We believe that it is obvious or self-evident to almost every human being that there is a God, a Supreme Being Who created everything, seen and unseen. It also seems evident that He is actively and fully in charge of all of His creation.
We believe that this God has given a partial revelation of Himself, His methods, His plans and objectives for His creation. This revelation was given little by little over a great length of time to various individuals, who passed the information on by word of mouth and the written page. The first part of this revelation was recorded in the Hebrew language, and the later part in the Greek language, which together we call the Bible. The entire Bible was written by men of Israel who were chosen by this God to record His revelation.
We believe that the Hebrew part of the Bible consists of three portions: the Torah or Teachings, the Neviim or Prophets, and the Ketuvim or Writings. Together they are called the Tanakh, consisting of 24 books in the Hebrew arrangement and 39 books in the versions translated into other languages, all with the same exact content.
We believe that the Greek part of the Bible consists of four portions: the Gospels or actions and teachings of Yeshua the Messiah, the Acts or activities following the earthly time of Yeshua, the Epistles or letters to congregations and individuals, and the Revelation or the prophecies of the End of Days, making a total of 27 books.
We believe that this Bible is complete, containing all that God intends to tell mankind, and that it is the only revelation that God has given. This Bible is absolutely perfect and correct in its original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, and essentially correct in the copies that exist today. Translations vary as to their correctness.
This God tells us in His Bible that He is One, yet also as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, a 3 in 1 unity that is beyond the ability of any human to explain. God tells us that He created mankind in His own image, one male and one female, named Adam & Havah (Eve), who were perfect in every way until they yielded to the temptation of the devil, who came to them in the form of a serpent. The devil or Satan is a created angel that rebelled against God and became the deceiver and adversary of God and mankind. At that point, Adam & Havah became sinful, alienated from God, and pass on that sinful nature to every human being through the male sperm and the female egg, as both are contaminated.
However, God in His masterful and gracious Plan provided a way of redemption for Adam & Havah and every human being since. This Redemption is a gift from God to any human being who confesses and repents of his sinfulness, puts his trust in God to pay for his sins according to God’s promises in His Bible, and thereafter lives for God rather than for himself. This Redeemer, who will pay for sin, was promised to Adam & Havah and was symbolized by the Lamb, which was sacrificed to make clothes for them before they were forced out of the Garden of Eden. The eventual destruction of the devil was also promised to Adam & Havah.
Over the centuries, a lot of information about this promised Redeemer was given to many Prophets of Israel. Finally the Redeemer came in the person of Yeshua The Messiah, the Son of God and son of man, Emmanuel, “God with us.” Since it is impossible for any human to pay for even his own sin, God in His graciousness sent His Son, Yeshua, to earth to pay for our sin by shedding His perfect, holy blood, giving His life for us. Yeshua's Body was formed in the belly of a Jewish virgin named Miriam (Mary) without any human male sperm or female egg. Yeshua, Son of God, the Second Adam, left heaven and entered this Body at birth, lived a perfect life without sin, voluntarily gave up His life by death on a cross, was buried and was raised from the dead on the third day. Yeshua was seen on earth by many Believers for 40 days after His Resurrection. Then He ascended back to heaven where He originally came from. Yeshua will Return to earth to set up His perfect Kingdom of Righteousness, ruling from Jerusalem as His capital and Israel His nation. Yeshua will also put the devil in prison and later into the Lake of Fire forever, to be joined by all those who reject Messiah Yeshua as LORD and Savior. We are all born into Adam's family; we must also be “born-from-Above” into Yeshua's Family!
From Adam & Havah onward, those who have received God’s gift of redemption by their complete Trust in Him have become members of His Family. In the Bible they have been called the Remnant, the Body of Messiah, the Kehilah in Hebrew and the Ekklesia in Greek (Septuagint and Newer Testament), literally “the called out ones,” translating as Congregation or Assembly. We call them the Believers in Yeshua the Messiah, or Messianic Believers. This Messianic Body is made up of Jewish and Gentile Believers, characterized as branches on a Good Olive Tree, nourished by God, and equal partners in the Family of God. The Menorah, or Lampstand, is the Bible’s symbol for this Messianic Body and its congregations, with Yeshua Himself being the Light from the Menorah.
This Messianic Body seeks to live as God’s Family and to carry out His command to bring His Good News of Redemption from sin to everyone in the world, thereby making some disciples from all the nations! This is done individually and as congregations, by the Bible, with the Torah (Books of Moses) as the foundation of Truth. All the rest of the Bible builds upon this foundation. In each local Messianic congregation, God gives every member one or more special abilities for this ministry and the building up of each other, under the leadership of its Elders and Deacons. Furthermore, Messianic congregations celebrate and enjoy the Appointed Times that God specified in His Bible, appointments when He will meet with His people as congregations in a special way.
From the beginning, God required His Family members to show their Trust in Him by offering certain animal sacrifices, the shed blood being a reminder of sin and its cost. Later He chose a certain man and his descendents to be the recipients of His revelations and to live accordingly as God’s witness to the growing world population. This man was Abraham and his descendents the people of Israel. This choice continues today and will never be changed.
As the nation of Israel grew, God designated a family priesthood, Aaron of the Levite tribe, to administer the prescribed sacrifices in a designated place. God symbolized His residence on earth with His people by a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night over this place. At first this pillar was over a portable Tabernacle and later over a permanent Temple in Jerusalem, the city God chose for Himself and as the capital of His nation, Israel. Somewhat later, God designated a royal family, David of the tribe of Judah, to be His kings over His people, to rule for Him according to His Torah, His teachings. As Israel obeyed God, they were blessed. Disobedience brought discipline, and twice, defeat and dispersion from their Land to other lands, and twice, a return to their Land by the graciousness of God, as we observe the State of Israel today.
Animal sacrifices symbolized payment for sin, and served as a temporary covering until Yeshua the Messiah came to make Full Payment. Once this full payment was made, there was no longer any need for animal sacrifices, an earthly priesthood or a Temple. Today the Temple, or dwelling of God, consists of the bodies of all the Believers in Yeshua, Jew and Gentile, making up the Body of Messiah. Yeshua Himself is the only priest, our High Priest in heaven. Yeshua Himself is also the only king, the King of the Universe, having been also given the throne of David. When the time is right, Yeshua the Messiah will return to earth, to Jerusalem, to His nation Israel, to destroy all His enemies, and to rule the whole earth with righteousness and with a rod of iron. As pilgrims in a foreign land, we eagerly look forward to That Day!
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