Hello Mike,

I am following through the series on the Revelation that you presented back in 2008. If I’m following right, in his crucifixion, Jesus offered a sin offering and a trespass offering for us, and a sin offering for himself.
And, if Eve were deceived and ate, yet Adam later ate without being deceived, then Adam’s eating is like unto Jesus’ making himself of no reputation, being born of a woman under the law, made sin, taking on the form of a servant, yet did not trespass.
I guess I hope to find a bit of clarification on Adam’s eating as opposed to Eve’s eating, and how that corresponds to Jesus’ actions for the church.

Blessings,
J___

Hi J____,
Thank you for your question.
You ask if you are “following right” our series on the book of Revelation, and you say:

If I’m following right, in his crucifixion, Jesus offered a sin offering and a trespass offering for us, and a sin offering for himself.

No, you are not quite following what I have pointed out to be in scripture. Christ never personally sinned.

2Co 5:21 For he hath made him [ to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

I simply cut and pasted this verse from my e- sword. The words “to be” are in brackets in e- sword to let us know they are not in the original. What this verse and all of scripture is telling us is that Christ came into this world in a body that was “made sin”, just as Adam was “made sin” by being made of the clay or dust of the earth.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Adam, and all who are in him, are “marred in the hand of the Potter”. What does that tell us of how “the Potter” made Adam and all who are in him? Here is what that tells us:

Psa 51:5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Contrary to common orthodox Christian teaching, the opposite of heaven is not hell, but it is the earth. The earth is a type of God’s marred creation. The earth typifies Adam’s sinful and dying composition. So when God speaks to his marred, dying and sinful people, this is how He addresses us:

Jer 22:29 O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD.

When we first see these verses of scripture, the question always arises, “how could Christ be ‘made sin’ and still ‘do no sin’?”
Before we answer that question, let’s first ask what Christ Himself had to say about His physical being and His body of flesh. Did Christ ever claim that His flesh was not “shapen in iniquity, conceived in sin”? The answer is absolutely not! Here is what He does tell us:

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Christ knew fully well that He had left His position in heaven to “become sin” by “being made of a woman, [ being] made under the law”.
What does it mean to be “made of a woman, made under the law?” According to Psa 51:5, being “made of a woman” means that Christ’s physical body, even if, as Adam himself had no physical father, it was nevertheless, “shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin”.
But what does “made under the law” mean. If Christ was, as Paul by inspiration of the holy spirit tells us, “… made under the law”, what does that tell us about how Christ was made by being both “made of a woman” and also “of the holy ghost [ spirit]”.

Mat 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.
Mat 1:19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [ man], and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily.
Mat 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Let’s pose this question in a different way. Does being born “of the holy spirit” necessarily mean that one cannot be “made sin”? Christ was made both “of the holy spirit” and He was also “made of a woman made under the law”.

Gal 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

What are the scriptures telling us by making the point that Christ was both “the son of God”, and yet twice as many times He calls Himself “the Son of Man”? Why does Christ emphasize His humanity to such a degree? That will become clearer when we see what “made under the law” means. Here is what “under the law” means, and here is what it means to be “made under the law”. It is all right here in this same part of scripture. It is right here in the previous chapter of Galatians where Paul explains what he meant by informing us that Christ was “made under the law”:

Gal 3:22 But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.
Gal 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.

Being “under sin” is being “kept under the law”. God “made Him sin” by making Him of a woman and making Him “under the law”, living by the law until the beginning of His ministry. All the sin that is Adam’s flesh was also Christ’s flesh because the Hebrew word translated ‘man’ in this verse is ‘Adam’.

Gen 1:27 So God created man [ Adam] in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

As I pointed out above, Christ referred to Himself as “the son of man” twice as many times as He referred to Himself as “the Son of God”. Here are but four of the 85 times this phrase appears in the New Testament.

Mat 16:13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Heb 2:6 But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man [ anthropos], that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man [ anthropos], that thou visitest him?

This verse 6 of Heb 2, is a direct quote of this verse in the Old Testament:

Psa 8:4 What is man [ Adam], that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man [ Adam], that thou visitest him?

This proves that the holy spirit equates the Hebrew ‘adam’ with the Greek ‘anthropos’. “The son of man” is the son of Adam, and that is who Christ identifies with just as much as He identifies with His heavenly Father. Christ borrows this phrase from the many times this same phrase is found in the Old Testament, especially in the book of Ezekiel:

Eze 2:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.

That is why Christ is a “sin offering”. Without the agency of Christ’s ‘body’ however, He could not become a trespass offering because He “knew no sin”. That is why God gave Israel two separate offerings. The one is for our sinful “marred in the Potter’s hand” composition, and the other is for our sinful actions. Christ had our composition and was “in all ways tempted like as we are, but by virtue of being born of the holy spirit, and the fact that God “gave His spirit without measure” to Christ, unlike us, He overcame every temptation and subdued the sinful desires of His flesh before “lust could conceive and bring forth” sinful actions or trespasses.

Joh 3:34 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
Heb 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

We are plainly told Christ “was in all points tempted like as we are…” Well, just how are we tempted? If we know how we are tempted, then we will know how Christ was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Apparently there is as big a difference between being tempted to sin and sinning or committing a trespass, as there is between a sin offering and a trespass offering.
He is how we and Christ are tempted.

Jas 1:14 But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Christ’s body is you and me, if He is indeed living within us. It is Christ’s ‘body’ which is guilty of trespasses and conceiving lustful thoughts which “bring forth sin” in the form of acts of transgression and trespass. Christ and His Father do not think of Christ without His body
The difference between the sin and trespass offerings, is that the sin offering never refers to any particular sinful actions, while the trespass offering enumerates those trespasses. What this means is that neither Christ nor His Father ever saw Christ simply as the spotless Lamb which His is. Both Christ and His Father, from the beginning, saw mankind as being in and becoming “the Christ”, who would “fill up what is behind of the sufferings of the Christ”.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ [ Greek, the Christ] in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

“My flesh” means both your flesh and mine if Christ is in us. We are all one body, the body of Christ, and we are “His flesh and His bones”.

Eph 5:29  For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
Eph 5:30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

How many people even think of Christ as living in the flesh today? Christ is not flesh, and we “do not know Him after the flesh” (2Co 5:16), but He is living His life “in [ our] flesh”.

1Jn 4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
1Jn 4:3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Our obedience is not of ourselves. It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory”, as we are told just a couple of verses later here in Colossians one, where we are also told that it is we who are to” fill up what is behind of the afflictions of the Christ”.

Col 1:26 Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

So Christ and His Father have always, from the beginning, known that Christ would be the sin offering for the sins of the whole world and Christ’s body would fill up the trespass offering “which is behind of the afflictions of the Christ, in our bodies…” That is why there are two very distinct offerings given to ancient Israel, as a type and a shadow of what we are and what we do. With Christ, we are sin, but He has not committed any trespass as we have, because “He knew no sin.”
Nevertheless, both Christ, and His Father think of “the Christ” as both our spotless, sinless Head and His body which fills up Christ, who in turn fills up His Father.
Here are the scriptures which demonstrate that we are not just Christ’s anointed, but also “saviors”. Keep in mind that ‘Jesus’ is the Greek word for ‘savior”. He is who He says we are:

Act 22:8 And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest.

This accords with Christ’s Words while He was on the earth in a body of clay:

Mat 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Mat 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth [ his] sheep from the goats:
Mat 25:33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Mat 25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Mat 25:35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
Mat 25:36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Mat 25:37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [ thee]? or thirsty, and gave [ thee] drink?
Mat 25:38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took [ thee] in? or naked, and clothed [ thee]?
Mat 25:39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
Mat 25:40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
Mat 25:42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
Mat 25:43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Mat 25:44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Mat 25:45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [ it] not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

So read again that section of the Revelation series which deals with the offerings, and you will see that I go to great lengths to emphasize the fact that Christ was made sin but did not commit any trespasses. I emphasize that it is “His body, which is the church,” which fills up the afflictions of the the Christ, which does present itself without the camp with Christ as a trespass offering.

Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Heb 13:12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
Heb 13:13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

Christ is called a “sin offering” because of His earthy composition, but it is Christ’s body which becomes the trespass offering, because “He knew no sin.”
Here is that section of the Revelation series. Please note that I have emboldened where I pointed out that Christ was not a trespass offering, except as He identifies with us as His body. Here is the URL if you want to review the entire study: http:// www. iswasandwillbe. com/ print. php? source=/Rev_1_13__ Part_3. php

“There is no spiritual discernment between the value and efficacy of the sweet savor offering and the meat offering. There is no particular difference between those two offerings and the peace offering, the one offering in which God and Christ and Christ’s redeemed all partake and are all satisfied. Those who have so little perception of Christ and His work see no particular difference between an offering of a bull of the herd or a lamb or goat of the flocks. To these brothers in Christ, an offering of the flock is just as valuable as an offering of the herd. As this all relates to our study today, these blinded brothers in Christ cannot even see what the difference is between the sin and the trespass offerings. Again, I quote a beloved brother who wants me to say that Christ’s flesh was not sin: “The sin and the trespass offerings are one and the same, Mike.”
“But such is not the case. “Let God be true and every man a liar” (Rom. 3:4). It is demonstrated for us in those offerings that we must have a sacrifice, both for what we are, even if we are ignorant of what we are, and another sacrifice for what we wrongly do. Christ is not called a trespass offering because that part of His offering is accomplished through us. Our Head committed no trespass, but the church which is His body, must “fill up what is behind of His afflictions” and become, through Him living His life in us, a trespass offering, “clothed with a garment down to the foot… to cover the shame of our [ fleshly, having trespassed] nakedness.” We fill up Christ just as He fills His Father.

Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 And what [ is] the exceeding greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set [ him] at his own right hand in the heavenly [ places],
Eph 1:21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
Eph 1:22 And hath put all [ things] under his feet, and gave him [ to be] the head over all [ things] to the church,
Eph 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

What Are We?

“What we are is dust of the ground in the form of what the scripture calls a “body of death,” and “sinful flesh.”

Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [ art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

“Neither of those two verses is accepted by those who have no appreciation for the depth of revelation of who Christ is as revealed in the law of the offerings. We have demonstrated that “like unto” and “likeness of” mean ‘this is what He was’, and this is what we are; “the same”. By virtue of being “corruptible flesh”, we are sin, and the sin offering is dealt with in Lev 4. The sin offering itself is for “sins of ignorance” which later become known to have been committed. The sin offering is not for sins which are willfully committed. Not one particular sin is mentioned in the instructions concerning the sin offering. Our lack of understanding this is the result of our lack of understanding what man is and what the mind of God is concerning man. Man is not spirit having an earthly experience; man is mere dust being given a spiritual experience before being changed out of this flesh and into His spirit through a resurrection. At that point, sinful flesh has served its purpose and is discarded. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” We are flesh and blood until we are raised from the dead or changed in the moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”

I hope this all helps you to better know Christ, His Christ and His Father who has sent Him.

Joh 17:3  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

I also hope you see that Christ and His Father think of us as “the Christ of Christ and the trespass offering, through Christ in us.
Christ said that all He did or said was only of His Father. Therefore, when Christ said these words, they are the words of His Father.

Joh 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
Oba 1:21 And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S [“and His Christ”]

Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Your brother in the Christ,
Mike

Wow, Mike!
This is incredible.

You are exactly right about my use of the phrase ‘twice as much’. I had just typed the phrase “Son of man” into my e- sword, and saw that it appeared 85 times in the entire New Testament. I typed the phrase “Son of God”, and found that phrase just 46 times in the entire New Testament. That is not double, but it is very close.
The study you have presented here is especially compelling in showing that Christ called Himself the “Son of God” only six times:

“The phrase ‘Son of God’ is used by Jesus referring to Himself (or implied He is referring to Himself) only6x (Mat 27:43, Luk 22:70, Joh 5:25, 9:35, 10:36, 11:4).”
The phrase ‘Son of Man in the Gospels is used a total of 80x. It is used exclusively by Jesus referring to Himself (or implied in the text He is describing Himself). So, Jesus actually used the phrase ” son of man”13x more than he used the phrase ” son of God” to describe Himself (80 to 6).  The only other time the phrase ‘Son of Man’ was used in the new testament was 4x (Act 7:56 by steven before his death, Heb 2:6 quoting the psalms, Rev 1:13, 14:14 “… like unto the son of man”

I am very grateful that the Lord had laid this very subject on your heart all those years ago. You are so very right about why this is all as it is. God wants us to know how much His Son identifies with us in all of our trials, and He wants us to known that Christ really is “the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
God bless you for this study and for sharing it with all of us.

Your brother in Christ,
M____