Heart of the Matter 2.0 Overview

Live from Salt Lake City, Utah, this is Heart of the MatterTGNN’s original show where Shawn McCraney deconstructed religion and developed fulfilled theology. 2.0, where we do all we can to worship God in spirit and in truth.

Show 2: The End and the Opportunity
January 8th, 2019

I want to start the show off by inviting you all to take advantage of our archived information this year. Of course, all of these HOTM shows go all the way back to 2006 and are available for you to at hotm.tv – and most of them are packed with a lot of good information.

Then fourteen months ago, we launched a new show called ChristiAnarchytoday! And that is about to be promoted at a major university in the US as a means to try and reach college-aged people – and younger if possible. There are more than 50 of those short shows which are much more casual and concise, but with the added value of some rocking intro sounds by my friend and brother Steve Utley, the shows are worth a look (for you older folks the music is a little heavy but I think it is really really good).

But most importantly, in my estimation, are the verse by verseTGNN’s Bible teaching series—book-by-book, through the lens of fulfillment and spiritual liberty. teachings available to you through CAMPUSchurch.tv. There are over five hundred 90-minute verse by verse teachings there and most of them are content-heavy – if you wanna learn the New Testament, check them out. I submit that there is no greater gift on earth than the Bible when it comes to spiritual health and personal growth. And yet it is often the last thing people go to in their search for an experience with God. So, we help you get through the text by doing all we can to make it clear. Of course, I make mistakes in my interpretations at times, but that is why we leave it up to you to decide how you want to interpret it in your life – we all do this anyway, right?

The Concept of Fulfillment in the Bible

Anyway, perhaps you might tune into the archives (or the live stream on Sundays – there are two of them) use this year and this information to your liking. Now, most of you know that I believe that everything in the Bible, in terms of setting up the Spiritual Kingdom in Heaven and earth, has occurred. This is called fulfillment. I submit to you that the Nation of Israel anticipated total consummation of all things or an end, that John the Baptist and the Apostles preached an end, and that they specifically believed – depending on the time they walked the earth – that the end was headed in their direction if not upon them.

The Hope of the Resurrection

Let me walk you through some things about the end in New Testament times. In that great chapter of scripture, 1st Corinthians 15, Paul says, speaking of the Resurrection as a fact

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept.

Then we read:

21 For since by man came deathSeparation from God—now overcome. Physical death remains, but it no longer separates us from life with God., by man came also the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Notice that Paul says – that in Adam all people die, (how do we die in Adam? Spiritually and physically) and then who will be made alive in Christ – all. Want to know what this means? Read Romans 5:18 which says

“Then as one man's trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man's act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all.”

All. I suggest to you here and now that if or since God hung the entire human species and our sinMissing the mark of faith and love—no punishment, just lost growth or peace. and death on one man (named Adam), a guy who took all of us inhabitants into the abyss of separation from God – then I trust that He hung the entire Human race and through another superior man saved us . . . all.

That is Great News.

Anyway, having been talking about the resurrection, Paul now says:

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Views on Eschatology

Many people wonder about the importance of eschatologyStudy of “last things”—TGNN teaches all biblical eschatology was fulfilled in 70 A.D. More (or the study of end times) and when confronted with questions about it often say things like:

We’ll, whether He has come or not doesn’t change anything – God is still on the throne and I am ready to be raptured or to die and meet him either way.

In some sense, this is good, true, and right. But in another sense, it is a dodge of a…

The Concept of "The End" According to Paul

A very important fact to consider is if He came back, as He and His apostles promised, then we have arrived at a very different age. If we are in that age, we are not in the age where we are still waiting for Him. And if we are in that age, then the faith looks very, very different than how it is presented to “them/then.”

Here’s why. At verse 23, Paul writes regarding the resurrection:

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Of course, futurists are waiting for this to occur at any time—from right now out into the future. But if He came, and those who were Christ’s at His coming were raised, then we MUST consider what he writes next very seriously, as he says:

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 “Then cometh the end,”

This end is described in the remaining verses where Paul adds:

…when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

At this point, we are left with some questions. What end is Paul talking about? What death? All death, I hope and believe—physical through the resurrection all will receive, and spiritual, which, according to Paul, all will also receive.

Interpretations of the End

Now, most people believe that when Paul talks about “the end,” he is speaking of the end of the world, and many believe that this end is coming and that that is when everything will cease—including this earth, and even the universe. But let’s take a little survey of the scripture relative to what Paul says here about, “then cometh the end.”

We know that the Apostolic Record opens up with John the Baptist preaching that the axe was laid at the root of the tree and warning all about the wrath and end to come. The writer of Hebrews opens his epistle by speaking of God talking through prophets of old, then saying that He has…

Jesus referenced this end or those last days when teaching his chosen twelve the following in Matthew 10:21-22:

21 And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

We read that today and think we are heading for the same end as they were, the end of all things, but we are not. We are headed toward the end of our lives—they were headed toward “the End” Paul describes in our text today.

Jesus’ Teachings on the End

Closer to his death, Jesus, in Matthew 24, responds to his apostles asking him about the end of the ageThe close of the old covenant era, fulfilled in 70 A.D.—not the end of the world., and he says:

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

He also said in that same chapter:

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Many years later, the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Rome and said:

Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (kosmos)

Then to the church at Colosse, he said:

Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.

Earlier in that chapter he said:

Colossians 1:5-6 For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel;
6 Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth.

Biblical Commentary on The End Times

Thessalonica, Paul wrote in 1st Thessalonians 1:8

For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak anything.

The writer of Hebrews told the Jewish convert to remember . . .

Hebrews 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Messages to Early Christian Communities

Paul wrote to the church at Rome (13:12) The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

He wrote to the church at Philippi (4:5) “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.”

Then speaking of the end that Jesus mentions to the Apostles and then that Paul references here in our chapter of 1st Corinthians 15, Peter – who wrote way late in the game –

1st Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.

Peter . . . the end of all things? All things relative to that age, absolutely.

End of the Age

Finally, John the Beloved, the last to write it is believed, wrote in his epistles:

1st John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Later in 1st John 4:3 he wrote “And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already it is in the world.”

Now listen to our text again where Paul says:

23 But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. 24 “Then cometh the end,”

That end that was prophesied about, that John the Baptist came to warn about, that Jesus said was coming, that Paul said was near, and that Peter and John both said had arrived. The end of that age. And with it came the first-fruits of the grave – Jesus – returning for His bride, who were His at His coming.

Then came the complete end of that age.

Paul’s Description of the End

Now listen to the rest of verse 24, and how Paul describes what would be in place AFTER the end of that age . . . he says . . .

. . . when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Go back to verse 24 where Paul says:

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

This time and day was prophesied of in the Book of Daniel as he wrote hundreds of years earlier:

Daniel 7:13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.

Then at verse 24 of the same chapter Daniel adds:

Daniel 7:27 And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

Because of the hyperbolic nature of the language of these passages, some have trouble assigning their fulfillment to 70 AD and the reason for this is that they see the descriptions as literal and material and not figurative and spiritual.

What Paul is describing in verse 24 of 1st Corinthians 145 is the winding up or the consummation of the affairs (LISTEN) under the “mediatorial reign of Christ.” The word “end” (telos) properly describes a limit, termination or completion of a thing.

Remember, the one true God named YHWH was

The Messiah and His Role

Father to the Nation of Israel and had promised to send them a Messiah. This Messiah – YHWH’s only begotten Son – would do – “fulfill” – complete all that was necessary for God to accomplish His will and ways on earth. That mediatorial work and labor of Yeshua had a beginning in the material world – launched at the incarnation, and it would have an end – not at His death (thank God) nor at His resurrection, nor at His ascension.

The Role of Jesus

That end, according to Paul, would come when He returned with Judgment on those who rejected Him and with reward for those who received Him by faith, which is called “His Bride” in scripture. This bride is the church that the gates of hell would not possibly prevail against – she was under apostolic rule – living apostles who would not fail their call; apostles who were killed off one by one (except for John who was taken with the Bride) and once they were gone the end of that age was complete. Once that event occurred – and those who were His Bride at His coming were raised up to life – Paul says, “then cometh the end,” when . . .

he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

Jesus and the Kingdom

In describing the angels of heaven and comparing them to Jesus, the writer of Hebrews asks (in chapter 1:13)

But to which of the angels said God at any time, “Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?”

Years ago it was this very passage that launched me into a search based on the fact that scripture clearly teaches that at some point in time, Jesus would NOT be at His Father’s side forever, but would instead “sit there until a point in time.” It also led me into seeing the ontology of God a little differently than the spoon fed Trinity we often hear about.

So when is that point in time when Jesus would step aside? Its at that point in time described by Paul here in 1st Corinthians 15, where, again, he says:

Then comes the end . . . when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

In all of this we see some inextricable factors that must be taken into consideration.

First, there will be an end, and in that end Jesus will step from his place at the right hand of the Father. Admittedly this end occurs only after Jesus returns but John and Hesus and the apostles (who wrote) all said that that end was approaching, coming, getting close, near, “at hand” and finally upon them – so much so that John the Beloved opens Revelation up with Jesus saying on at least seven occasions:

I come back quickly.

And if He came back, then the end came too – its as simple as that. And at the end of all things, which Peter said was present in his day, Jesus would have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; This would occur when he will have put down all rule and all authority and power. (Until that day we know that . . .) he (Jesus) must reign, until he hath put all enemies under his feet. And finally, we know that once all enemies are under His control (Verse 26) The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

So, we have to ask ourselves, is it possible that all of these things have occurred?

The Nature of the Kingdom of God

NOW LISTEN _ PLEASE _ The answer we give to this question is predicated on whether a person see’s the Kingdom of GodGod’s spiritual reign—fulfilled and present, not political or future. as a literal material kingdom here on earth to come OR whether they are able to see it as

The Spiritual Kingdom

A spiritual kingdom was established nearly two thousand years ago in heaven and on earth, and therefore it would be a Kingdom that is NOT of this world, and a Kingdom:

• Established on high,
• A kingdom that operates on the heart and mind of individuals and not externally.
• One that is not subject to material growth or physical presence, but one that is viewed as having been wholly victorious spiritually, while leaving the physical world to its own devices.

What I mean by that last point is that we have to understand that God’s victory is spiritual and the victories are all seen from this invisible perspective, and not from the products or perspectives of a material earthly world.

The Nature of Spiritual Victory

For this reason, even though Jesus conquered sin, we still have sin in the world that is not His. And he overcame Satan, but we still have dark-evil in the world – and that He overcame death, but materially all people continue to die! But once every single human being leaves their flesh, the victory Jesus has had will be manifestly declared to all – and every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus is Lord.

Jesus' Role and the Completion of God's Plan

It is an interesting concept of Jesus delivering up the Kingdom to His Father, but when we think about it, if all the labors are over, and the mediation assigned to Him is done and the victory has truly been had, and Jesus' purpose in reconciling the world to God, rescuing His Bride, establishing the Kingdom, and bringing judgment upon the House of Israel is complete, God is then truly victorious and resumes what He started in Eden.

I submit that Jesus has assumed His place among the children of man, as the Son of Man, and as our only true Lord, Savior, and King and that he will reign over that kingdom of resurrected human beings forevermore – it is an eternal kingdom, but the power and the glory and the entire universe of all things are in the hands of His Father.

So where does that leave us in this world, and where does that leave those who are Christ’s by faith? Remember, God through His Christ has accomplished EVERYTHING necessary for every single person to decide how they will spend their lifetime. I maintain that because of Christ the world has returned to the Edenic state where all of us are free to choose – but our choices, if they be selfish and evil – cannot trump His victory. This leaves all of us – especially Christians – living on what I call a two-way street.

He made a garden – Adam and Eve chose what to do in it. He made an earth – human beings choose how to resonate and respond to it and him in it. He parted the Red Sea and gave the Nation of Israel a promised land – they chose how to enter it and what to do once they got there. And so, it is with the finished work of His Son. It is finished his work of having total and complete victory over all spiritual powers in high and dark places – over the works and wonders of Satan and hell and the grave.

And every human being is left, in the face of this amazing victory, with the decision on how they will respond to this wonderful completion. The question, ever since this biblical end, remains as to whether people want the victory in their lives – or not. And herein lies the choice and response on every person's part.

I sort of think of this wonderful economy given by God as like teaching a kid to surf. You pick the kid up and drag them out into the surf. You adjust them on the board you have provided. You turn them to face the shore, and you wait and choose the right oncoming swell. As the wave approaches you, in the roll of God completing everything for us, push the child into the wave that is behind them, supplying the speed to catch it. And then the rest is up to the child. They will, in all probability, fall off the board the first time – and many will not try again, but the chance, the choice, the opportunity remains.

The Pursuit of Overcoming

times after that. But because you love them, you will repeat this over and over and over again, representing God and the sustenance and support he gives to all in this world of inertia and selfishness. But we cannot forget that it IS up to the kid to try to stand . . . or not. She or he can remain on their belly riding over and over again in that prone position and never even make an attempt to surf.

We can fall off the board rebelliously. We can refuse to follow instructions. Once everything he can do is in effect, the rest is in the hands of the individual. This is how I see the finished work of God in Jesus Christ since the end of all those things Peter talked about. He has taken us out, put us on the board that He provided, turned us in the right direction, and has even chosen the swell. He has steadied us and then launched us into the wave – but it is up to every single person to choose to try and stand and to try and learn from all of this that has been done for them . . . or not.

Revelation and Choice

Now, let me wrap tonight up with an observation. In describing the world and Kingdom after the consummation (or end) of all things, Revelation 21, describing the age that would continue meaning the age wherein we all live, and says:

“He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be my SON!”

Did you hear these prophetic words describing our age? They detail the only thing that will never be complete – individuals choosing to overcome and become sons and daughters. And we are left with the fact that in this age of the Victorious Kingdom, those who want God in their lives, those who choose to try to stand for Him, will – must – overcome – and stand.

The Call to Become Sons and Daughters

I submit that MOST people today will not or do not care to be Sons and Daughters of God. They have zero interest. God knew this and still had victory for them, through His Son. But I also submit to you that there are those who do want to learn to stand – to overcome – and that the promise for them is that they will “inherit all things, and God will be His or her God, and he and she will be his Son or daughter.”

(long beat)

Heart of the Matter is for anyone seeking to not just live in this world, for those who love the things of this world over the things of God. HOTM is for seekers of God who yearn and desire to be His Sons and Daughters. No matter the cost. Our focus is on those in this camp. It’s not to provide them church, or to sell them books, or get them to become like us in the ways of this world – politically, culturally, socially, or in any other way.

We are here specifically to relate with and encourage all seekers of truth WHO long and seek to overcome, and to therefore inherit all things as Sons and Daughters of God. We are all here to overcome with you – as we are all in the same boat.

No leadership. No priesthoods. No demands. Those who want to become sons and Daughters need no intermediaries in their lives – they have the living God abiding in them and enabling them to “overcome.”

Understanding "Overcome"

It is interesting that the Greek term, nih-ka-o – is translated to overcome in the scripture – and from it we get our ever popular word, “Nike” – which means to subdue (literally or figuratively):–conquer, overcome, prevail, get the victory. He has had the victory over all things in our way now the question remains – have we, as followers and disciples of the King, allowed Him to have the victory in our lives?

Again, AGAIN – LISTEN – He has done it all on our behalf, paving the way and removing all the obstacles that would render us prisoners – obstacles like sin, death, the grave, Satan and hell. Now the question stands – do we first desired to overcome as Sons, and second, have we looked to Him, His power and His victory to accomplish this?

Paul writes the following in 2nd Corinthians 5:19

“that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto

Reconciliation with God

"us the word of reconciliation."

But he doesn’t leave it there, as he adds in the very next verse:

20 . . . be ye reconciled to God.

What Does Reconciliation Look Like?

And what does that look like? Join us next week – here on HOTM