Kevin's Korner
Greetings to everyone in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hello out there! My name is Kevin Smith, and I'm the associate pastor here at Fountain of Life Church. Forgive me for the delay in my column here. I'm not the most computer literate person in the world, and this thing has given me fits! But, I am learning. I ask everyone out there to just have a little patience with me as I learn on the go. My little computer corner of the world here is something I plan to use for the purpose of teaching. Any interaction on your part is greatly encouraged. I guess a little formal introduction is in order here. So then, allow me to introduce myself. I am 19 years old as of this past Sept. 21st. Which may raise some eyebrows out there. Many of you may wonder if a 19 year old is truly ready for the responsibility of such a major position in church as associate pastor? Well, personally, I think 19 years is plenty of preparation time. By the time you add the 27 years that I was old when I received salvation, I think that's plenty! Just for the fun of it, 9-21 is also the natural birthdate of both my father and my older brother, as well as my spiritual birthday! Tell me God doesn't have a sense of humor. My dad must be pretty special in Gods eyes, to have his first-born son born on his birth-day! Then have his second born son born-again on his birth-day! I am 46 years of age, and I will never tell you my wife's age! Though we are only a year and a half apart. Amy and I met in a place called the "chicken coop" when we were teen-agers. we dated for over 10 years before we married, and have now been married for 18 years. We have 6 children, four girls and two boys, ranging in age from 3 to 19. Don't get your calculators out. All of ours are adopted. What I want to do tonight, to I guess launch this web-ministry officially is to give you next week's lesson plan! I plan on telling everyone the subject matter, the issue that I will discuss more thoroughly next week. Which is this: The virgin birth. This should be a good place to start things off from. This should get the cerebral juices flowing. You see, there is much more to the virgin birth then meets the eye. Why was Jesus born of a virgin? Did he have to be? For what purpose? Let me leave you with this. The virgin birth had much more to do with the absense of a natural earthly father then it did the use of a virgin mother. Hmmm. Food for thought. Now chew.
The virgin birth.
Pastor Kevin here. Welcome back. It's Tuesday night and I just got the kids in bed, finally. Waiting for my wife to get home. Note that I didn't say "the wife"! You are my witnesses. (She hates that!) Back to business now. The virgin birth. I'll give you the answers, then explain it all. The reason the virgin birth has more to do with the absence of the father in the equation is because of something the scriptures refer to as the "corrupt seed". Emphasis on the word seed. Ever notice that no-where in the scriptures will we find reference to the "corrupt egg"? Because the egg refers to the woman. The seed refers to the man. I love the line about the corrupt egg! It's one of my favorites. But, in line with that, nor does scripture refer to sin and death coming "through one woman Eve" now does it?! It is not by one woman Eve came sin and death into this world, it was by the man. This is why Jesus is called "the second Adam", or the "last Adam", depending on your translation of the Bible. If sin and death came by the woman, then Jesus would not have been born a male! We might have had the second/last Jessica or something? Which is ridiculous; which is just as ridiculous as the teachings and doctrines about all the mess this world is in being the result of the woman's sin! The woman is not to blame for all the mess we're in. Paul, to Timothy said "that the man was not deceived, as was the woman". (1st book,2nd chapter, 14th verse) (Which is one of the favorite verses used to blame everything on the woman?) Well, I ask you this then: if the man wasn't deceived, then what exactly was he? Deceived, means you were tricked, you were beguiled, you were hood-winked! It means that the person didn't fully realize or recognize what they were doing. The person just thought wrong. This implies that the person who is deceived isn't completely at fault. If the person wasn't deceived, wasn't tricked, wasn't beguiled, wasn't hood-winked, then I submit to you that the person pretty much knew what they were doing. That as they say, changes everything. What Adam did...............was willful. He knew it. He knew better. He just did it anyway. She didn't fully understand that what she did was wrong. The same can't be said of the man. He understood much more then she. What he did was defiance, it was rebellion. This is why the curse came through the man. It comes through the seed. Corruption comes through the seed, according to Peter. It's why Jesus could be born of the woman, but the man could have no part in it! Redemption comes through the source of the curse, as you'll notice when you read the book of Hebrews. Jesus became the curse - for us! The mere fact that He was a man proves that man is the reason for the curse. Man has been trying to play the blame game ever since the beginning of time. I mean really! Think about it. What was the first thing Adam wanted to do? Blame "the woman you gave me Lord"! His first born son followed in his footsteps pretty quickly. Cain blamed his brother! No looking in the mirror with either one of them. Consider Cain for a moment, as a sidebar if you will. One of the most powerful statements found in all of scripture that describes the utter wretchedness of the flesh, which is simply the "self" nature, is seen in Cains response unto God concerning the death of his brother Abel. In two verses, in Genesis 4:13,14; Cain refers to himself and only himself! "Me, myself, and I". Friends, that is the flesh. It's just simply self. Cain refers to himself - SEVEN TIMES. Which is quite an important Biblical number! It has to do with completion, and perfection. The "enmity" spoken of in Romans 8:5, which is a reference to the flesh, is self. Rather than being God centered, man in the flesh is self-centered. Cain never mentions his brother, his parents, his family at all? There's not a thing about shame, guilt, regret, remorse? He wasn't even embarrassed! He was just worried about himself. Sound familiar to anyone? That's free. I won't charge you for that. Jesus could not be born in corruption, in sin. He could not be born cursed! That's simple enough isn't it? Men, we need to better understand a little word called humility. It's about self-denial. The problem isn't the woman God gave us. It wasn't then, and it isn't now. There is much more that we need to learn, and this lesson is the harbinger to the rest of them. Matthew 16:24 tells us that if we are going to follow Jesus, then we need to understand that we must deny ourselves, take up our cross, (not his) and follow Jesus. Our cross will do the same thing to us that his did to him. It will completely destroy the life of the flesh. Your cross, my cross, our cross means one thing. Death. But don't let death scare you. Just remember this: Nothing can be resurrected unless it dies. God can't resurrect us - if we ain't dead! There are lessons coming that won't come easy for us men, especially where our women are concerned. There are some things that concern women that will slap us men right in the face! Hit us right where it hurts the most, in our pride. If this lesson is unsettling for some of you out there, then you just wait! There's more really good stuff coming! That I can promise.
&nb
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