Hey there – I remembered when we first went over the part about bowing there was something very good in it. So, I went back and looked at some older files and one thing I ran across was the part that Satan “asked” Jesus to do it. Here is the section I found. I believe there was another time we typed up some notes on this subject that were very good, but I haven’t found those. I just remember really liking that section. I just wanted to forward it on to you just in case you saw something here you would like to include. I don’t remember the “asking” part in the “bowing down” section quite the way it is stated here. It may not be needed, but it was good. 🙂

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If it is true that before he came to earth, the Son did not know that Satan was evil, he most certainly found it out during the Temptation, for when Satan attempted to persuade him to bow down and worship him by offering the Son great riches, the Son would have known such a request came from a wicked heart.

But it wasn’t simply the bowing down part that would have made it clear that Satan was wicked. Throughout biblical history, righteous men had responded to visitations from heavenly beings by fearfully bowing down, even collapsing before them (Gen. 19:1; Num. 22:31; 1Chron. 21:16; Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 10:7-10). So, the mere concept of a man falling down in a worshipful attitude before a powerful heavenly being would not have seemed out of order. Even as late as the book of Revelation (19:10), the apostle John, overwhelmed by a heavenly messenger’s presence, fell down at the feet of the messenger to worship him!

The critical difference between Satan and every other heavenly messenger before whom men fell is that none of those other messengers asked men to bow and worship them, nor did any of them ever attempt to persuade men to worship them with promises of great riches. It was simply the power of the presence of God’s messengers that caused holy men to bow. Satan, on the other hand, coveting the honor that all creatures gave to God, openly grasped after it. That evil deed, if nothing else, would have let the Son of God know that he was dealing with a wicked creature.

At the same time, we can assuredly say that if Mary’s son had shown up in the wilderness without God’s Son dwelling within his temple, he would have been overwhelmed by the terrifying, “anointed cherub” from heaven; but not so, the Son. The Son has never bowed to anyone but the Father, and never will.

—
Amy B

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Hi Amy.

There is some truth in all that, but I wrote those paragraphs before I understood that Jesus bowing to Satan would have only been a formality, a symbolic acceptance of the position Satan was offering him. It is not surprising, then, that Satan asked him to bow. It was a way of saying, “Do you accept my offer?” Anyone at that time in history would probably have expected it and would have been shocked, as Satan no doubt was, that there was no bow, that is, no acceptance of the “honor” offered to Jesus.

Those old paragraphs that you found fall short of communicating what was really going on between Jesus and Satan at that moment. That’s why I cut them out.

Thanks for the comments, though. We are on a journey, aren’t we?

jdc

Hi John,
Suzi and I read chapter 6 with a few folks at Gary’s house. Each paragraph has so many things to think about it is hard to absorb in one setting. I re-read it again this morning.

I think this section is clear and understandable. We did not see many typos other than the few already mentioned. Here are a few things that really stood out to me.

I liked the way you described the scene of Jesus at the River Jordan on page 3 and how John must have been deeply impressed when he heard the Voice of God speaking about His beloved son. What John saw was Mary’s son. One can only imagine what was going on in John’s mind when he heard God’s voice.

Another part that really stood out to me is the section on page 7 which describes why God had to sacrifice his son. I don’t think I will ever read this scripture the same again: “Behold! The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world!”

Or, “Behold! God’s Lamb that takes away the sins of the world!” Whew!

One of my favorite sections is the Virgin Birth. This thought is just too good to keep to ourselves: “The birth of Mary’s son in Bethlehem was a glorious event, but the coming of God’s son was more glorious. … it is unwise to esteem that holy event (Jesus’ birth) more than the holier event of the coming of God’s hidden son”.

Thanks John for all your work and sending this out. We are looking forward to the next section.

Tom

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Pastor John,

The reading that you sent last night seems so much easier to comprehend. Your description in the section “a Man in Appearance” makes it easy to understand. Of course, I have my questions about the blending of the Son of God with the son of Mary, like what happened to the son of Mary’s mind that he had had all his life, like his preferences, his likes, his dislikes, his feelings. Was it that he suddenly only wanted to do the will of the Father because the Son of God took over his mind? I don’t know if the way I’m asking that makes sense.

Also, in the first paragraph at the top of Pg. 2, I like the comparison you made between the Son of God coming into the son of Mary’s body and becoming one and the holy Ghost coming into Jesus’ followers on the day of Pentecost. However, the remainder of that paragraph and the corresponding verses talk about the Gentiles that made up that new nation and how no one expected God to fill them, but I think it sort of veers away from the topic of Jesus blending with the son of Mary. Just a thought.

Thank you!

Anna
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Thanks. I will look at that again.

btw, Bess particularly liked that part. It’s funny how often that happens.

As for what happened to Jesus’ mind, etc., after God’s Son blended with him at the Jordan River, we may have to wait and ask him when we see him. But you could start by asking yourself, “What happened to my mind when I became a new creature?”

jdc
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The very first paragraph was so good. I had often wondered what
happened to Jesus, the Son of Mary. Love how God took care of the Son
he had in the beginning, and Jesus of Nazareth. Something about that
paragraph is very special.

Page 2, like whole page and how you brought out the differences in “a
Son of God” and “the Son of God”.

“These new creatures were like the Son after he came to earth, having
earthly bodies filled with God’s kind of life.”

Page 4, after quoting Matthew 4 and Luke 4: “Until this moment in
biblical history, no human, not even men and women of great faith,
were called “sons of God”;

I had wondered too if God had other humans referred to as “son”, so
that sentence was especially relevant.

Another favorite section was The Virgin Birth, the whole paragraph but
especially this: “…the Son of God made his advent into the world at
Jesus’ baptism, in the form of a dove, not as an infant lying in a
manger.”

Page 7, talking about how God had to be the actual Father of the one
He would sacrifice; I was reminded and thankful of having been taught
the Old Testament, otherwise I would not have known what was being
talked about. Knowing the OT is so valuable.

The whole chapter was so good, I highlighted so many sentences that
just stood out. All of this information is wonderful, and so totally
“backwards” from what I heard growing up.

Debbie T
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Hi John,

I really love how you are putting together each chapter and section of the book. I know it has been a lot of hard work and reworking of each chapter and section. But each time we read it, the flow and the content gets smoother and clearer then ever. I really believe that when this gets published and available for God’s people to read, there will be no denying what God did with his Son. It will be one of those books that just leave you speechless and in awe of what you just read.

We have had the honor and privilege of learning what has happened with God’s Son all along the way, as he has reveled it to you and us. But someone who picks it up for the first time … “Wow!” I hope we get to see and feel the wonderful feelings and thoughts they may have after they read it, if God opens their eyes to see it.

In chapter 6, section 1, I liked the part “God’s Lamb, not Joseph’s”, and how you showed that the lamb had to belong to the person who was sacrificing it. To me, it really explained how important the virgin birth was, and why this really is a story about God. Thank God, he has chosen us at this time to be a part of such a wonderful revelation that he wants to be revealed to his children!

Thank you, John and everyone who has helped.

Stuart

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Hey Pastor John,

Thank you for letting me read [the first section of Chapter 6 in the Father and Son book]. I felt excitement while reading. I was excited that there is a Son. It made me want to stop and tell everyone.

I felt renewed by reading how God followed the rules of sacrifice, His rules, for our sake only, not His.

The one who owed the least, paid the most. It’s something. It seems that always accompanies a right heart.

The two verses that you quoted, both referring to the Messiah as the Son of God, as opposed to the verses that mention a son of God. . . . Those verses, the meaning of those verses, the heart and the intent of those verses expressed a deep love, a sincere esteem and honor for the One that they were spoken about. Those verses felt sweet to recite. I felt like those people were in love with The Messiah that they spoke of – even the Pharisee who had no idea that he was speaking to Him.

Thank you for sending it.

JERRY

http://pastorjohnshouse.com/books/tithesandofferings.html

John,

Here is what I call The Comment of the day, from a man ordering the tithes and offerings book at pastor John’s house:

“My minister said if we didn’t tithe, we weren’t saved. I do tithe, but not always 10%.”

God’s people NEED this book, and oh, so much more.

Let us get truth to them Jesus!

Gary
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Oh, Gary! God’s people are so confused and full of Christianity’s poison, they can hardly even make a truthful statement when they try to speak of the things of God. I know God’s heart breaks for them! My prayer is to feel the grief He feels so that we can love His people the way he loves them.

jdc

Pastor John’s House Teaching Materials and Music Store

Hey Pastor John,
I just wanted to tell you my favorite song.
It is The Way of Grace, I don’t know what it is
about it, but it is so nice to listen to. Thanks for
writing it.
—
Love,
Jonathan

P.S. I also love the way it sounds with the guitar
and all the vocals. Thanks.
================

Thank you, Jonathan.

If you use your ears for taking in good things, the good things that Jesus has put inside of you will be strengthened and grow. And that will make your parents and all of us very, very happy. Keep it up!

Pastor John

Hey Pastor John,

I wanted to tell you about what the Lord did for me over the weekend. It was really sweet because it tied into the meetings perfectly. I hope I can get this out right because it was big for me.

For a while now I had been praying for Jesus to take my relationships with people to the next level. It just always felt that in so many instances, my relationships with people never really took off, and I could not understand why.

I had prayed this over and over, and at one point, got so frustrated because I would never get anything from Jesus on the matter.

Well, Saturday night after the meeting, I started thinking about the things that had been said, and my relationship with the *** family came to mind. I love the ***s and I started to think about my memories with them and some of the tougher situations we’ve been in together. I started to remember times when they corrected me. I remembered that it didn’t feel good but I knew they loved me. They loved me enough to tell me how rotten I was in a few situations.

Then I started to think about this one and that one, and how the common denominator in all of the relationships was that we went through things together, tough and not so nice things together, with lots of correction. But when we came out on the other side, we were closer, and there was more love between us.

Somewhere along the way, I stopped being willing in my heart to be vulnerable to God’s people and correction. I started to not be willing to get in there and rub shoulders, I think. As a result, my relationships with God’s people suffered. I really thought, prior to this weekend, that I had been willing to be vulnerable to God’s people, but I feel like God showed me that I actually have had walls up.

The biggest lesson I feel that I got from this experience was that if I am not willing to be vulnerable in my heart. I am stuck – dead in my tracks – with people and with God.

I feel like this weekend was the answer to my prayer. I feel like this is why things have been the way that they are. Basically, I am the reason things have been the way that they have been. That stinks, but if He shows you something, it’s because He wants to fix you.

I am thankful that Jesus worked it out the way that he did, though, because this weekend really brought it all together for me in such a sweet way. When Jesus does it, its always better!

I am thankful He let me see that about myself, and I wanted to let you know. It is a big deal for me.

Thanks and see you at the end of May.

John,

I wish everyone could have been in there with J**** and J**** this morning to hear the things you were teaching them about getting in trouble and answering adults with a clear “yes” or “no” when they ask questions. I felt that was not just for children – I know it was for adults too. I was blessed and I know those things will be a part of me.

A few of the things you said I wanted to write down while they were on my mind:

1) When someone is correcting you, or is telling someone something you’ve done wrong or bad, or when you are getting disciplined… that’s not “getting in trouble.” We are already IN trouble when we do wrong, and these things are what’s getting us OUT of trouble.

2). Let our “yes” and our “no” be all we need to say. When we have more than that, it’s usually an excuse, or “of the evil one” to cloud the real truth.

3) That children learn to find that spot of weakness where their parents are blind, or give up, or cannot see to correct them any longer, and how we want to avoid doing that.

4) If a friend is doing wrong, it’s good to separate from them, and then, when they ask you why, to tell them the truth, such as, “You scare me”, or “I don’t want to be friends with you as long as you are doing evil.” Be honest with them; that’s their help.

5) When you are afraid to do right because you fear someone, you cannot be who God made you. You will either be a hypocrite, or you will do something that will defile your conscience. A guilty conscience is a huge load.

I know there was other good stuff too, but I wanted to write these several good ones down while I could remember.

Gary