Program 202: Our High Calling: A New Look at John 1

Does John 1 prove Yahushua's pre-existence?

Welcome to WLC Radio, a subsidiary of World’s Last Chance Ministries, an online ministry dedicated to learning how to live in constant readiness for the Savior's return.

For two thousand years, believers of every generation have longed to be the last generation. Contrary to popular belief, though, Christ did not give believers “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, he repeatedly warned that his coming would take even the faithful by surprise. Yahushua urgently warned believers to be ready because, he said, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” [Matthew 24:44]

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Part 1: Our High Calling

Miles Robey: The Gospel of John opens with some of the most beautiful, poetic and sublime words in all of Scripture. In fact, John 1 has long been pointed to as Scriptural proof for the Savior’s divinity. But is that what it’s really saying? Today, Dave Wright is going to lead us in another study of John 1 and what that means for us as believers on a practical level.

Later, during our Daily Mailbag segment, Dave will be discussing how to overcome failure. It’s a cycle we can all get into, but how to break out of it can be difficult.
Dave? You said you had something new to share with us about John 1. What can you tell us?

Dave Wright: Well, first of all, I think we’ve had a major breakdown in communication regarding the first chapter of the gospel of John. It reminds me of something that happened when I was a young lad.

My mum had tea on cooking and needed to pop out for just a bit. Before she left, she said, “Watch the potatoes!” So I did. I watched the potatoes. I watched them as they cooked. I watched them as they turned to mush. (Maybe Mum was planning on mashed potatoes?) And I watched them as they burned.

Miles: Quite a literal chap, weren’t you?

Dave: She said to “watch” them, so that’s what I did! I think we ended up having sandwiches for supper that night. Anyway, it was a break down in communication and I learned that when I was told to “watch” something, I was expected to do more than stand there and observe!

I think the same sort of breakdown in communication, or I should say breakdown in understanding, has occurred in John 1. Let’s turn there and read the opening verses. John 1 verses 1 to 5.

Now, as you read this, I’d like you to read it just as it appears in our modern translation. Typically, we replace the generic titles with Yahuwah’s actual name, but this time I want you to read it as it appears in our modern translations. Then, we’ll talk about it because part of the confusion and breakdown in communication that has occurred is due to the way titles are understood in this passage.

Go ahead.

Miles:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Dave: This sounds a lot like Genesis 1:1 which, as we all know, uses very similar phraseology: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

“God” in Hebrew is Elohim. In the New Testament Greek, “god” is theos. But in our modern translations, they’re both translated into English. as “God.” So, it’s easy, at a surface reading to assume that the “beginning” spoken of in John 1 is the same beginning that is spoken of in Genesis 1. And that’s why this is frequently accepted as proof for a triune godhead. It’s assumed that the “Word” here in John 1 is referring to Yahushua.

Miles: Of course. If you have a triune godhead, if Yahushua is every bit as much divine as the Father, then he’d have had to have had a preexistence.

Dave: I don’t want to get into all the Biblical and historical proofs demonstrating that a trinity is a heresy adopted from paganism. It’s been covered extensively in previous radio programs. If you missed them, you can still find them on our website or on YouTube. We’ve got a lot of articles on the subject, too.

Miles: I think most of our listeners have encountered this subject before, but if you haven’t, I just want to encourage you to do your own research into the topic. Dave and I will never ask you to just take our word for any doctrine. The proof is there; the evidence is there. We share the truths we know, but it’s up to you to prayerfully consider all the evidence. Be a Berean! The spirit of Yah will settle you into the truth if you ask Him to.

Okay. Go ahead. Just wanted to put that out there.

Dave: That’s excellent.

All right. As covered in other programs, the weight of evidence reveals that the “Word” being referred to in John 1 is not Yahushua at all but Yah’s wisdom. Again, you can find that covered in previous programs. So, saying that “the Word” was in the beginning with Yah is not proof of a pre-existent Christ, acting in concert with Yahuwah as Co-Creator of the world. In fact, John 1 verse 1 isn’t talking about the creation of our world at all.

Miles: So what’s it talking about then? I know “the Word” isn’t referring to Yahushua but I have believed that this was referring to the same “in the beginning” as Genesis 1:1.

Dave: No. The phrase “in the beginning” appears a number of times in the New Testament. Simply because the words are the same doesn’t mean they’re referring to the same event.

For example, turn to Acts 11. Here, Peter has been called to account by the other apostles. They want to know why he’d baptized, and ate with, and stayed in the home of a gentile!

Miles: Oh, the horror!

Dave: That’s Cornelius, you’ll recall. So, Peter tells them the story. How in a vision, he’d been commanded to eat unclean animals and how he understood that to be Yahuwah telling him that Yah was no respecter of persons, how responsive the gentiles were to the gospel, et cetera.

Read verse 15 now of Acts 11.

Miles: “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.”

Dave: So, which “beginning” is Peter talking about here?

Miles: Uh, Pentecost. The beginning of the gospel ministry.

Dave: Right. There are other places where a “beginning” is referred to. John 8 records a conversation Yahushua had with the Pharisees, where they were heckling him. Read verse 25.

Miles: “Then they said to him, ‘Who are you?’ And Yahushua said to them, ‘Just what I have been saying to you from the beginning.’”

Dave: Okay. Which beginning is this?

Miles: His public ministry.

Dave: Correct. That’s how John typically uses the phrase. Let’s look at a few more. John 15:27. What does that say?

Miles: “And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

Dave: John 16:4?

Miles: “But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. And these things I did not say to you at the beginning, because I was with you.”

Dave: Again, referring to the start of Christ’s public ministry. This is how the other gospel writers use the phrase, too. Read the first verse of the gospel of Mark for us. How does Mark open his book?

Miles: “The beginning of the gospel of Yahushua Christ, the son of [Yah].”

Dave: And from there, Mark jumps right into talking about John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. How about Luke?

Miles: Uhh …

Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed. [Luke 1:1-4]

Dave: “From the beginning … from the very first.” Again, these phrases are referring to the start of Yahushua’s public ministry. And that’s how John consistently uses the phrase.

Turn to 1 John 1 and read verses 1 to 3.

Miles:

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. [1 John 1:1-3a]

Dave: So my point is that, as trinitarians, we got way off in John 1, from the very first, because we assumed that the phrase “in the beginning” was referring to the Genesis 1:1 beginning, and it’s not.

This is an important point and an incredibly exciting truth. The beginning being referred to here is a new beginning. Remember, in the Genesis beginning, there was a creation and a man, Adam, who fell.

But Yahushua came to be, what? What was his role and mission?

Miles: To be the second Adam. To redeem us where the first Adam fell.

Dave: Exactly!! Now, this is huge. This is exciting! What John is talking about here is a new beginning and a new creation.

Yahuwah is our Creator? He’s also our re-Creator. This is accomplished through the second Adam, Yahushua.

Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Paul understood this thrilling concept. Start at verse, uh … let’s start with verse 20. And as you read, notice the parallels Paul is drawing between what happened back at the first beginning, and what can and is happening with the second, new beginning, the new creation: 1 Corinthians 15, verses 20 to 28.

Miles:

But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at his coming. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to [Yah] the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till He has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For “He has put all things under his feet.” But when He says “all things are put under him,” it is evident that He who put all things under him is excepted. Now when all things are made subject to him, then the son himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under him, that [Yahuwah] may be all in all.

Dave: Paul is talking about an epoch here, an epoch under a new creation, the regeneration, redemption and, ultimately, restoration of fallen man. And it starts with Yahushua’s ministry, but it continues on until Yahushua, having conquered all, restores the kingdom to Yahuwah.

So then, Paul talks about the resurrection of the dead which is only possible with the new creation which Christ makes possible with his ministry and death. Let’s pick it up again with verse 42. And again, notice everything that is possible under the new creation, the creation John was talking about in John 1.

Miles:

So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural, and afterward the spiritual. The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second man is the Lord from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man. [1 Corinthians 15:42-49]

Dave: Again, this is a new creation we’re talking about here! “As was the man of dust [the first Adam], so also are those who are made of dust.” That’s talking about the Genesis 1 creation. Then he says, “And as is the heavenly man [Christ, the second Adam], so also are those who are heavenly.”

We were born bearing the image of the first Adam, the man of dust, but with the new creation, the new beginning of John 1, we are recreated to bear the image of the second Adam, the heavenly man. This isn’t saying he’s divine. Just that he’d ascended to heaven to intercede for us.

In John 1, we’ve superimposed a trinitarian interpretation when that’s not what John was speaking about at all! The Genesis 1 beginning? That’s old news! The gospel is the good news of the new creation in a new beginning!

This theme is developed throughout the New Testament. Turn to the first chapter of Colossians and read verses 15 to 18. Colossians 1:15 to 18.

Miles:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.

Dave: Yahushua isn’t the first born of the first beginning. The first Adam was, but he is the first born of the new beginning. That’s why Paul can say “he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead.” It’s through his death that any of us can be reborn, recreated in the new beginning. With Christ’s resurrection, new authorities come to be.

John lists some of them in Revelation. Read Revelation 1 verses 4 to 6 for us.

Miles:

Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Yahushua Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. [Revelation 1:4b-6]

Dave: In the new creation that’s possible in this new beginning, Yahushua is the firstborn of the dead. He is also the faithful witness. This is repeated in Revelation 3 verse 14 where the Savior is described as “the Faithful and True Witness, the ruler of [Yah’s] creation.” Again, this is the new creation because the first Adam was set in charge of the original creation.

Now. The reason this is so important is that it has a huge significance for believers.

Miles: All right. Hold that thought. We’re going to take a quick break and when we come back, let’s get into what this means on an individual level for believers.

We’ll be right back.

* * *

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* * *Part 2: Our High Calling

Miles: Let’s talk now about what this means for believers on a practical level. You said that this new beginning spoken of in John 1 has huge significance. In what way?

Dave: With the experience of a new creation under the new beginning of John 1, believers now have an opportunity we never had before to enter into a relationship with Yahuwah that’s on an entirely new level.

Turn again to John 1 and read the first five verses. Let’s look at that again.

Miles:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with [Yah], and the Word was [Yah]. He was in the beginning with [Yah]. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

Dave: There are a number of important things being stated in this verse. First, the “Word,” as covered in previous programs, was Yahuwah’s wisdom. That has always been with Yah from the very beginning. All things were made through Yahuwah, and without Him, nothing was made. In Yahuwah was life, and the life was the light of men.

The word translated “Word,” is logos in the Greek. This shows Yahuwah at work; Yah in action. We haven’t understood this because we haven’t understood the mechanics of how Yahuwah creates. Yahuwah’s Word, His logos, is Yah at work.

Miles: I’m not following.

Dave: All right. Say, here in the recording studio, it’s dark. There are no windows. We can’t see. I say to you, “It’s light.” What happens?

Miles: Uh … nothing? You’re lying?

Dave: Right! In order to get light, I have to perform some physical activity, whether that’s turning on a lamp or a torch or lighting a candle or whatever.

Yahuwah, on the other hand, doesn’t have to do that. He just has to speak and it is accomplished. When He wanted light at the creation of our world, what did He do?

Miles: Said, “Let there be light.”

Dave: Exactly! Yahuwah doesn’t need to do anything. He speaks and His very word accomplishes what He wants to have happen. His word itself contains the power to do what He says. That’s the power of Yah’s Word, His logos.

Turn to Isaiah 55. Yahuwah Himself is explaining this very important concept here. Start with verse, uh, well, let’s start with verse 6. It’s an invitation to participate in Yah’s new beginning, the new creation.

Miles:

Seek Yahuwah while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to Yahuwah,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our Elohim,
For He will abundantly pardon. [Isaiah 55:6-7]

Dave: So that’s the invitation: Come and let your Creator be your re-Creator.

Next, He’s going to explain how it works. Keep going, verse 8.

Miles: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares Yahuwah. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” [Isaiah 55:8-9]

Dave: Now He’s going to give a simile to explain how the new creation works.

Miles:

For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
[Isaiah 55:10-11]

Dave: “So … will My … Word … be.” Yahuwah doesn’t have to do something to accomplish His will; He only has to speak it.

So will My word be which I speak. My word will not return to Me empty. My word will accomplish what I desire.

Again, the logos in John 1 is Yahuwah’s Word that He speaks. It’s a verbal expression of His wisdom and the Word itself contains the power to accomplish what He says. This is how Yahuwah works, how He creates. This is confirmed in Psalm 33 verse 9. Why don’t you read that for us really quickly? Psalm 33 verse 9.

Miles: “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.”

Dave: The Word is Yah in action, Yah at work.

Now, back to John 1. What does John 1:14 say?

Miles: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Dave: The Word was in Yahushua. That Word is Yah’s presence, His power. The Word represents Yahuwah. Some forty times John tells us that Yahushua was sent by Yah. And what was his mission? What was he sent here to do? Why was he born?

Paul says it best: 2 Corinthians 5 verses 17 to 19. He’s going to spell out here that the New Creation is founded upon Yah’s Word. Go ahead.

Miles:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from [Yahuwah], who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that [Yahuwah] was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Dave: If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, a new creation because Yahuwah was in Christ. The logos, the Word was in Christ.

An excellent example of this is preserved in Matthew 8. Let’s turn there and start reading with verse 5.

Miles:

Now when Yahushua had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, pleading with him, saying, “Lord, my servant is lying at home paralyzed, dreadfully tormented.”

And Yahushua said to him, “I will come and heal him.”

The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” [Matthew 8:5-9]

Dave: The centurion understood that Yahushua spoke for Yahuwah. We’ve been reading into this for years, assuming the centurion believed Yahushua was divine and “God the Son,” but that’s not what he’s saying at all. He understood that it was Yahuwah’s power working in and speaking through Christ. That’s what the centurion had faith in.

We see this in verse 9 where he says, “For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

Miles: Ohhh! What you’re saying is, the centurion’s authority was derived. He spoke for the emperor. People obeyed him because he was backed by the full force of the Roman empire.

Dave: You got it. And he recognized that same derived authority in Christ.

This was so rare, that anyone, let alone a foreigner, would understand this, that Yahushua was simply amazed. What does the next verse say?

Miles:

When Yahushua heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Dave: Yahushua was human, not divine. He had to be in order to redeem the world where the first Adam fell. But Yah’s wisdom was in the Savior and His word spoke through him. The centurion understood this. His faith wasn’t in Yahushua. It was in Yahuwah who was working through Yahushua. This is why, to receive Yahushua means to receive the Father.

Turn to John 14. This is at the end of the Savior’s ministry. They had the last supper in John 13, but he’s not yet been betrayed in John 18. However, his public ministry is over and Yahushua is cramming in the last bit of teaching he can before he’s betrayed.

Then Philip makes the most jaw-dropping request. John 14 verse 8.

Miles: “Philip said to him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.’”

Dave: I can’t help but think that was very disheartening for Yahushua to hear. He’d spent three and a half years with them and they still didn’t “get” it. You can see this in the next verse. Keep reading.

Miles:

Yahushua said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves.

Dave: Here Yahushua is just spelling it out. No parables, just very plain speaking:

• He who has seen me has seen the Father.
• I am in the Father. The Father is in me.
• The words I speak come from the Father.
• The Father works through me. It’s the Father doing the work.

In a very real way, Yahushua was Yahuwah in action and it can be that way for us, too.

Miles: You say it can be for us, too. There’s just one difference: Yahushua, as we know now, was—is—fully human. But he did have the nature of Adam before the fall. That’s how he was able to redeem us where Adam fell. But we don’t have unfallen natures. We’re sinful. How can you and I, fully human, sinful … how can we have that same experience Yahushua had of Yahuwah living in us when we don’t have the unfallen nature Christ had?

Dave: Fair enough. Let’s look at someone else then. This is a person that had some temper issues. He was also a murderer. And yet Yahuwah was in him and acted through him in unprecedented ways.

Miles: Who was it?

Dave: Moses. Exodus 2 tells us that, one day while Moses was out riding, he saw an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew. What does Exodus 2 verse 12 say?

Miles: “He looked all around, and when he didn’t see anyone, he beat the Egyptian to death and hid the body in the sand.”

Dave: This was nothing short of murder. It was not self-defense. It was murder, plain and simple. And yet, Moses surrendered to Yah. He repented and Yahuwah was able to work through him in marvelous ways.

Miles: I like that. You’re right. You know, the Bible says that Moses was the “meekest” man who ever lived. I did a study on this once because I was curious what that meant. We hear “meek” and we tend to think subservient, easily imposed upon and submissive. But that’s actually not entirely what it means in the Hebrew. We’ve lost something in translation.

Do we have a minute? Do you mind if I share this?

Dave: Not at all. Go for it.

Miles: Well, the word translated into English as “meek” actually comes from a Hebrew word that has some connotations that we don’t have in English. Give me just a second to look this up …

Here we go. It’s number 6035 in Strong’s Expanded Dictionary. Yes, it means meek and humble, but it’s more than that. Listen to this. It says, quote: “Anayv appears almost exclusively in poetical passages and describes the intended outcome of affliction from [Yahuwah], namely ‘humility.’” And then it actually mentions Moses.

Dave: So what it’s saying is that Moses became meek, became humble, not because he was born that way but because he surrendered to Yah. Through the trials he went through, this was developed in his character.

Miles: Right! We can see what the character he was born with was like: he beat that Egyptian overseer to death! Sure, Moses had likely been trained in combat. But do you know how much force it takes to beat someone to death? And yet, 40+ years later, his character had been transformed to the point that Scripture says, “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.” [Numbers 12:3]

Dave: Excellent example. Gives hope for the rest of us, doesn’t it? Because, Yahuwah in Moses then turned the Nile to blood, brought swarms of frogs and gnats and flies over the land of Egypt, and parted the waters of the Red Sea.

Have you ever seen a riverbed when the locks down river are opened, and they drain the riverbed?

Miles: Yeah, it’s a slimy, stinky mess.

Dave: Very muddy. And yet, Yahuwah in Moses dried up the riverbed and the Israelites crossed over, the Bible says, “dry shod.” They didn’t even get their feet wet. Yahuwah in Moses then brought the waters of the Red Sea down on their enemies.

Moses was Yahuwah’s agent, delivering the Israelites. Yah was in Moses and worked through him, so when Moses spoke to the Israelites, when he went in before Pharoah and spoke to him, Moses was speaking the word of Yah.

Pharoah may have been a slow learner, but the presence of Yahuwah was known and understood.

Miles: Yeah! I always thought it was so ironic that when Pharaoh finally decided to let the Israelites go, he added, “And pray for me, too!” I mean, the sheer, unmitigated gall of the guy!

Dave: Sure! He was beaten and he knew it. Again, Yah’s presence was seen and understood. Pharaoh may not have wanted to admit it—he did renege, after all—but he still recognized a greater power was at work and that greater power was Yahuwah working in and through His agent, Moses.

We can see this repeated throughout the Bible. Who drove the Canaanites out of the Promised Land? Joshua?

Miles: Yahuwah working through Joshua.

Dave: Yahuwah has always worked through human agents, and even through circumstances. This is how a first-century Jew would have interpreted John 1. It wasn’t until the second century that “the Word” in John 1 was twisted to have an anthropological meaning.

When Yahushua spoke, when he healed, when he raised the dead, it was the Father at work in him and through him doing the work. Yahushua may have physically spoken the words, “Be healed,” or “Lazarus, come forth!” or “Stand up and walk,” but the source of the power in the words was Yahuwah.

Miles: The word wasn’t the source: Yahuwah was the source.

Dave: Excellent way to put it.

It’s interesting to note that the majority of times Christ’s healing was by word only. Sure, he put clay on the eyes of a blind man, but the vast majority of the time, the healings occurred when he spoke the word of power. He wasn’t the source of that power, he was simply a channel through which divine power could flow.

This has always been the case. Turn to Psalm 107 and read verses 19 and 20. Psalm 107:19 to 20. This is a psalm recounting the various trials throughout Israel’s history.

Miles:

“Then they cried out to Yahuwah in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.”

Dave: The power of Yahuwah was in Christ’s words. Yah was working through Yahushua just as he had through Moses. Yahushua spoke the words of life. In a sense, he was the embodiment of Yahuwah’s wisdom because he was the channel through which it flowed to humanity.

At the beginning of this segment, you read from 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

I’d like you to read it again because now I think it will have even more meaning: 2 Corinthians 5, verses 17 to 19.

Miles:

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from [Yahuwah], who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that [Yahuwah] was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Dave: Yah has committed to us the Word of reconciliation, too! Just like Yahushua and Moses, we, too, can be channels of divine grace and power, being a blessing in our individual spheres of influence.

Miles: Beautiful.

Stay tuned, folks! Up next is our daily mailbag.

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WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.

* * *Daily Mailbag (Miles & Dave)

Miles: Today’s question is coming from . . . Ningde in China!

I find Chinese culture so fascinating. Some of the world’s greatest inventions come from China. Silk, gun powder—couldn’t have fireworks without gun powder—ice cream, kites—

Dave: Toilet paper.

Miles: Really!

Dave: Yep. But initially it was reserved exclusively for the emperor.

Miles: See? They’re ingenious!

Anyway, Yŭxuān writes, “How do I overcome failure? Having failed, and now feeling like a failure, I feel trapped and depressed. How do I break out of this?”

Dave: Well, let me just say, I appreciate this question. The truth is, the older we get, the more opportunities we have to experience failure. As believers, we need to refuse to allow Satan to drown us in guilt when we do fail. We’re human, and fallen humans at that, so yes. There will be times we experience failure. But we don’t have to stay there.

The first step in overcoming failure is to determine, to make the choice, to never give up.

Miles: I’ve always remembered Thomas Edison’s response when asked how he felt about failing so many times before figuring out how to make an incandescent lightbulb. He said, quote: “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.”

Dave: That’s an attitude that doesn’t give up! It reframes even seeming failures as successes. And that can be the attitude of every believer. Romans 8 verse 31 asks, “If Yahuwah is for us, who can be against us?” As believers, we want to always remember that because we’re going to be facing a lot of difficulties and discouragements between now and the end.

Turn to Psalm 103 and read verses 13 and 14. This is an important passage to remember whenever we’re struggling, but especially when we’re depressed and feeling like a failure.

Miles: It says:

As a father has compassion on his children,
so Yahuwah has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed,
he remembers that we are dust.

Dave: We’re just … dust! Yahuwah knows that and He doesn’t hold it against us. We shouldn’t hold it against ourselves, either. We’re going to fail. Again, it’s part of being human, but if you don’t try, you’ll never succeed.

Miles: That’s true. I remember reading once that two of the all-time greatest baseball players—Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson—set the record for the most homeruns in a single season, but also set the record for the most strikeouts! In other words, they may have set the record for winning, but they also set the record for losing. You can’t have success if you don’t try and if you try, inevitably you’re going to fail sometimes, too. That’s just reality.

Dave: And it brings me to my next point: don’t be afraid of failure. It doesn’t somehow make you less of a Christian to fail. In fact, fear of failure can cause more lasting damage than failing itself.

Miles: How so?

Dave: Because if you’re afraid and you focus on that, then often you’ll not even try. And if you don’t try, you’ll never succeed. How many ventures, both in the spiritual realm as well as in business or … whatever, have never launched because the person was so afraid of failure that he or she didn’t even try?

Miles: Hm. Good point. Reminds me of a promise in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Let me find it here really quickly …

Here it is: 2 Timothy 1 verse 7. It says: “For [Yahuwah] has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Fear doesn’t come from Yahuwah. Not crippling fear, anyway.

Dave: That’s an excellent point. Fear isn’t necessarily a sin. I remember once I got into a bit of a scrape when I was 16. I still remember my father’s reaction. He didn’t get angry or anything, but he said something that stayed with me. He said, “Idiots can be very brave because they’re too stupid to know they should be afraid.”

Miles: Oooo! Ouch! Thanks, Dad!

Dave: Well, it had the intended effect. I was much more cautious after that. But that’s just exercising common sense. The fear that keeps us from even trying is crippling. If you find yourself caught in a downward spiral like that, claim a promise!

Read Philippians 4 verses 6 and 7 for us. This is great encouragement for anyone who feels paralyzed or trapped by fear of failure.

Miles: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to [Yahuwah]. And the peace of [Yah], which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ [Yahushua].”

Dave: Are you worried and anxious? Take it to Yahuwah in prayer. Give thanks. Maintaining an attitude of gratitude is so important because it helps you see possibilities where before you only saw dead ends and closed doorways.

Miles: There’s one thing I’d like to bring out and that is that just because you fail doesn’t mean you—the person—is a failure. Like you said: we all fail. It’s part of being human. It’s how we use that failure that determines whether we’ll be a success or whether we’ll just … wallow in it, telling ourselves how bad and awful we are.

Dave: I think this is something that we, as parents, need to be especially careful of. How we talk to our children, becomes their self-talk in adulthood. How your parents talked to you, how my parents talked to me, that is how we talk to and view ourselves.

If a person grew up in a home where there was a lot of conditional love, where he felt he could never win his parents’ approval, where no matter what she did, it was never good enough, that can lead to a fear of failure which translates into a fear of trying. So analyze where this fear is coming from.

And, when we do inevitably fail, it’s important that we forgive ourselves. Afterall, if Yahuwah can forgive you, don’t you think you’re worth forgiving? Can’t you forgive yourself?

Miles: Hm. Hadn’t thought of it that way before but it’s true that a person’s mental health is linked to whether their self-talk is supportive or critical.

Dave: An important part of that is simply accepting the fact that we have limitations. Again: we’re human! Being human isn’t a sin.

Miles: That’s a good point. If you’re constantly expecting unlimited perfection from yourself, that’s really ridiculous. I mean, who died and made you God?

Dave: That’s a rather … colorful way to put it, but you’re right. Only Yahuwah is perfect. Sometimes what we think is a failure is simply being confronted with our own limitations. Turn to Proverbs 24 and read verse 16. This is really apropos to our discussion today. Proverbs 24:16.

Miles: “Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.”

Dave: Your limitations don’t define you. If you find yourself wallowing in feelings of failure and depression, that’s Satan trying to discourage you. That’s not Yah. He loves you and is always there for you. And that’s the most important thing I want our listeners to take away from this discussion: you’re never going to overcome failure until you learn to stop condemning yourself.

Even if the reason you failed was because you made a mistake, even if it’s because you sinned—honestly? So what? Yahuwah’s love is unconditional. He still loves you! Remember what he told Paul, when Paul was frustrated with his own limitations?

Let’s read it: 2 Corinthians 12 and … well, let’s read it in context. Start with verse 7 and go through verse 10. We can all learn from this.

Miles:

And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Dave: Now, we don’t know for sure what this “thorn in the flesh” was, but he says flat out that Satan used it to “buffet” or beat at him. Some people have speculated that it was his eyesight. And it may have been; but that’s speculation. We just don’t know. But whatever it was, Yahushua’s words to him are for us as well: His grace is sufficient for us because his strength is made perfect in weakness.

Again: you’ll never get past failure so long as you continue to condemn yourself. Hey! Yahuwah isn’t condemning you! So stop condemning yourself. It’s Satan that’s the accuser of the brethren. Let’s not take up Satan’s accusations and make them our self-talk.

Miles: Wow. I never thought of it that way before but you’re right. Christ told the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you.” Yah’s words are always words of love and forgiveness and acceptance.

Dave: Jeremiah 3:22: “Return, you backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings.”

Miles: Huh! I never realized that we’re doing Satan’s work for him when we repeat his accusations, even if those accusations are against ourselves.

Dave: If it’s keeping us away from Yahuwah, that’s exactly what we’re doing. And that’s what overwhelming feelings of guilt tend to do: keep us away from Yah.

This is especially important if your failure is due to sinning. Yahuwah has forgiven you; accept His forgiveness. But then learn to forgive yourself, too.

Miles: Sure, but how do you do that? It’s kind of hard to do when you’re feeling really guilty.

Dave: When we choose to accept Yahuwah’s forgiveness, when we see His love for us, then it becomes easier to accept that He sees in us something worth loving and forgiving. So, focus on the Father’s love.

Now, every believer knows John 3:16.

Miles: Of course. “For [Yah] so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Dave: Right. It’s one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture. It’s the gospel message condensed down to one verse.

But the next verse is just as important. Do you know it?

Miles: Uhhh …

Dave: Why don’t you look it up for us?

Miles: Ah, yes! I need to memorize this verse, too. It’s beautiful. It says: “For [Yah] did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.”

Dave: Yahuwah. Doesn’t. Condemn!

Sure, you’ve failed. That doesn’t make you special. We’ve all failed. But Yahuwah doesn’t condemn. He certainly doesn’t condemn you for being human! He made you to be human.

And if He loves and forgives and accepts you, are you really going to call Him a liar and say you’re not worth that love and forgiveness and acceptance?

Miles: No.

Dave: Accept His love. Accept His forgiveness … and accept your own humanness. Then, with a song of gratitude in your heart and a promise to claim, determine to keep marching forward. That’s all any of us can do, but as we do this, we can know that Yahuwah will bless our efforts.

Miles: Very good advice.

If you’ve got questions or comments, we’d like to hear from you, too. Just click on Contact Us on our website. We always enjoy hearing from our listeners.

* * *Part 3: Our High Calling

Dave: In the few minutes we have left, I’d like to talk about what this second look at John 1 means for believers today. Just as Yahuwah was in Christ and the power of Yah was in Christ’s words, that same experience can be ours.

Would you please turn to John 17? This is a prayer Yahushua prayed for his followers. It was literally just before his betrayal in Gethsemane and what was he focused on? The experience of Yahuwah living in believers.

Miles: John 17 …?

Dave: Verses 13 to 17 and 20 to 23.

Miles:

But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent me. And the glory which You gave me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent me, and have loved them as You have loved me.

Dave: So “oneness” with the Father and the Savior is achieved by Yah’s Word dwelling in us.

This same theme is developed in Romans 8. Would you turn there and read verses 14 to 17?

Miles:

For as many as are led by the Spirit of [Yah], these are sons of [Yah]. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of [Yah], and if children, then heirs—heirs of [Yah] and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together.

Dave: A little different terminology is used here, but what’s being described is the experience of Yahuwah living in us and the blessings we receive through submitting to being living channels of divine grace and power.

Turn now to John 14. You just read from John 17. John 14 is the same detailed discourse given between the Last Supper and Yahushua’s betrayal in Gethsemane.

Philip had just asked Yahushua to show them the Father and Yahushua had said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” Why? Because Yahuwah was in Christ. Read verses 11 and 12 of John 14.

Miles: “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

Dave: This is the high calling that awaits believers in Yahuwah. Yahuwah was in Yahushua performing great works. These same works He wants to perform through believers today and He can when, like Yahushua, like Moses and Joshua, we submit our wills to His. Then He will work in us and through us to do His will.

Miles: Philippians 2:13: “For it is [Yah] who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” What a high calling indeed!

Please join us again tomorrow, and until then, remember: Yahuwah loves you . . . and He is safe to trust!

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In his teachings and parables, the Savior gave no “signs of the times” to watch for. Instead, the thrust of his message was constant … vigilance. Join us again tomorrow for another truth-filled message as we explore various topics focused on the Savior's return and how to live in constant readiness to welcome him warmly when he comes.

WLC Radio: Teaching minds and preparing hearts for Christ's sudden return.