And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:2 (NKJV)

The word propitiation means the appeasing or acceptable sacrifice.  It literally means that Jesus satisfied the wrath of God toward sin.  If the cross was the once and final solution for sin, and you have placed your faith in Christ, then God will never be angry with you again, no matter what you do.  What has God got to be angry with you about since He keeps no record of your sin?   

  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19 (NKJV)

God is not keeping a record of your sin.  You sin account has a zero balance!  God is love and “Love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor 13:5).  Everything He does is an expression of His love for you. If the wrath of God scares you, then you have the wrong picture of wrath because there is no fear in love.

1 John 4:17-19 (NKJV)
¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
¹⁹ We love Him because He first loved us.

Isaiah prophesied about this New Covenant that would come through the Messiah.  God swore that He would never be angry with you again.  “For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you (Isaiah 54:9).

You Are Unpunishable!

You cannot be condemned for any reason.  Scandalous I know, but that’s what the Bible says in

Romans 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

God condemned sin in the flesh of His Son (Rom. 8:3).  The word condemnation is the Greek word katakrima which is from root word to condemn or to punish.  This statement from the Apostle Paul is a statement about those who are “in Christ”, it’s to Christians, but it is beneficial to those who are not in Christ, to those who are not yet Christians because many have misconceptions about God and sin. 

Nothing overwhelms me more than the display of the grace of God toward the woman in (John 8:1-11) that was caught in the act of adultery.  Did Jesus punish this woman?  Show me anyone that Jesus punished for their sin.  This story so beautifully portrays the grace of God through Jesus.  Why do you think they brought this woman to Jesus?  Because they knew He was full of grace.

Public stoning was the punishment for her sin, her accusers stood with the stones in their hands, that would soon take her life by this painful death.  The Law demanded her death, yet Jesus just stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger.  What did He write?  You’ve probably heard, as I have, lots of sermons about Jesus writing in the sand, as preachers share their ideas and speculation over what He may have written.  The only problem is that Jesus didn’t write in the sand or in the dirt.  According to verse two of (John8), He was in the temple teaching when the Pharisees brought this woman to Him.  There is no dirt or sand floors in the temple, not even in the temple courtyard.  Jesus was writing on STONE with His finger.  Let’s think for a moment, . . . writing on stones, . . . with His finger.  Sound familiar?  Where have we heard that before?  Mt. Sinai!  God wrote the Ten Commandments on tablets of stone with His finger.   What was Jesus doing?  He was reminding them that there was not just one commandment written in stone, but ten.  His writing on stone was a statement to the Pharisees, “You dare to instruct Me in the law?  I’m the One Who gave it.”   Remember in Exodus, God wrote on stone not once, but twice just like in this story.

As Jesus wrote on stone, one by one the accusers dropped the “stones” they were carrying and went out.  The stone in Biblical typology is the Law of Moses.   The law is holy, just and good but it is completely inflexible, demanding ABSOLUTE COMPLIANCE…….OR ELSE!  Paul said the law was “the ministry of death and condemnation” (2Cor. 3:7,9).   The Pharisees knew that if you broke even one commandment in the Law, you were guilty of all.  By the way, there were 630 commandments in the Law of Moses, not just 10.

 Jesus, the Grace-giver completely disarmed her accusers, they fled as the grace of God drove away the judgements of men.  Grace is that superior to judgement.  No one had to tell her that she needed to place her faith in Christ.  Grace is the atmosphere of Love that makes faith in Jesus the only reasonable response.  Why don’t we see more people placing their trust in Jesus today?  Because we need a greater revelation of His amazing grace.   Listen, if Jesus didn’t punish her, then He won’t punish you.  If it’s not true of the Son, it’s not true of the Father (Heb 1:3).  Religion threatens punishment to compel proper behavior, but the truth is that in Christ you are eternally unpunishable! “The punishment that brought us peace was on him…” (Isa 53:5).  How can God punish twice for one offense?  If Christ took my sins and stood as my substitute, then there is no wrath of God for me.

Nothing about “punishment” is part of our relationship with God.  Jesus took that all away when He was Punished for us on the cross. We are always forgiven. Continuously. Perpetually.   Eternally forgiven and accepted by Him.  His death has rendered us un-punishable! (Not un-discipline-able.)

Many people believe that when they have problems in life it is because God is angry with them for some past sin.  All my life I have heard people say things like, “I had a miscarriage and I believe that God is punishing me for the way I lived in the past.”  Statements like this prove that people have an incorrect view of God.   How did Jesus deal with this woman and her sin?  

Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours?  Has no one condemned you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”  Which came first, the command to go and sin no more or the free gift of no condemnation?  The church often gets this backwards, we say, “go and sin no more and you will not be condemned”.  But it is the gift of no condemnation that empowers us to go and sin no more.  

When you can begin to fully understand His grace, forgiveness, mercy, and unconditional love, you can know with certainty His attitude toward you is merciful—not anger. I can assure you that no matter what you’ve done in life or no matter how many misconceptions you have about God’s feelings toward you, and no matter what your preacher told you, God will never stop loving you. God is not angry with  you and never will be!

Jonah 1:15 (NKJV)

15 So they picked up Jonah and threw him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

You usually read or hear sermons from preachers encouraging you to “get out of the boat” or to “walk on the water”.  This is not that message!  Some of you need to tell someone, “Get off my boat!”  Your boat is your destiny, your life.  There are times that you must not allow another person’s dysfunction to sink your boat.

When you have a Jonah on your boat, you start throwing your stuff overboard, throwing your money overboard, throwing your strength and energy overboard (Johah1:5).  You used to have joy, until you let Jonah on your boat.  You must understand that some people carry a storm with them everywhere they go.  They are Sister Katrina or Brother El Nino. 

I know that it is our desire to help people and we should, but you must also discern when it’s time to tell them to get off my boat, get out my house.  Some of you say, “the problem with Jonah is that he just got on the wrong boat, he just needs to come to our church or to my ministry”.  “If he would just get on my boat, come to my ministry, I can help him because my boat is the “Love boat”.  You better look at their track record, they have taken down bigger and better boats than yours.

Let me tell you what the Bible says that Jonah was doing while everyone else on the boat was worried and throwing their possessions overboard.  He was asleep down in the lower part of the boat.  Sometimes you want something for them that they don’t want for themselves.  When someone enters your life that needs change and they don’t change by being in your life,….then they didn’t enter your life to change, but to just ride your boat. 

Jonah 1:13 (NKJV)

13 Nevertheless the men rowed hard to return to land, but they could not, for the sea continued to grow more tempestuous against them.

Notice, the men rowed, but Jonah wasn’t rowing.  When your boat is taking on water and in danger of sinking, MEN will row hard.  Are you tired of being the only person “rowing”?  If you’re tired of rowing, then get to throwing!  Throw that Jonah off your boat. 

Some of you fear that if you do throw the Jonah in your life overboard, then what will happen to them?  You must know that you are not their Messiah, you are not their savior, God is.

Jonah 1:17 (NKJV)

17 Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

We must trust God that He will move of behalf of the Jonahs.  God has prepared in advance for their rebellion.  Notice in the above verse, God had prepared a great fish to swallow (not to eat) Jonah.  After three days and nights in the fish, Jonah prayed to the Lord.  It took Jonah three days in the fish until he prayed for himself.

Jonah 2:1-2 (NKJV)

1 Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the fish’s belly.

2 And he said: “I cried out to the Lord because of my affliction, And He answered me. “Out of the belly of Sheol I cried, And You heard my voice.

The “Jonah” on board your ship may not be a person but can be anything we allow into our lives that don’t need to be there.  It could be allowing something in our lives that keeps us from moving forward.  Here are some take-aways from this story:

1. Be careful who you allow to come on board your ship and to enter your life. These sailors didn’t realize who was getting on their ship.  All the trouble that they were about to face could have been avoided by not letting Jonah on board in the first place.  Sometimes we allow people into our lives or things into our lives before we fully know if the Lord is involved in them coming into our lives.
2. Realize why this storm is in your life.  These men did a personal examination of what was going wrong and then they confronted Jonah as the cause of their storm.  Too many times people just keep riding through storm after storm, hoping it will eventually get better, when what they need to do is tell that Jonah, get off my boat!  You will not have peace until those things that need to be removed are removed.
3. Don’t get rid of the wrong things.  They threw their precious cargo into the sea trying to fix their problem.  Don’t throw away your marriage trying to save someone else’s marriage.  I don’t know all they lost in their efforts to help, but I do know this: Jonah was their problem, not the things they threw overboard.
4. When you get rid of your Jonah, your life will immediately get back on course.  As soon as they threw Jonah overboard, the sea calmed.  It is true today, that as soon as you surrender it over to the Lord, your sea will calm.

Who we really need to be warned about is all these bullies with bibles.  A bully with a bible is one who tells you what he wants you to hear, and he does so with the fire of an Old Testament prophet.  They brag about how they are tuff on sin, and they are constantly preaching against sin. If warnings and threats about sin stopped people from sinning, there would be no more sin. Trying to overcome sin by focusing on sin is like trying to overcome eating sweets while staring at chocolate cake.

Jesus reveals there is only one thing that can empower you to sin no more, and that is radical grace. I’m talking about the kind of grace that defends the sinner from her accusers, (John 8); grace that turns a thief into a giver, and the chief of sinners into the apostle of grace.  Rules don’t change people and bullies definitely don’t change people, grace changes people.

These bullies with a bible will make sin their focus and will have you turn from sin and turn again until you are just a dizzy sinner.  It is not turning from sin that frees you from sin, it’s turning to Jesus.  The Bible tells us in Hebrew 12:1-2, to “lay aside every sin that ensnares us”, but then tells us how to do it: “looking unto Jesus”.  You make Jesus the focus, not your sin. The good news that Jesus revealed, and Paul preached reveals a God infinitely more appealing than any sin. A bully will use threats to compel you to turn, and you might, for a little while, but a grace preacher reveals the goodness of God that leads you to genuine and lasting repentance (Rom. 2:4).

These bullies use the Bible as a stick.  Their sermons are packed with scriptures but are devoid of Truth. They take God’s grace and add just enough of the law to control and manipulate others.  They portray God as angry and tell you that God loves you, but He’s also mad at you.  Religion says, “God punishes you when you sin”.  Prior to the cross, it made sense to talk about a righteous God being provoked to anger by sin.  But it doesn’t make sense anymore.  Why not?  Because Jesus Christ “took away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).  Jesus didn’t “cover” our sin, He removed the sin of the whole world, not just the sin of the believers.

And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 1 John 2:2 (NKJV)

The word propitiation means the appeasing or acceptable sacrifice.  It literally means that Jesus satisfied the wrath of God toward sin.  If the cross was the once and final solution for sin, and you have placed your faith in Christ, then God will never be angry with you again, no matter what you do.  What has God got to be angry with you about since He keeps no record of your sin?   

  that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:19 (NKJV)

God is not keeping a record of your sin.  You sin account has a zero balance!  God is love and “Love keeps no record of wrongs” (1 Cor 13:5).  Everything He does is an expression of His love for you. If the wrath of God scares you, then you have the wrong picture of wrath because there is no fear in love.

No Bullying Allowed

My purpose in writing this is not to shame anyone.  I know a lot of church bullying is unintentional.  Unfortunately, in my early ministry before God’s grace was more clearly revealed to me, I with the best intentions, bullied people from the pulpit.  I was just echoing what I heard other preachers say.  I want people to know the God who sits on the throne of Grace and be free from religious bullying.  

Below is a list of common statements that you will hear from a bully with a bible:

1. “If you’re not careful, Jesus will blot your name out of His book”.
2. “God don’t hear your prayers because of your sin”.
3. “If you take Communion with sin in your heart, God might kill you”.
4. “God loves you more if you obey Him.”
5. “If you don’t tithe, God will take it off you in doctors’ bills. You are under a curse”.
6. “Your baby died because God needed another angel in Heaven.  God took your baby, don’t question Him”.
7. “God allowed this sickness to come on you because He’s trying to teach you something”.
8. “If you’ve been divorced and remarried, you’re living in sin”.
9. “The KJV is the only version of the bible we accept; all other versions are wrong!”.
10. “Even though Jesus died, you still must pay for your sin!”

I hate that these types of statements and many more have been preached from pulpits and have done so much damage to people in the name of God.  Jesus was certainly not a bully and His church ought to be free from these bullies.  There’s hope and grace, even for bullies.  Paul was once the bully of all bullies.  The good news is that Jesus loves us at our worst and his love changes us.  He turned this bully into the Apostle of Grace!

Grace is in fact the completely undeserved favor of God – undeserved in that we didn’t do anything, nor do we need to do anything – to deserve it. He likes us, loves us, thinks the world of us. Ignore anyone who tries to tell you otherwise! I’d call that Good News! It’s so much the opposite of what religion has told us for centuries. It’s free, bought, paid for and credited to our accounts.

Grace is irrational to the thinker. It is unfair to the judge. It is radical to the religious. Grace is foolishness to the achiever. Grace is a mistake to the disciplinarian. But it is a stream of water to the thirsty. It’s freedom to the imprisoned. It is life to the dead. Grace is rest to the tired. It is another chance to the failed. It is hope to the despondent. It is a way out for the lost and a way in for those who can see the Door.

Right thinking equals right living, you cannot think wrong and live right and you cannot think right and live wrong.  The way you think determines the way you live. 

Romans 12:2 (NKJV),   And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

True transformation begins with the renewing of your mind.  Notice- God does not change us from the outside in, but from the inside out.  He changes the way we think and then that changes the way we live.  Religion basally does the opposite, religion starts with the outside-what you wear, eat or drink, the places you go, religion try’s to make us good be changing the externals.  Behavior modification never works, God’s method works.

Matthew 4:17 (KJV)  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repent Doesn’t Mean What You Think

The Greek word commonly translated repentance (metanoia) literally means to change your mind. So to repent is to change your mind. Nothing more, nothing less.  You can change your mind about anything, but Jesus calls us to change our mind about God and believe the good news (Mark 1:15). Biblical repentance is evidenced by turning to God.

Religious people often complain that grace preachers don’t preach repentance.  Here’s something interesting:  Repentance is one of the most important things you’ll ever do but the Apostle John never mentions the word. Not once. Not in his gospel or in any of his three letters.  I suppose John was also a grace preacher.  I think the reason John never mentions it is you don’t get people to repent by preaching repentance. People will not repent just because you tell them to repent.  Your definition of repentance will reveal whether you are living under grace or works. In the Old Testament, sinners repented by bringing a sacrifice of penance and confessing their sins (Num 5:7). But in the new we bring a sacrifice of praise and confess his name (Heb 13:15).

To get people to repent (change their minds) Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom. He painted a picture of where God wanted them to be and He gave them clear directions on how to get there (have faith in God).  It was the same with Apostle Paul. He didn’t walk into Corinth, one of the world’s most depraved cities, and preach “turn or burn.” Instead he resolved to know nothing but “Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2).

People need to hear how much God loves them. They need to hear about his unconditional favor and grace. The best way to tell them is to reveal the finished work of the cross. When the Corinthian Christians fell into sin, Paul still didn’t preach “turn from sin.” Instead he reminded them of their identity in Christ. He understood that grace, not dead works, is the cure for sin. Got a sin-problem? Turn to the cross and behold Christ. Come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace. His grace is your only hope.

Should we repent? Of course! I repent all the time. You cannot renew your mind without repenting for repenting means to change your mind. So when I discover something new about the goodness of God, I repent – I change my way of thinking so that my life lines up with what is true.  We have to give people a  reason to repent and they’ll repent.  Repentance comes as a consequence of hearing about the goodness of God (Rom 2:4). So if you want people to repent, tell them how good God is. Preach the good news: God loves you, he died for you and he offers you His righteousness.  Jesus has done it all!

Shouldn’t church resemble or reflect heaven?  Revelation 7:9 says,  After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne.  What a more powerful witness it would be to the unsaved man to see churches all over our cities full of Christians worshipping together of every race!  The spirit of racism seeks to prevent this from becoming the norm.  In Matthew the 24^th chapter, Jesus was asked “what would be the sign if His coming and the end of the age?”  His answer was:

    Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. [8] All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:7-8.

  The word that is translated “nation” in this text is the Greek word ethnos, from which we derive our English word ethnic or race. Jesus declared that a prominent sign of the end of this age and His return would be ethnic or racial conflict.  If the church does not face this problem, overcoming the racism within our own ranks, so that we can take spiritual authority over it, the world will continue to fall into chaos and confusion.  If the church does not address this issue and admit that problems exist, then we cannot expect that the world will listen to our message.

Unfortunately, many church leaders that I have known don’t desire to see their congregations multi-racial and multi-cultural. They don’t preach on it or write articles about it.  One of the reasons for this lies sometimes in that the “powers that be” would not like such issues addressed. 

 There are mainly two foundations to racism.  The first is pride.  Pride in the flesh.  It is judging others by the externals, which is the ultimate form of pride.  Pride in the flesh is simply the feeling of being better than others.  This creates an obvious barrier between us and others.  The second foundation to racism is fear.  Insecurity is a result of the fall and the separation between God and man.  The insecure are afraid of those who are different.  Racism is a combination of both pride and fear.    

The cross of Christ confronts and overcomes both the pride of man and his insecurity. This destroys our pride by making us dependent on the Savior. When we see that holy God has accepted us, based not on our own merit, then we no longer have anything to be proud of in this flesh. His grace then begins to work tolerance in us for those who are different. Then we begin to look at people from a spiritual perspective, not after the flesh.   2 Cor. 5:16-17 Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. [17] Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. (NASB) 

The church is called to not only have an answer to the problem of racism, but to BE a reflection of that answer.  In other words, to demonstrate our answer by our actions, not just give lip service to it! 

Mark 11:17   ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’?   The church has not fulfilled her destiny until she truly becomes a house of prayer for all ethnic people.

Over Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and gave one of the most stirring speeches of all time. His “I have a dream speech” was a defining moment in the American Civil Rights Movement. It called for Civil and economic Rights and an end to racism.  I remember the first time I heard this speech.  I was moved by how anointed this speech was and how it painted a vivid picture of the kingdom of God to come. It describes the world, not as it is, but as it could be. It was prophetic, it was out of sync with the present age but in sync with the age to come. It not only was Dr. King’s dream, but it is God’s dream. 

We want justice!

These are the words that are being shouted today by so many.  The Bible speaks of justice in 157 verses.  Most today understand little of God’s justice.  They are crying out for legal justice.  I’m not saying this is wrong, I’m simply saying there is a higher justice than merely legal justice where crooks get punished. I’m referring to the greater justice of the Kingdom that sets things right and restores that which has been lost.  Legal justice just makes bad guys into convicts, but Kingdom justice turns them into new men. The justice Jesus revealed turns sinners into saints, enemies into friends, and haters into lovers.   

Those who have been raised under Old Covenant Law tend to say, “God, give me mercy, not justice.” But those who have seen the finished work of Jesus on the cross don’t hesitate to cry out for justice for they know that only the justice of heaven can heal the injustices of this world. And this is a world riddled with injustice. For Dr. King, the number one injustice was racial inequality. But what about you? What is the injustice that bothers you?  Is there something that breaks your heart or makes you angry?  Now imagine a world where that injustice no longer exists. Can you see it?

You may be thinking what can I do?  Listen, the Kingdom is within you. When you understand that the gospel is not about getting you to heaven, it’s about bringing heaven down to earth, it is then that real change can come.  It’s about moving in the opposite spirit of this world, opposing violence with peace and speaking out while others remain silent.

    The church is the place where all men will be unified again, regardless of race, culture, language, etc.  I thank God for the progress that has been made in this area, but there is still more needed.  The church will be different,….the church is different. The spirit of racism must be resisted and defeated.  ‘Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red, yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight, yes Jesus loves the little children of the world.’  Amen!

If we read the Bible without the understanding of God’s grace and the finished work of Jesus on the cross, we will be very confused about many things.  To understand the written word of God, we must have a relationship with the Living Word of God.  Most of us were told (preached) that God introduced Job to satan, that God literally dangled Job in front of satan like a piece of meat in front of a hungry dog.  This is a terrible portrayal of our heavenly Father!  According to this view, there is no difference between God and satan. It portrays God and satan working together.  The devil did the stealing and killing, but God gave the permission.  He “allowed” it to happen.  Do you not know that satan in the Bible is called “the thief”, he comes to kill, steal, and destroy”?  If a thief has “permission” to steal, then he can’t be called a thief.  God is Father God, He’s not the god-father.  The “God allowed it” doctrine that has crept into the church has impugned the name and character of God.  I’ve heard statements made like this, “I have cancer, I don’t understand it, but I know God has a purpose for allowing it in my life”.   Statements such as this are not only ignorant, but blasphemous.  If you think God has given satan permission to attack you and inflict you with pain and suffering, then you are not left with any options to do much resisting of it, because after all, God is allowing it.  How ridcularous!  I have also noticed the same Christians that believe this lie, that God allowed their sickness for a purpose, yet they run to the doctor and try to get it off them as quickly as possible.  If you truly believe God is trying to teach you something with your sickness, then you should not resist it and learn all you can.  Do you not see how foolish this lie is?

I understand how people read the first chapter of Job in traditional translations of the Bible and come away believing that God was giving satan permission to attack Job.  Let’s read (Job 1:8) from two literal translations of the Bible and we will get a more accurate meaning of the original Hebrew language:

And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, “Hast thou set thy heart against My servant Job because there is none like him in the land, a man perfect and upright, fearing God, and turning aside from evil?” (Job 1:8, Young’s Literal Translation YLT).

Look at Green’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (LITV):

And Jehovah said to Satan, Have you set your heart on My servant Job because there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil? (Job 1:8, Green’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible (LITV).

Satan had set his heart to attack Job.  God was just letting satan know that He knew what he was up to.  Well, why didn’t God just stop the devil?  He couldn’t.  I didn’t say He didn’t have the power to stop him, but God really gave the earth to man and man (Adam) gave that power to satan, he now had authority to attack man.

  The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S; But the earth He has given to the children of men (Psalm 115:16 NKJV).

This is why there is so much evil on this earth.  I know you heard that God is in control of everything that happens on this earth, but this also is a lie.  Much of what happens is not His will.  In fact, the Bible never says God is in control, but it does say that the satan has control:

We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one (1 John 5:19 NIV).   Click on this link for more. https://dellyoung.net/2016/11/21/god-is-not-in-control/

During the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, satan said to Christ, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish” (Luke 4:6 NKJV).  When was satan “delivered” this authority over earth?  In the Garden of Eden when Adam handed control to satan.  This helps us to understand the Lord’s statement in Job 1:12 that troubles so many.

Job 1:12 (YLT)
 And Jehovah saith unto the Adversary, `Lo, all that he hath is in thy hand, only unto him put not forth thy hand.’ And the Adversary goeth out from the presence of Jehovah.

So, when the Lord says, “all that is his is in your hand!” He is stating a painful fact that will ultimately cost Jesus his life.  Job was already under the dominion of satan.  This was demonstrated again when satan contended with Michael the archangel over the body of Moses (Jude1:9).  Here are some things that are important to remember when reading Job.  Job was not saved, he was not filled with the Holy Spirit, he had no Bible to read.  He had some understanding of God, but not everything Job said about God was correct.  Job thought that God was the cause behind all his suffering and loss.  That’s why he said, “the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away”.  Really?  Does God give and then take away what He gave?  That makes God the thief!  Does God give parents a child and then just decide to take it away?  No wonder so many people hate God as this verse was quoted at their child’s funeral.  God would never do that.  He said His gifts are irrevocable, never taken back (Rom 11:29).

Job admitted that he spoke things that he did not understand and which he did not know.
You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know (Job 42:3 NKJV).  Job went on to say in (Job 42:5-6) that “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.
⁶  Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.”

Job had only heard of God, but when his eyes saw Him, Job said I hate myself.  Job hated that he had a wrong opinion of God.  The book of Job is an inferior revelation of God.  I didn’t say an inaccurate revelation, just not complete.  Jesus Christ is the revelation of God, not Job.  Anything that we think we know about God that we cannot prove in the life of Jesus in the gospels, we need to call into question.  It’s important to note that Jesus was the perfect revelation of the Father. Hebrews 1:3 says, “He is . . . the exact representation of His nature.” On one occasion Phillip asked Jesus to “show us the Father” (John 14:8).  Jesus replied, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father”.  In other words, you’re looking at Him.  Revealing the Father was a primary assignment in Christ’s coming. What was hidden in the shadows of the Old Testament was clearly seen in the New Testament through the life of Jesus – The love of the Father is extravagant, and everyone is welcome to come and receive.  The invisible God of the Old Testament became visible and touchable in the life of Jesus.

Lastly, I am a disciple of Jesus, not a disciple of Job.  Most today have a wrong opinion of who God is. I will not allow an incomplete and inferior revelation of God from the book of Job to form my total view of God and neither should you. To see God as He truly is, His love, His character, one only needs to look to Jesus, not Job.