Can we do תפילות prayers for:
Ephraim and Remona?That through them The האור Light, רפואה The Healing and The ואהבה Love of ישועת יהוה Yeshuath YHWH may come back to הארץ The Land of Israel?
Shalom Fellow Israelite,
We, who have recognized the promises and covenants to and with our forefathers, the Patriarchs, and acknowledge their progeny that came out of Egypt and received the Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai and who later came into theLand of Promise, must also “embrace” our ancestor Adam.
What do I mean by that? In the past many of us were subject to church doctrines, and even though we no longer identify with many of those teachings there may be a residue that we have not yet discarded. One foundational church teaching, for example, is that “Christians” are no longer “in Adam,” but are now “in Christ.”In the past couple of months I have been examining the teachings of a prominent protestant theologian, who made a statement to that effect, a statement that is widely accepted in Christian circles, namely: “We who are Christians are no longer in Adam, but are now in Christ.” In other words, we were once “Adamites,” sons of Adam through Seth, Noah, etc. but through the death of “Jesus” were taken out of that sinner line/race and so are no more connected to the Adamic life. This doctrine is based on an interpretation of Romans 6:6:“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
The afore-mentioned statement raises the question that if this assertion is valid, than who is the “we” that are no longer “slaves to sin”? If we were once in Adam and slaves to sin, then there should not be a “we”; as the “we” would be gone and done away with, for whatever happened to Adam happened to us too.
In Luke 3:38 Adam is called the “son of Elohim.” However, Adam was disobedient and came under the dominion of sin, his life becoming one with the nature of sin resulting in re-producing more “sinners” like himself (see Romans 5:12). Yet Elohim did not destroy His first son, but had a plan to redeem and reconcile him to Himself. YHVH was not going to let Satan have eternal dominion, rule, or authority over Adam’s race.
The doctrine of Adam’s “destruction” is another type of “replacement theology,” for it does away with Adam and replaces him with a completely different Man. This idea has kept the Christians away from the writings of the Torah and the Prophets. As a matter of fact, recently one elder of a very large community of believers proclaimed that because the Law was done away with (and all that preceded Yeshua), we only need to read the New Testament. That is, we are no longer connected to the Word of Elohim that was spoken to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israeland Moses. We are now entirely “new creatures in Messiah,” and thus part of Elohim’s Word that was before “Messiah” is irrelevant except for some of the promises that are related to the new covenant, which now pertain, of course, to the Christians. Again, according to this theology because we, “believers,” are no longer in Adam, all the laws, promises and prophetic words that applied to the “sinner Man” are immaterial. But is that what was intended by the Creator when He reconciled Man back to Himself through the flesh body of His only begotten Son, Yeshua? “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His [Yehsua’s] flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight”(Colossians 1:21-22). Who is the “you” in this text? Who was “alienated” and an “enemy”? Who was “reconciled” and now presented “holy and blameless”?
Did Elohim put Adam to death in Messiah and then bury him never to be seen again? Or was Adam to be raised with Messiah? Paul writes: “Now if Messiah is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Messiah is not risen. And if Messiah is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of Elohim, because we have testified of Elohim that He raised up Messiah, whom He did not raise up -- if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Messiah is not risen. And if Messiah is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Corinthians 15:12-17). Paul is not referring to a death and resurrection of the physical body. He is speaking of the death that Man was taken into in Messiah on the execution stake for the removal of our sins. That which was experienced by Yeshua applies to all men (Adamites): “For the love of Messiah compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again” (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). In other words, the life of Adam was immersed into the flesh body of Yeshua: “…do you not know that as many of us as were immersed/put into Messiah Yeshua were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Messiah was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4). We were taken into death with Him, buried with Him, and now as the Apostle puts it: “For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Messiah all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order” (1 Corintians 15:22-23). Here Paul is indicating that there is a divine order in humanity/Adam’s race for entering the realities of resurrected life in Messiah, even though as of yet that life is hidden (in Messiah: “For you died, and your life is hidden with Messiah in Elohim” [Colossians 3:3]).
We must remember that in the beginning, and throughout Scripture, Elohim spoke to Adam, especially to the “firstborn” of Adam: Seth, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel. YHVH’s Word has been governing this order in creation ever since, and Yeshua’s arrival was “only” a continuation of that process. The “last” Adam’s coming was in order to redeem the first Adam by giving up His life, so that the first Adam could be taken out of the realm of sin and death into the reign of righteousness: “So that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Yeshua Messiah our Lord” (Romans 5:21).
Thank you Abba for not forsaking us, Your created sons. The whole creation is groaning because we fell under the power and rule of sin, but thanks be to You, our Elohim and Father for bringing us out from under that dominion of sin and transferring us now to the kingdom of Your beloved Son Yeshua!
May we all begin to live and act/behave as sons of Elohim.
Shabbat Shalom,
Ephraim
Hebrew Insights into Parashat Noach (right click to open hyperlink)
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