Willowcreek Disciple

Bible Talks - Podcast

About the Bible Talks Podcast

As we grow in the knowledge of God, we learn more about His will, works, and character, leading to a deeper relationship with Him. (Pr 2:6, Ep 4:11-14)

Do you want to better know God? Every Thursday, David Lampman investigates a passage of Scripture and helps us see how that scripture fits into God’s narrative for the promise of Salvation, Heaven on Earth, and Eternal Life. Each podcast includes an outline and text transcript. We recommend reading about our approach to Bible study below. There is a pinned Introduction to the podcast if you are new to our study.

Approaching God’s Restoration Narrative

The following organization of topics provides our podcast a common frame of reference from which to build our knowlege of God's Plan.

We define Restoration to mean the return of humankind to an Eden-like state prior to the fall of man. We organize our study of scripture to focus specifically on investigating God’s offer of reconciliation and His promise of restoring humankind back into eternal fellowship. This logically allows us to approach the Restoration narrative from three vantage points; Salvation, Heaven on Earth, and Eternal Life. God made us to be like him, wants us to become like Him, and will ultimately transform us into being like him. (Ge 1:27, Mt 5:48 - Lk 6:40, Rm 8:19, 22-23)

Salvation

Biblical salvation describes restoring humanity back into an eternal relationship with God. The term salvation isn’t always used consistently in modern Christianity, in that the term could be applied to certain phases of the restoration as well as an over-arching term for the whole process. For the purposes of this podcast Salvation will focus primarily on the work of Jesus Christ establishing His Ministry of Reconciliation. Within the ministry of Jesus Christ's teachings, we find the plan for our redemption, our happiness, and our new life in the family of God. A.k.a. The Gospel Message.

Heaven (Kingdom) on Earth

In Matthew 6:10 Jesus teaches his followers to pray for the coming Church, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Pentecost following Jesus’ resurrection marks the beginning of the Christian Church, God’s Will being done on earth. The Holy Spirit entered the world that day and the mystery of Jesus’ Church was revealed. Jews and Gentiles were now equal members of the same body, the Body of Christ. Jesus’ Church continues through to our present day and is described in both the New and Old Testament teachings of the apostles and prophets.(Ep 3:8-12, Is 2:2-3)

The Bible teaches that believers are protected from the evil and power of Satan’s reign, in the present day, through Jesus’ Church. (Ga 1:3-4, Co 1:12-14)

In the Heavenly realm, all through the Church Age including the present, the Bible describes Christ’s victories over the powerful, idolatrous, and persecuting forces of oppressive and corrupt worldly systems. Christ continually destroys the participants and followers of these systems as well as their false prophets. For 2,000 years Christ’s ongoing Heavenly battle with Satan has restrained Satan’s earthly power to deceive those in Jesus’ Church. (Rev 19:11-21, Rev 20:1-3)

Eternal Life

The Greek word translated “eternal” is “aionios”, derived from the Greek word “aion”, which means age. When the Bible speaks of believers having “eternal life,” it means they are already experiencing the profound, everlasting nature of God’s love, mercy, and salvation. The believer's life is characterized by a deep, transformative relationship with our eternal God that continues throughout the Church Age.

The end of the Church Age or End of Days brings the world to a point where God’s judgment as mentioned in the Bible will take effect. At the final judgment, Jesus will assess each person’s faith and relationship with Him. In Matthew 7:23, Jesus says, “Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” This indicates that those who did not truly know Him or live according to His teachings will be separated from Him.

For those who have a genuine relationship with Jesus, their experience of eternal life will continue and be fully realized in the age to come. For those whom Jesus “never knew,” their experience of God’s eternal life will not continue beyond judgment.

Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996, 2019 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. https://netbible.com All rights reserved.