Greetings, Fellow Believers,

The Jews held their heroes of faith in great esteem, and sought the ministry of angels. In the first few verses of Hebrews, Paul is telling them that Jesus is greater than any patriarch or any angelic being, in fact, He is the very Son of God and it is He Who has been roused from the dead and will become their great Chief Priest.

Today, Rodney and I bring you two fast-moving, Scripture-loaded broadcasts setting out the great themes of Hebrews in the first few verses.

Christ is the effulgence of God. Just as we have never seen the sun, but rather the corona of the sun, no one has ever seen God. But Christ is His effulgence, that is, His visible glory. We do not need to ever see God, because Christ will satisfy us completely. As Jesus told Philip when He was on earth, "If you have seen Me, you've seen the Father."

Christ created the eons. This is a hard thing for someone Who doesn't exist to do. I love the first few verses of Hebrews not only for their glorious description of Christ, but for the way they utterly destroy the Tory position that Jesus Christ did not exist before His birth in Bethlehem. All it takes is one verse, Hebrews 1:2, speaking of Christ, "through Whom He also makes the eons." Case closed.

God is the Placer of everyone (the Creator of everyone), but He is not yet the Father of everyone. "Created" speaks of the power of God; "begotten" speaks of One Who has come out of God. The way I see it, everything has been both created and begotten, but it is not yet time to speak of all creation as having been begotten. "Begotten" is too intimate of a term and is reserved for the time when all creation returns to God at the Consummation of the eons. For now, only those God calls to Himself in a Fatherhood way does God speak of as being begotten. His Son is the Original of those begotten by God.

We have a God AND a Father. We are created AND begotten. We have a Creator AND a familial relationship with the Deity. This will at last be the enjoyment of all at the Consummation of the eons.

In the second show, I confess that I have a hard time being "lovey-dovey" with God. It is easy for me to see Him as my Placer, but harder for me to see Him as "Papa," or "Abba." I can do it, but it doesn't come easily. It's because God has to be hard on me (as He is on all of us) so as to fit us for immense future glory.

I love this show. I really moves and it's really packed with facts. You will get your money's worth. At the end, Rodney tacks on a track from the only CD I ever made, called "Part-Time Sinner." (1997) It's a short bit called, "The Purpose of Evil," and it was recorded in the fall of 1996 in Newport News, Virginia, at the small ecclesia of Robert Allen. Jean Douglas accompanied me on that trip. God took Jean from this life, but He is only dead in Christ and shall rise at the snatching away—a few moments before I'm made immortal, in fact.

Thank you for your support of this work over the years. This work is in its 34th year, and it has been a miracle every month. EVERY MONTH. God doesn't speak much, audibly (as we know) but He shouts His encouragement to me to keep going—and He does it through you. So thanks to all of you who have financially helped this work along for these many years. Anyone wishing to contribute to this work may do so at the following link: Donation to Martin's Ministry  As I always say, I never require any contribution from any saint, but to my recollection I have never turned one down either.

And now, grace, peace, and love to you all from the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of the peninsula,

—Martin