"..Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs,..the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things. If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one..By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear." (Hebrews 8:6-13 GNB)

paradigm, paradigm shift - From the Greek word paradhma (paradigma),... a paradigm is simply the predominant worldview in the realm of human thought..A paradigm shift occurs when cultures transform their way of thinking from one thought system to another. For instance, prior to Copernicus and Galileo (ca. 1600), most people believed that astral bodies revolved around the earth (geocentrism); but after the Copernican Revolution (ca. 1600), it became obvious that the earth revolved around the sun (heliocentrism) -- thus, a major paradigm shift occurred from geocentrism to heliocentrism..Simply put, then, a paradigm shift is a pivotal change in humanity's way of thinking regarding a particular worldview.

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In dealing with His people God uses covenants, which spells out the context of His dealings with them and covers expectations, responsibilities, benefits, consequences, processes and so on. Both parties commit to the covenant and it becomes binding. It was effectively a contract of engagement under which God and His people become one entity. He their God and they His people.

This series has been dedicated to transforming your perspective on life's inevitable trials, tests and adversities. In the introduction (please click here to read it), we established that such adversities were a fact of life but we have God's assurance that everything we face will workout eventually for our own benefit. More to the point God delights in turning the table on the devil and having the last laugh.

To verify this, we have been going through the bible to highlight examples of God's people who have come through negative circumstances and in hindsight turned out to be better off (Click here to read part 9). The bible assures us that "...God treats all people alike."(Acts 10:34 CEV) and since "Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 CEV), we can expect the same results in our lives.

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This series is dedicated to transforming your perspective on life's inevitable trials, tests and adversities. In the introduction (please click here to read it), we established that such adversities were a fact of life but we have God's assurance that everything we face will workout eventually for our own benefit. More to the point God delights in turning the table on the devil and having the last laugh.

To verify this, we have been going through the bible to highlight examples of God's people who have come through negative circumstances and in hindsight turned out to be better off (Click here to read part 8). The bible assures us that "...God treats all people alike."(Acts 10:34 CEV) and since "Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 CEV), it is my prayer that you will take comfort from their experiences and expect the same kind of results. Maybe you might even laugh with Him in anticipation of the expected end.

Enjoy

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As far as master plans went, they did not get any bigger than the one Christ came to implement. He was manifested to fulfill God's eternal purpose, to destroy the works of the enemy and restore the whole human race to it's rightful owner, making way for us to be adopted into God's family and be with Him forever. Jesus was to fulfill the Old Testament law and then pay the ultimate price on the behalf of those who could not. For this plan to work, the sinless Son (Lamb) of God had to be unjustly killed. Enter the religious institution of the day, incensed by the truth that exposed their lies. The undeniable miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, proved to be the final straw, the die was cast, and Jesus just had to be destroyed before His fame got out of hand. Betrayed, falsely accused, senselessly beaten and bearing the cross on which He was to be crucified, Christ went without the slightest hint of a fight.

There on that cross He uttered those immortal words "it is finished", God's eternal plan, hatched before the foundation of the earth was now in full swing. The devil and all His cohorts must have rubbed their hands with glee, rejoicing over what seemed an easily won victory. Little did he know that He had just initiated his own worst nightmare, he had just scored an almighty own goal!, as the scriptures put it, "The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross."(1 Corinthians 2:8 MSG). Christ; through His death destroyed the devils hold on mankind, setting us free from any obligations to him, the price was paid, we had been redeemed. Then He resurrected by the power of God to give us His life that we may live it with God forever. He then gave us authority to destroy the works of the enemy as well.

The devil in his rage, by God’s awesome wisdom served God’s purpose and pressed his own self-destruct button, a perfect script for "you have been framed".

This series is dedicated to transforming your perspective on life's inevitable trials, tests and adversities. In the introduction (please click here to read it), we established that such adversities were a fact of life but we have God's assurance that everything we face will workout eventually for our own benefit. More to the point God delights in turning the table on the devil and having the last laugh.

To verify this, we have been going through the bible to highlight examples of God's people who have come through negative circumstances and in hindsight turned out to be better off (Click here to read part 7). The bible assures us that "...God treats all people alike."(Acts 10:34 CEV) and since "Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 CEV), it is my prayer that you will take comfort from their experiences and expect the same kind of results. Maybe you might even laugh with Him in anticipation of the expected end.

Enjoy

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Here we look at a new testament example of God's grace and sense of humour in His dealings with a Jewish zealot named Saul, who was bent on crushing the early church. So driven was he that he sought permission to search beyond his own borders for Christians to commit to prison for daring to hold and proclaim their beliefs. Little did he know that God had marked Him as a vessel to bear the same message he was fighting. Then came that faithful day on the road to Damascus, when the Persecuted met His persecutor it became clear who was boss. Needless to say, by the time God was through with Saul, he was transformed to Paul, the most influential leader of the early church and the one through whom the full extent of the message of grace was revealed. As if to add a taint of irony to the story, Paul endured extreme persecution because of the message of grace and on one occasion was left for dead at the hands of his former allies. He must have been a major embarrassment to his former sponsors, making redundant the very laws he fought to uphold.