Rosemarie Verzosa Luis BSN 3A

1. What are the scriptural images according to cfc?

y The Kingdom of God

-The KINGDOM OF GOD was the dominant theme of the public ministry of Jesus Christ. y People of God

- God has willed to make men holy and save them, not merely as individuals without any mutual bonds, but making them into a single people, a people which acknowledge Him in truth and serves Him in Holiness y Body of Christ

-Christ s body can refer to : Physical body - the historical Jesus, assumed at the Incarnation. Mystical body - the church, the faithful, united to Christ as their head, and united and vivified by His Spirit. y Temple of the Holy Spirit

- You are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you

2. Conditions for the entry for the Kingdom of God?

The only condition for entry into the Kingdom of God is that a person must have living faith in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) the Son of the Most HighLiving faith, incidentally, is faith that manifests itself in obedience. In other words, entrants to that heavenly kingdom must learn to trust and obey the Almighty. Beginning with the process called conversion a true believer's life ought to gradually come into line with God's will. Thus walking in faith with God he/she will be born into that glorious kingdom, to which there is no end. A person must be born through water and the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). To enter the kingdom we must be born by the washing of the water (John 15:3, Eph 5:26, I Cor 6:11) and the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:12-13). This is an on-going process, that may continue

for most, if not all, of our lives. As we hear the word of God and are crucifying our old nature (our flesh) by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are entering into the kingdom of God. Jesus said, 'Set your hearts on the kingdom of God and all these things shall be given unto to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:3132) The disciples asked Jesus, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?' Jesus called a little child to him and said, 'I tell you that unless you repent and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. (Mt 18:1-3) All those in the kingdom of God are brothers and sisters of each other, and of Jesus, for they would not be in the kingdom of God unless they were serving God, doing the will of God (and not their own will). Their race, color, creed, sex or age makes no difference. Jesus said, 'Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. (Mt 12:5) The conditions of man: From these teachings we can see the four different positions that a person may be in relation to God: 1. Living in darkness. A person living in darkness can not see the kingdom of God. They may be living a good life or an evil life but they are in darkness. They are in the domain of the kingdom of Darkness, serving the god of this world. 2. Born again but outside the kingdom of God. They are born again, they see the kingdom of God but they are not serving God, not being obedient to Him. They are serving themselves, doing what they desire. They are in control of their lives. They are doing what pleases their flesh and are not obeying the commands of Jesus ('Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say? Luke 6:46). They, too, are in the domain of the kingdom of Darkness, serving the god of this world. 3. Born again and entering the kingdom of God. These people are serving God by doing His will but they periodically slip backwards to serving self (they at times fall outside the kingdom of God and into the dominion of Satan). They are, at times, allowing God to make them perfect and holy, but may be taking one step backwards for every two steps forward. 4. Born again and has inherited the kingdom of God. These people are doing God's will, obeying the commands of Jesus ('If you love me, you will keep my commandments.' John 14:15), they have crucified their flesh (Gal 5:24) and are consistently producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). They walk in unbroken fellowship with God.

3. The response to the kingdom of God?

The positive member of Jesus response is the remarkable statement that the Kingdom of God has already come: For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst (entos humn). Jesus point is that the Kingdom of God is in the midst of his questioners insofar as he is in their midst, so inseparable is he from the Kingdom. Of course, the Kingdom is in its intial phases and so is still only partially and even ambiguously present. For this reason, the possibility exists to deny

that it is present at all, in which case Jesus would be seen as having no salvation-historical significance at all. When it comes to completion, the Kingdom of God will be undeniable, but until then a person will be able to accept or reject Jesus claim that the Kingdom of God is already present insofar as he is present.

1. What are the scriptural images according to cfc?

1)People of God This image is rooted in the Old Testament covenants were God accompanies and loves the Israelities. The new testament covenant, sealed in the lords blood, invites all people everywhere to unite. God calls the Church into existence thereby forming a community of faith, hope and love centered in Christ and empowered by the Holy Spirit. 2)The Body Of Christ Together we form the body of Christ, if one suffers, all parts suffer. If one part is honors, all the parts share its joy. 1Cor 12:20, 1 Cor 12:12-13, 1 Cor 10:16-17 He is the vine, we are the branches Jn15:5 We all work together for the common good. 3)Temple of the Holy Spirit "What the soul is to the human body, the Holy Spirit is to the church" (St Augustine) The Holy Spirit works through the Church to bring about God's saving works. How? He uses the scriptures, the sacraments, graves, virtues and special gifts (charisma) given o bring about the common good. Actually, the "temple of the Holy Spirit" is normally thought to refer to the individual believer in scripture, not to the Church as a whole (see 1 Corinthians 6:19). 3b) However believers are called a "Spiritual House" and a "Holy Priesthood" by Peter in 1 Peter 2:4-8. So in that sense, the people of God are being built into a "temple." 4) The Bride of Christ The Church is the Bride and therefore Christ is the Groom to whom the Church is promised and given. The prophet Hosea married a prostitute to symbolize God's love of wayward Israel. The Church is likewise the Bride of Christ who though not always faithful, is loved by God. At Christ's return God's people are described as a "bride beautifully dressed for her husband (Christ). 2 Corinthians 11:2; Ephesians 5:25-27; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:1-2; Ephesians

2. Conditions for the entry for the Kingdom of God

The only condition for entry into the Kingdom of God is that a person must have living faith in Yeshua the Messiah (Jesus Christ) the Son of the Most HighLiving faith, incidentally, is faith that manifests itself in obedience. In other words, entrants to that heavenly kingdom must learn to trust and obey the Almighty. Beginning with the process called conversion a true believer's life ought to gradually come into line with God's will. Thus walking in faith with God he/she will be born into that glorious kingdom, to which there is no end. A person must be born through water and the Spirit in order to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).

To enter the kingdom we must be born by the washing of the water (John 15:3, Eph 5:26, I Cor 6:11) and the work of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:12-13). This is an on-going process, that may continue for most, if not all, of our lives. As we hear the word of God and are crucifying our old nature (our flesh) by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are entering into the kingdom of God. Jesus said, 'Set your hearts on the kingdom of God and all these things shall be given unto to you. Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. (Luke 12:3132) The disciples asked Jesus, 'Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven?' Jesus called a little child to him and said, 'I tell you that unless you repent and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven. (Mt 18:1-3) All those in the kingdom of God are brothers and sisters of each other, and of Jesus, for they would not be in the kingdom of God unless they were serving God, doing the will of God (and not their own will). Their race, color, creed, sex or age makes no difference. Jesus said, 'Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. (Mt 12:5) The conditions of man: From these teachings we can see the four different positions that a person may be in relation to God: 5. Living in darkness. A person living in darkness can not see the kingdom of God. They may be living a good life or an evil life but they are in darkness. They are in the domain of the kingdom of Darkness, serving the god of this world. 6. Born again but outside the kingdom of God. They are born again, they see the kingdom of God but they are not serving God, not being obedient to Him. They are serving themselves, doing what they desire. They are in control of their lives. They are doing what pleases their flesh and are not obeying the commands of Jesus ('Why do you call me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say? Luke 6:46). They, too, are in the domain of the kingdom of Darkness, serving the god of this world. 7. Born again and entering the kingdom of God. These people are serving God by doing His will but they periodically slip backwards to serving self (they at times fall outside the kingdom of God and into the dominion of Satan). They are, at times, allowing God to make them perfect and holy, but may be taking one step backwards for every two steps forward. 8. Born again and has inherited the kingdom of God. These people are doing God's will, obeying the commands of Jesus ('If you love me, you will keep my commandments.' John 14:15), they have crucified their flesh (Gal 5:24) and are consistently producing the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). They walk in unbroken fellowship with God.

3. The response to the kingdom of God?

Jesus teaches that a person must remove all impediments in order to to enter the Kingdom of God (eiselthein eis tn basileian tou theou) (Mark 9:47), which is synonymous with to enter into life (eiselthein eis tn zon) (Mark 9:43, 45), since it is better to do without any so-called advantage than to miss entering into the Kingdom of God or into life. (The term "Kingdom of God" is synonymous with "life.") This is expressed metaphorically as being willing to cut off one's hands and one's feet and being willing to remove one's eye, if necessary. The analogy between sin and a part of ones body is that, like the latter, the former may be a cherished part of ones livelihood and identity, which one may be understandably reluctant to thrust aside since the loss of it would be keenly felt. One's bodily parts represent what is closest and most valuable to a person, which must be given up if it impedes entrance into the Kingdom of God or life. The consequence of not being willing to sacrifice anything to enter the Kingdom of God, or life, is punishment in Gehenna (or eternal fire). The entrance of which Jesus speaks is a future entrance, coincidental with final judgment; in fact, one must pass through final judgment in order to enter the Kingdom of God as future or life. (Matthew omits Mark 9:45, probably because he considered his Markan source to be redundant; in addition, Matthew's substitution of "life" for Mark's "Kingdom of God" in the saying about being willing to remove one's eye.)