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In 8 Parts

Part 1: The Title

Part 2: The Cross

Part 3: The Icon - General Perspective

Part 4: The Icon - Historic Perspective

Part 5: The Eagle - Jesus in Matthew and Mark

Part 6: The Eagle - Jesus in Luke

Part 7: The Eagle - Jesus in John

Part 8: End Note

About the Banner

Part 3: The Icon - General Perspective

[Note: What is here called “The Icon” on this web site is the animated gif file in the upper left corner of the banner.  It is composed of the four images above.  The globe represents the entire race of mankind upon the planet.  However, the audience of this web site is narrowed to the United States, the country where the web site originates.  Also, specifically it is the Church in this nation that is being purposely address, the selected, chosen race from mankind that is being prepared for an eternal destiny as a Bride to Jesus Christ Her Husband.]

...on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it.  Matthew 16:18

...the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth.  1 Timothy 3:15

The goal is "the kingdom of God and His righteousness."  It is an active, invigorating pursuit after Jesus Christ and His authority with the prevailing righteous lifestyle found only in Him.  And the means to this goal is the cross of Jesus Christ.  We can realize neither His kingdom nor His righteousness without it.  It satisfies all the guilt and the penalty of our many failed attempts thus far in reaching the goal.  It levels the playing field.  It brings every high and lofty mountain, all pride and selfish ambition, low.  It brings every valley, every demeaning characteristic and demoralizing tendency, up.  The cross puts us before the throne of His grace, cleansed and made ready for the pursuit of the goal.  And further, the secret of resurrection life, the fulfillment of the goal to its uttermost extent, can only be achieved as well through the cross of His dear Son.  True resurrection life can be lived only in the power of God.  And the power of God is found in the Word of the cross.

Now we come to the players within this eternal drama (or shall we say romance?).  Now we come to the profundity of the ages.  Now we come to the answer to the existential question that every person asks, that soul stirring, thought provoking subconscious inquiry into being and purpose.  Now we see before us the entire reason for creation.  Now we behold in glory and splendor the longing within God's heart, His desire to share His life with someone whom He qualifies to do so.  In His mind He sees one person.  In His heart He longs for an eternal companion.  And from His side has come the perfect helpmate for Him.  Through the cross and redemption there has come a new life form made in His image, a new Being, the Person, the desired result of all His efforts and all His labors.  We see that our pursuit is the fulfillment of His pursuit.  And His pursuit, His purpose for the creation of the universe and all His interaction and involvement with mankind up until now has been to realize His dream of marital bliss.  God wants a companion.  Jesus Christ has brought into being by His suffering, death and resurrection the Person with whom He longs to spend His eternal life.  And from that time until now, by the power of His Spirit and the revelation of His love, God has raised Her up, from infancy unto Her current state of maturity.  She is nearly ready.  She is nearly ready to take the Father's hand.  And Her hand He will place in the hand of His Son, then to consummate His pursuit, Her pursuit and the purpose of existence.  The age will climax with wedding bells, signaling  the glory of the age to come.

So we come to the Church of Jesus Christ, the love and passion of His life.  Now we come to the holy, pure and divine motivation in being made ready: the fulfillment of His dream and our purpose for existence.  We approach the end time preparation for the eternal kingdom with reverence and awe.  Oh, the glory that awaits us, the Church of Jesus Christ, whom He formed with His blood, over which death has not prevailed, who is the pillar and bulwark of His truth upon this earth!  We behold ourselves as the perfect match, the perfect Bride being made ready for the perfection and radiant splendor of Her Husband.

The Church, according to the inspired testimony of Scripture, is the pillar and bulwark of the truth.  She has a monopoly on truth in this world.  Despite want the intellectuals of this world may tell us, despite their ridicule, scoffing and mockery, the Church of Jesus Christ has been entrusted with THE truth, the bedrock of existence, the foundation of life.  And to the world this truth is nothing but foolishness.  However we know that in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:2 & 3) and, comparatively speaking, all the knowledge that this world has to offer is nothing but vain philosophies, empty promises and deceitful reasoning, the result of deception and/or self-justification, of not being true to their heart.  Jesus Christ is our wisdom and is the very truth that would set them free from their foolishness.  For we proclaim Christ and Him crucified, which is salvation to the world and the sole hope of eternal life.

We have been entrusted with THE truth.  We are the pillar and bulwark of THE truth.  And THE truth is Jesus Christ, who is "the way, THE truth, and the life" (John 14:6).  We support Jesus Christ on earth as He supports us in heaven, who ever lives to make intercession for us.  Jesus Christ confesses us before the Father.  We confess Jesus Christ before mankind.  We proclaim Him and are not ashamed of the Gospel, the truth, which is the only hope for mankind, this dark and lost world around us.  We boldly and with great confidence lift up Jesus Christ for the entire world to see, that all would be drawn by His radiant glory, and to realize the fulfillment of their eternal longing.  Jesus Christ is the hope for lost mankind and we have been entrusted with this truth.

The Church of Jesus Christ is the pillar and bulwark of the truth.  And this structure, this great fortification of the Kingdom of God upon the earth, is nearly completed.  However, in returning to the idea that we are nearly ready, that we seem to stand so near the advent of the millennial reign, this does not presuppose the absence of a substantial amount of preparation yet required.  There are great and profound changes ahead, monumental shifts in understanding and practice, as the Lord's heart and His desire are more clearly revealed by our fulfilling the mandate, by our seeking FIRST His Kingdom and His righteousness with all our hearts, and thusly drawing much closer to the throne of His grace.  There are many things yet to be restored to us that were originally given to us by promise and inherent privilege.  This of course is a reference to the "restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21).  The process of restoration has been going on for some time, at least since the Reformation.  And as a result the theological foundation of the Church is stronger than it has ever been since Her inception.  However, the restoration is not yet complete.  There remains a whole laundry-list of items which the Bride of Christ needs to be fully suited to Her eternal destiny.  There is much to do in preparation for the grand "Day of the Lord," the day for which all of creation has been eagerly longing.  It is the hope of these Chronicles to make the Church aware of some of these pending changes in order that She may quickly adapt to them and flow in them with little difficulty.  The mature Church, the Wife of full stature, the Proverbs 31 woman, "laughs at the time to come."  There is nothing in Her future that She needs fear.  Though certainly there may be some reproof and chastisement, correction for un-Christ-like behavior, Her heart is so utterly entwined with the Lord's heart and She is thoroughly cognizant that He chastises only because of His profound love for her, this correction will in no wise discourage or upset her.  She will on the contrary embrace it for His love that it exposes and for Her perfection that it renders.