endures.

The people of Israel fell away from the Lord their God, so their land was taken and they were taken away to Babylon. But they were allowed to return to their land, as prophesied. Thus the God of Israel showed that he was the true God.

Isaiah.41,21 “Present your argument,” says the Lord.

“Produce your evidence,” says Jacob’s King.

22 “Let them produce evidence! Let them tell us what will happen!

Tell us about your earlier predictive oracles,

so we may examine them and see how they were fulfilled.

Or decree for us some future events! 

23 Predict how future events will turn out,

so we might know you are gods.

Yes, do something good or something bad, 

so we might be frightened and in awe.

24 Look, you are nothing, and your accomplishments are nonexistent;

the one who chooses to worship you is disgusting.

25 I have stirred up one out of the north and he advances,

one from the eastern horizon who prays in my name.

He steps on rulers as if they were clay,

like a potter treading the clay. 

26 Who decreed this from the beginning, so we could know?

Who announced it ahead of time, so we could say, ‘He’s correct’?

Indeed, none of them decreed it.

Indeed, none of them announced it.

Indeed, no one heard you say anything! 

27 I first decreed to Zion, ‘Look, here’s what will happen!’

I sent a herald to Jerusalem.

28 I look, but there is no one,

among them there is no one who serves as an adviser

that I might ask questions and receive answers. 

29 Look, all of them are nothing,

their accomplishments are nonexistent;

their metal images lack any real substance.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believd in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And he stood i the council of gods, and judged.

Joel prophesied that God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh, but then he also prophesied about a day of judgment.

Joel.2,27 You will be convinced that I am in the midst of Israel.

I am the Lord your God; there is no other.

My people will never again be put to shame. 

An Outpouring of the Spirit

28 (3:1) “After all of this

I will pour out my Spirit on all kinds of people.

Your sons and daughters will prophesy.

Your elderly will have prophetic dreams;

your young men will see visions. 

29 Even on male and female servants

I will pour out my Spirit in those days. 

30 I will produce portents both in the sky and on the earth—

blood, fire, and columns of smoke. 

31 The sunlight will be turned to darkness

and the moon to the color of blood,

before the day of the Lord comes—

that great and terrible day! 

32 It will so happen that 

everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered.

For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who survive,

just as the Lord has promised;

the remnant will be those whom the Lord will call.

This judgment day (the Lord’s day) was primarily that Christ died on the cross for the sin of the whole world and with his death judged the sin in the flesh.

The sin in the flesh can simply be said to be that they tried to idolize themselves with their fleshly nature. It was by eating from the tree of knowledge, the tree that gives knowledge of good and evil, so they tried to idolize themselves with their knowledge of good and evil, a moral philosophical knowledge, that is.

After the fall, Adam and Eve noticed that God was walking in the garden, so they hid from him with a bad conscience, with the attitude, that is, that the love relationship between them was something that God should have anything to do with. But God called Adam and there was a court settlement, Adam was sentenced to death, he was dust and to dust he would return. God is spirit, but Adam was dust and was not like God anyway.

But Christ died on the cross instead of us, God raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in heaven, to be our high priest with the Father, our savior king and king of kings. When we accept Christ by faith, we receive the salvation that God gives us in him and then we will see it as if we were crucified and died with him and in baptism buried with him, there we are also resurrected with him by the saving power of God who raised him from the dead.

But we have the same bodies, unless he has healed us for illness. visible or invisible, the same biology, the same genes, unless he has healed us for a hereditary disease. How can we then have received a new nature? It is like with the wheat grain, when it is pollinated, it gets a new nature, which is different from the rest of the plant. The pollination here is a symbol of the new nature Jesus gives us from heaven, he is the bread of life who came down from heaven to give life to the world, the Word he has spoken to us is spirit and life. God harvests the grain and takes care of it, but it is different with the chaff, these are those who have not received in faith and have not received a new nature.

Luk.3,15 While the people were filled with anticipation and they all wondered whetherperhaps John could be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you withwater, but one more powerful than I am is coming—I am not worthy to untie the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 Hiswinnowing fork is in his hand to clean out his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his storehouse, but the chaff he will burn up with inextinguishable fire.”

Acknowledge Christ as our Savior and Lord, so that we protect ourselves against those who would steal our freedom.

Moses told the people that they should be children of God, but he foresaw that they would rebel and be punished for it and be taken away from their land. But by God’s grace they should return to it and then they should be circumcised. When they returned to their land, it was important for them to start building the temple, because then God would bless them. They faced opposition, but the prophet Zechariah encouraged them and said that it only happened by the Spirit of God.

Zec.4,6 6 Therefore he told me, “This is the Lord’s message to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by strength and not by power, butby my Spirit,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

7 “What are you, you great mountain? Because of Zerubbabel you will become a level plain! And he will bring forth the temple capstone with shoutings of ‘Grace! Grace!’ because of this.”

Since then, Paul called the new covenant the circumcision of the heart in the Holy Spirit. The point is precisely that God does his work in us and with us by his Word and his Spirit, and that is most fundamental.

Rom.2,28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision something that is outward in the flesh, 29 but someone is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit and not by the letter.This person’s praise is not from people but from God.

Rom.8,14 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness to our spirit that we areGod’s children. 17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.

Paul taught us to live in freedom as children of God and to be careful that no one deceive us from our freedom.

Gal.2,3 Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 

The man should know how to win his own wife in holiness and then others must not try to deceive him (1 Thess. 4:3-8). Christ is the head of the man and the man is the head of the woman and so Christ is the head of the church which is his bride. And then we shall grow up to him who is the head of the Christian church, Christ.

We say what Jesus is for us and honor and thank him for it. If then others reject it, it is as if they want to replace it with human works, most likely a demand that we must try to replace it with our own works. But then man can´t do the works of God. It becomes like a demand that they must try to do the work of God, but in their own power?! Try to idolize themselves with their human and carnal nature? Thus it is conducive to foolishness and seduction as at the fall, even as a demand. Thus it can lead to them rejecting and denying the Father and the Son. And if they start by denying the Father and the Son, it will lead to them replacing God’s work with human work and demanding that man do it. But man cannot do God’s work, the result is that they are made slaves. And it so happens that there are those who want to sell them as slaves and sheep for slaughter, to make money from it. 

As God’s co-workers, there is also something we must do, then we must learn to distinguish between what He does in our lives and what we should do, what God does is most fundamental, when we acknowledge it and honor and thank Him for it, as the first priority, we will surely gain clarity in what we should do, as the second priority.

Stewardship; cultivate and protect God’s garden.

Stewardship through Adam and Eve.

God blessed humans and put them in charge of the rest of what he had created, but they were to live on seeds and fruit from the ground. Grains, nuts, and fruit are good food. This was something that the earth produced every year, so the values ​​were renewed, they did not need to hoard large stocks.

But why should they rule over the rest of the animal kingdom?

Genesis1,27 27 God created humankind in his own image, 

in the image of God he created them,

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creaturethat moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I now give you every seed-bearingplant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every birdof the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has living breath in it—I give every green plant for food.” It was so. 

31 God saw all that he had made—and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

In the second creation account, Genesis 2, we are on the individual and personal level, the personal relationship with God and he gave them a stewardship task and responsibility came with that.

Genesis 2,15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard in Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 16 Then the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eatfruit from every tree of the orchard, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will surely die.”

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”  19 The Lord God formed out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man named all the animals, the birdsof the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam no companion who corresponded to him was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man’s side and closed upthe place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, 

“This one at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh; 

this one will be called ‘woman,’ 

for she was taken out of man.”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become one family.

It is as if all people are referred to as one people, yes, a man and his wife. They were given a stewardship task and it was long-term. At the fall they were sentenced to death, the stewardship was so long-term that it went on for many generations, but they lost much of the wealth they previously had to manage.

The stewardship of Noah and his descendants.

After the flood, God made a covenant with Noah.

Genesis 8,15 Then God spoke to Noah and said, 16 “Come out of the ark, you, your wife, your sons, and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you all the living creaturesthat are with you. Bring out every living thing, including the birds, animals, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Let them increase and be fruitfuland multiply on the earth!”

18 Noah went out along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives. 19 Every living creature, every creeping thing, every bird, and everything that moves on the earthwent out of the ark in their groups. 

20 Noah built an altar to the Lord. He then took some of every kind of clean animaland clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the Lord smelledthe soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will never again curse the groundbecause of humankind, even though the inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done. 

22 “While the earth continues to exist,

planting time and harvest, 

cold and heat, 

summer and winter, 

and day and night will not cease.”

Geneis 9,1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 3 You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 

4 “But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it. 5 For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exactpunishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative.

6 “Whoever sheds human blood,

by other humans

must his blood be shed; 

for in God’s image

God has made humankind. 

7 “But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it.”

8 God said to Noah and his sons, 9 “Look. I now confirm my covenant with you andyour descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earthwith you, all those that came out of the ark with you—every living creature of the earth. 11 I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.”

12 And God said, “This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you andevery living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 13 I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenantbetween me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a floodand destroy all living things. 16 When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of allkinds that are on the earth.” 

17 So God said to Noah, “This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth.”

They were supposed to rule over the wildlife, but now it should be food for them. Thus, the stewardship responsibility was changed, making it more meaningful for them.

How to be prepared for drought? Sabbatical year?

Jacob’s sons sold their brother, Joseph, as a slave and he came to Egypt. He interpreted Pharaoh’s dream as a prophecy that there should be 7 good years followed by 7 bad years of drought, so he advised Pharaoh to hoard grain during the 7 good years. Joseph now gained great power and was to manage the collection of grain. And it was a success. This is in principle an example of what is called Keynes’ economic theory.

When the people of Israel entered the promised land, they were to have a sabbatical year, every seventh year they were to leave the land fallow. The land would also bear enough crops so that they had both food for the sabbatical year and seed for the following year. With their godliness, they should get rain at the right time and the land would be so fertile that they would have an abundance. But if there were a bad year of drought, they would then have a store of grain, as in a sabbatical year. It would be strange if there were no more droughts, but this blessing is strange to our way of thinking. We must prioritize the spiritual blessing and then we can expect that to result in material blessing as well.

God blessed Abraham and promised that in his seed all nations would be blessed. Steward of God’s grace.

Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness, so God blessed him and promised that in his seed all nations would be blessed. Those who bless him will be blessed, but those who curse him will be cursed. This promise is fulfilled in Christ. By believing that God raised him from the dead, we become righteous before God, by confessing that he is Lord, we will be saved. Where everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Rom.10,5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: “The one who doesthese things will live by them.” 6 But the righteousness that is by faith says: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christdown) 7 or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up fromthe dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and inyour heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), 9 because if you confesswith your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised himfrom the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and thus hasrighteousness and with the mouth one confesses and thus has salvation. 11 Forthe scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”12 For there is no distinction between the Jew and the Greek, for the same Lord is Lord of all, who richly blesses all who call on him. 13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

The apostles were Christ’s servants and stewards of the mysteries of God, it was to administer the spiritual blessing they received by grace alone, through faith in Christ.

1.Co.4,1 One should think about us this way—as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful. 3So for me, it is a minor matter that I am judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not acquitted because of this. The one who judges me is the Lord. 5 So then, do not judge anything before the time. Wait until the Lord comes. He willbring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the motives of hearts. Theneach will receive recognition from God.

Luk.12,42  The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the masterputs in charge of his household servants, to give them their allowance of food atthe proper time? 43 Blessed is that slave whom his master finds at work when he returns. 44 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all hispossessions. 45 But if that slave should say to himself, ‘My master is delayed in returning,’ and he begins to beat the other slaves, both men and women, and to eat, drink, and get drunk, 46 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee, and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 47 That servant who knew hismaster’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know his master’s will and did things worthy of punishment will receive a light beating. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, and from the one who has been entrustedwith much, even more will be asked.

The Atonement.

Humans were condemned to death because of the fall and excluded from close fellowship with God. The ground was to be cursed because of Adam’s sin, thorns and thistles it would bear, in the sweat of his face he should eat his bread, until he returned to the ground, dust he was and to dust he would return. God was spirit, but man was dust, so he was not like God anyway.

But God reconciled the world to himself by Christ dying instead of us on the cross, on that basis our relationship with God is restored, as it was before the fall, but now Christ is the last Adam, who is from heaven and who for us has become a life-giving spirit. He is the head of the man and the man is the head of the woman and so Christ is the head of the church which is his bride.

On the foundation of the gospel we have peace with God, peace between Jews and Gentiles, peace between man and woman. We become God’s fellow workers so that we can use peaceful methods to build marriage, family and home, church, education, society and nation.

Eph.2,11 Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh—who are called “uncircumcision” by the so-called “circumcision” that is performed on the body by human hands— 12 that you were at that time without the Messiah,alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise,having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who used to be far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he is ourpeace, the one who made both groups into one and who destroyed the middle wall of partition, the hostility, 15 when he nullified in his flesh the law of commandments in decrees. He did this to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, 16 and to reconcile them both in one body to God throughthe cross, by which the hostility has been killed. 17 And he came and preachedpeace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, 18 so thatthrough him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer foreigners and noncitizens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints andmembers of God’s household, 20 because you have been built on the foundationof the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 Inhim the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God inthe Spirit.

It is important for us to thank God for this here in Norway, that is how we get the right national identity, so we maintain it and renew it. It is by coming to Christ and drinking of the water of life.

Joh.7,37 On the last day of the feast, the greatest day, Jesus stood up and shouted out, “Ifanyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and 38 let the one who believes in me drink.Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” 39(Now he said this about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive, for the Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus was not yet glorified.)

Isa.57,14 He says,

“Build it! Build it! Clear a way!

Remove all the obstacles out of the way of my people!” 

15 For this is what the high and exalted one says,

the one who rules forever, whose name is holy:

“I dwell in an exalted and holy place,

but also with the discouraged and humiliated,

in order to cheer up the humiliated

and to encourage the discouraged.

16 For I will not be hostile forever

or perpetually angry,

for then man’s spirit would grow faint before me,

the life-giving breath I created. 

The water of life and the Spirit of God. The four winds.

In Genesis 2, there is talk of a dry and lifeless earth, but then a spring gushed up that watered the field.

Genesis 2,4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created—whenthe Lord God made the earth and heavens.

5 Now no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the fieldhad yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6 Springs would well up from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground. 7 The Lord God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the manbecame a living being.

This spring, I believe, is a symbol of the living water and the spirit of life is the Spirit of God. The Jews were allowed to drink from the stream of God, the spring of salvation, the spring of joy, but then they fell away from God, the spring of the living water.

Psalm.36,8 They are filled with food from your house,

and you allow them to drink from the river of your delicacies. 

9 For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light.

10 Extend your loyal love to your faithful followers,

and vindicate the morally upright.

Jer.2,13 “Do so because my people have committed a double wrong:

They have rejected me,

the fountain of life-giving water,

and they have dug cisterns for themselves,

cracked cisterns that cannot even hold water.

Dan.7,2 Daniel explained: “I was watching in my vision during the night as the four winds of the sky were stirring up the great sea. 3 Then four large beasts came up from the sea; they were different from one another.

The four winds are the Spirit of God and this shows how fundamentally important it is for the building of society. Ezekiel prophesied that the four winds would go into the land and blow on some dry human bones, so that they became living people again. This shows even more clearly how fundamentally important the Spirit of God is for the building of society.

Ezekiel.37,1 The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 2 He made me walk all around among them. I realized there were a great many bones in the valley, and they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy overthese bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, listen to the Lord’s message. 5 This is whatthe Sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath into you and you will live. 6 I will put tendons on you and muscles over you and will coveryou with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will live. Then you will know that Iam the Lord.’” 

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied— I heard a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 As I watched, I sawtendons on them, then muscles appeared, and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath in them.

9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath—prophesy, son of man—and say to the breath: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’” 10 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army. 

11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 12Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Look, Iam about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 14 I will place my breath in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord—I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”

All who received Jesus he gave the right to become children of God, born of the water of life and the Spirit of God and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. This is how we join the four winds and thus the kingdom of God.

Joh.3,3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”

5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water andspirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, andwhat is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You mustall be born from above.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the soundit makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9 Nicodemus replied, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I tell you the solemn truth, we speak about what we know and testify about what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony. 12 If I have told you people about earthly things and you don’t believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the serpent inthe wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so thateveryone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. 18 The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believedin the name of the one and only Son of God. 19 Now this is the basis for judging:that the light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather thanthe light because their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil deeds hatesthe light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. 21But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God.

King of Kings, Christian Nationalism?

Christ has made us a royal priesthood, that is, he is our high priest with the Father, he is the king of the kingdom of God and the king of kings.

1.Pet.2,1 So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2 Andyearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow upto salvation, 3 if you have experienced the Lord’s kindness.

4 So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and preciousin God’s sight, 5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house tobe a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to Godthrough Jesus Christ. 6 For it says in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame.” 7 So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone, 8and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royalpriesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtuesof the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 You oncewere not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, butnow you have received mercy.

Christ is the king of the kingdom of God and it should spread throughout the earth, among all peoples. We are all his people and we are one people, even though we come from different peoples and nations. But he is also the king of kings and that shows that there can just as well be different peoples and nations, because the kingdom of God is more fundamental than this. By rebirth we are children of God and that is more fundamental, the kingdom of God is most fundamental and it is needed in every people and society.

Here is an important point that a relatively small people with a relatively small nation, can specialize in adapting to the natural environment of the country, cultivate the land and manage the resources sensibly, in the long term, over several generations, for the people in the long term.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things will be given to you as well.

Christian mission and aid to poor countries.

My parents and grandparents liked Christian missions and it was connected with being compassionate with the poor in poor countries. It was horrible to see pictures of emaciated children with bloated bellies, because they were affected by the drought disaster in Africa. My mother and especially my grandmother were busy with Christian missions, it was connected with the fact that they were homemakers and had time for it.

This was also a prayer topic for me. So I was delighted by Jesus’ words to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things will be given to you as well (Matt. 6:33-34). That applied to me and us and it applied people in poor countries and it applied to the mission field in poor countries.

But the left-wing radicals were against the Christian mission, they believed that the capitalists came tripping after the missionaries onto the mission field to exploit the people and get hold of the wealth. Imperialism was like this. 

What was needed here was the development of nationalities that could take responsibility for long-term management of the natural resources for the benefit of the people in the country. But then the socialists protest against that too and call nationalism national socialism. What are they left with then? A socialist imperialism?! Norwegian national aid must be good, right? But then it has been shown time and time again that it doesn’t work like intended.

But Jesus’ words in Matt.6,33-34 stand firm, the promise still applies, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all the other things will be given to you in addition to that. God stands behind his word, so it accomplishes what he sent it to do.

The reconciliation. The administration, imperialism, national liberation. International politics and economics.

God reconciled the world to himself, by Christ dying in our place on the cross. On that basis, our relationship with him is restored as it was before the fall, so that we experience that God still creates us in accordance with Genesis 2, but now Christ is the last Adam, who is from heaven and who has become a life-giving spirit. God creates us in him and so he creates us in his image. Christ is the head of the man and the man is the head of the woman and so Christ is the head of the church which is his bride. This applies to the individual man and woman and to the marriage between them and it applies to all peoples and nations.

Adam was to cultivate and protect the garden of God and his wife was to help him with it. It was a personal relationship with God and it was family life. But it also spoke of the first people and a long-term administration over several generations. Later peoples and nations are mentioned in a similar way, primarily in that God used Israel to make his name known among the Gentiles, so that they became an example to other peoples, actually both for good, as an example, and for bad, as a deterrent. But ideally, the spiritual blessing should lead to material blessing through good management of resources, by cultivating and protecting God’s garden, cultivating the land and harvesting the fruits of it.

Nevertheless, things went so wrong that their land was taken by the Babylonians and they were taken away to Babylonia. The same applied to their small neighboring peoples. But under the Persian king Cyrus they were returned to their land. The same applied to their small neighboring peoples. This is a model of the gospel of Christ, which was to be preached to all nations. 

There came four great empires, Babylonia, Media, Persia and the Greek Empire.

Then the kingdom of God came through Christ and it was to spread throughout the earth. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, but we are right to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, then we will receive everything else in addition to that. The kingdom of God and the spiritual blessing is most fundamental, then we receive material blessing in addition to that. It can be through education in science and technology, through work and through the development of the nation state, so that it stands for good management of natural resources over a long time, over several generations.

This can work well together with international economics and politics, I am thinking especially of Keynes’ economic policy, that in times of boom the state should earn money, in times of recession it should spend money, to get working life going on again.

In Norway we have had a boom for a long time and the state has saved money in the oil fund and that has been a success. Small farms after small farms have been abandoned, because people get better paying jobs. They use pasture-cleaning machines, so that forest does not grow into cultivated fields But forest grows into a lot of pasture land, so it can even obstruct the view. But this is natural and we can see value in what nature brings forth without us having to strive for it. If we take on a short-term job of planting something that is useful to us in the long term, nature can bring it forth a lot of value by itself, without us having to work at it. Then the question is how long-term are people willing to think and invest? Perhaps a family with young children thinks several generations ahead, but is happy to work hard for the short-term economy. But the authorities could certainly take responsibility for such long-term economic thinking, over several generations. For example reforestation.

Comparison between the USA and the Roman Empire.

The USA can be compared to the Roman Empire when it was a republic. When it became an empire, it became like the Beast in John Revelation 13:1…, the head in question here, I believe is Emperor Nero.

Rev 13,1 Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea. It had ten horns and sevenheads, and on its horns were ten diadem crowns, and on its heads a blasphemousname. 2 Now the beast that I saw was like a leopard, but its feet were like a bear’s, and its mouth was like a lion’s mouth. The dragon gave the beast his power, histhrone, and great authority to rule. 3 One of the beast’s heads appeared to have been killed, but the lethal wound had been healed. And the whole world followedthe beast in amazement; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he had givenruling authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast too, saying: “Who is like the beast?” and “Who is able to make war against him?”

The beast resembled all four beasts that Daniel prophesied about (Dan.7), it was Babylonia, Media, Persia and the Greek Empire under Alexander the Great. Babylonia was a strong empire, which enslaved many peoples. Media was weaker and was more marked by rebellion and conflict. Persia was strong and grew larger, but the first great king, Cyrus the Great, allowed the Jews to return to their land. The same was true of the other peoples. Isaiah had prophesied about this and called Cyrus God’s anointed. Thus he became a model of Christ and the gospel about him, which was to be preached to all nations. The Greek empire was marked by Greek philosophy, which could also be called the wisdom of this world. In their philosophy and history there was also Greek democracy, but democracy was controversial, many ancient sages meant the king had to rule with dictatorial power. Alexander the Great allowed democracy on the local level in Greece and was tolerant where he took power, to prevent rebellion.

In comparison to this story, the Americans took slaves to cultivate the land and build the country, despite the fact that the gospel they had to preach both to themselves and other peoples was a liberating message. Modern technology came largely as a further development of Greek philosophy, so rationalization of work meant that they did not need so many slaves anymore. This together with evangelical Christianity became good arguments for them to end slavery.

When I now compare the USA to the Roman Empire, while it was a republic, it was democracy at the top level. It was a dangerous political game that could lead to the dissolution of the empire, especially since the class struggle intensified, there was civil war and then it became an empire, where the emperor should rule with dictatorial power.

But then Christ came and preached the gospel of the kingdom of God and it should fill the whole world (Dan.2,44-45 Dan.7,26-27). Now it has become big and strong and can keep the United States united in a kingdom, even if it is a democracy, without it becoming an empire where the emperor is worshipped as a god. For the gospel is a liberating message, which becomes fundamental for freedom and democracy in society.

We must repent and become like children, yes, become born again, to see the kingdom of God and enter it. Everyone who received Christ he gave the right to become children of God, born of the water of life and the Spirit of God and what is born of the Spirit, is spirit. When we then see it and enter it, it is important for us to honor and thank God and the Lamb for creation and salvation (Rev.5). God saves us in Christ and makes us his co-workers, so that we can help plant, water and build. But God gives growth.

1.Co.3,5 What is Apollos, really? Or what is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, and each of us in the ministry the Lord gave us. 6 I planted, Apolloswatered, but God caused it to grow. 7 So neither the one who plants counts for anything, nor the one who waters, but God who causes the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as one, but each will receive his rewardaccording to his work. 9 We are coworkers belonging to God. You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master-builder I laid a foundation, but someone else builds on it. And each one must be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than what is being laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 each builder’s work will be plainly seen, for the Day will make it clear, because it will be revealed by fire. And the firewill test what kind of work each has done. 14 If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 

16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17If someone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, which is what you are. 

God does his work with his Word and his Spirit, that is most fundamental, he creates something perfect that stands forever, that is how it is when he saves people for eternity and gives them eternal life. No one can do like him. No one can add anything or take anything away. We may as well be his collaborators. It is not limited to Norway nor to the USA.