“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).
The word gospel means good tidings, good message or good news. A kingdom is simply a family grown great. It comprises a king or ruler, subjects or citizens, laws and a form of government, and territory. Jesus Christ came into Galilee announcing the most exciting good news ever—that God’s time had come to establish the Family, or Kingdom, of God, which will administer the government of God to depose Satan and bring peace to this Earth. Christ’s message was, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel”—turn from your ways and believe the good news of the coming Kingdom of God.
When the Pharisees demanded to know when the Kingdom of God would be established, Christ answered, “the kingdom of God is [among] you” (Luke 17:21). His answer stemmed from a vision that stretched into eternity. Though they lacked the spiritual perception to grasp the depth of His comment, Christ was telling the Pharisees that the time for establishing the Kingdom of God had arrived—it was at hand! Embodied within or among them, in the person of Christ, was the genesis, or “mustard seed,” of the Kingdom, or Family, of God.
After proclaiming the good news of the Family of God, Christ suffered and died for His Family. He was then resurrected as the firstborn Son of God—beginning the Family of God.
A family consists of a father, mother and children. Individual family units are the building blocks of a kingdom. The physical family is a type of the spiritual family, and physical reproduction is an exact type of spiritual reproduction.
If we are to understand the meaning of Pentecost, we must understand why God ordained the marriage institution, and through it, blessed humans with the ability to produce, nourish and nurture children. This article will show you how marriage and the production of children reveal the meaning of Pentecost.
After Their Kind
First, let us review why God created humans.
God created a multitude of different living creatures after their kind. He made cattle after the cattle kind, dogs after the dog kind and cats after the cat kind; but He made man after the God kind—in the likeness and image of God (Genesis 1:24-26).
When properly understood, Genesis 1:26 reveals a great mystery: God is reproducing Himself, in a two-stage process, through humans. Man is first created in God’s likeness—made in God’s form and shape out of the physical elements of the Earth. In this physical form, by virtue of the human mind—imparted at conception—man is imbued with the potential to become God. The second stage of God’s reproductive process is activated when a human mind is impregnated, by God’s Spirit, with the mind of God. Through this second stage, as he acquiesces, man is transformed into the express image of God’s character—composed of spirit.
The Apostle Paul amplifies this two-stage reproductive process: “There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. … So also is the resurrection of the dead. … [I]t is sown in weakness [of physical elements in the form and shape of God]; it is raised in power [composed of spirit in the image of God]: It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. … And as we have borne the [physical] image of the earthy, we shall also bear the [spiritual] image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed [from mortal flesh in the likeness of God to immortal spirit in the image of God] …. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:40-53). Clearly, God formed humans of physical matter in His likeness—His form and shape. Through impregnation of the human mind with the Spirit of God, man can be led to develop the mind of God—enabling him to grow to think and live like God. Then, through a resurrection or change, physical humans may be transformed into immortal spirit in the image of God—transformed into the God kind!
God Is a Family
Composed of spirit, with holy, righteous character, “God is now a family of Persons, composed so far of only the two—God the Father and Christ the Son. But if the Holy Spirit of God dwells in someone, and he is being led by God’s Spirit, then (Romans 8:14) he is a begotten son of God. But, at the time of Christ’s return to Earth in supreme power and glory to set up the Kingdom of God, restoring the government of God abolished by Lucifer, then all being filled and led by God’s Spirit shall become born sons of God. The God Family will then rule all nations with the government of God restored!” (Mystery of the Ages).
Christ became “the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4). Through His resurrection, Christ was changed from mortal flesh to immortal spirit. In His glorified spirit state, Christ became “the firstborn among many brethren” (Romans 8:29).
We humans are born with a physiochemical existence—sustained by the air we breathe, water we drink and food we eat. However, like Christ, we have the potential to be born again—through a change or resurrection—to immortal spirit life, with the character of God. Then we will no longer be dependent on food, water and air for our sustenance; we will, like Christ, possess self-sustaining life inherent.
It is God’s purpose that all humans, ultimately, be offered the chance to realize their potential to become members of the God Family. Christ is not the only one to be offered eternal life as a Son of God—He was the firstborn of many brethren to be offered the same opportunity.
We Are His Workmanship
Job posed the question: “If a man die, shall he live again?” He answered, “[A]ll the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands” (Job 14:14-15). Job submitted himself to God’s reproductive process—he allowed God to perform the work of His hands— to transform him. In his grave, he now awaits his change, through a resurrection, into an immortal spirit son of God.
Reinforcing this reproductive process, the Apostle Paul wrote, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).
But notice further: “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). Regarding this verse, Herbert W. Armstrong commented: “Now Jesus is saying we may—when born a second time—born of God—actually enter into the God Kingdom. It is something we may enter into—by a second birth—by being born into it!
“Next, verses 6-8, Jesus explains that when we were born, we were born of the flesh—of matter—and therefore we are, now, material flesh. But when born again, next time born of the Spirit—which Spirit is God—we shall then be spirit, even as God is spirit—no longer flesh and blood.
“But before we were born human, we were first begotten of our human fathers. We were begotten before we were born. We were born once. We may be born again. But next time, we must be begotten of the Spirit—God—before we can be born of God” (Why Marriage—Soon Obsolete?; emphasis added throughout).
Although this truth is plain and simple, almost no one understands it. On the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter taught how, upon repentance and baptism, God offers the precious gift of His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).
“Then the Holy Spirit of God—God’s own Spirit, proceeding from the Father’s very Person—is received into the mind, to dwell in the human individual. He has then conceived the Father’s life—he has been begotten of the Father” (ibid).
Those who continue to allow God’s Spirit to dwell in them will also be made immortal (Romans 8:11).
“If you are thus begotten of God—of the Father of the God Family—and His Spirit dwells in you, then you, too, at the time of resurrection, shall be born again—born of God, into the God Family even as Jesus was. You will no longer be human—no longer composed of matter—of human flesh. You shall then be spirit, even as God is spirit” (ibid).
In reviewing what we have covered thus far, we see God created man after His kind—the God kind. Man is born a first time, composed of physical matter, in the shape and form of God—in His likeness. Born in God’s likeness, man has the potential to be born into the God Family through a process of spiritual begettal, gestation and birth. After sufficient growth in God’s character he may be born a second time, composed of immortal spirit life, in the image of God—stamped with His character.
It is through a second birth, a spirit birth, that we’ll be born members of the God Family—children of God the Father and siblings of Jesus Christ.
Now what has all this got to do with the day of Pentecost, or feast of firstfruits?
It has everything to do with it!
Understanding why God ordained marriage and instituted family life deepens our understanding of how God is reproducing Himself and reveals the meaning of Pentecost.
So let us proceed and expand our Pentecost vision.
Instinct and Mind
The reproductive process of most mammals is the same as that of humans. Beyond the physiology, however, there are vast differences.
Have you ever witnessed the birth of a calf? As Mr. Armstrong often related, the cow isn’t taken to a hospital for the delivery. There is no midwife or obstetrician present. The bull is usually nowhere to be found. The cow normally requires no help in the delivery of its calf. It is born without assistance in a field or a barn. As soon as the calf is born, the cow stands waiting as the calf staggers to its feet and finds its first dinner.
A human baby at birth is incapable of performing even the most basic functions necessary to maintain life. Left to fend for itself it would soon die.
How does the calf know where to find its food? How does it know how to feed itself? It has a built-in “computer chip” that we refer to as “instinct.” Animals are automatically guided by instinct. They are pre-programmed to be able to fend for themselves without having to learn or be taught.
Human babies, on the other hand, cannot look after themselves—they do not have pre-programmed instinct. They need parents to love, teach and care for them—they need family.
Though the human baby physically matures much slower than an animal, its potential is infinitely higher.
Instead of mere animal brain with pre-programmed instinct, God endowed the human brain with a human spirit—a mind. “[T]here is a spirit in man: and the inspiration [the putting in of a spirit] of the Almighty giveth them understanding” (Job 32:8).
It is through the human spirit—or mind—that the brain is imparted the ability to think, reason, imagine, plan, design, make judgments and decisions, and exercise willpower and self-discipline. At birth, the human brain is like an empty computer hard disk. Though empty, the computer disk has the capacity to store and retrieve information. Similarly, the brain of the newborn baby has an incredible capacity to absorb, retain and recall knowledge. Based on what goes into the mind, a human develops a sense of moral and spiritual values.
Origin of Marriage
To develop a sound sense of moral and spiritual values that will underpin the development of proper physical, mental, emotional and spiritual maturity, the human infant needs a family and family life! This is a major reason God ordained the institution of marriage!
“Were it not for the very fact that we were created in God’s very likeness, with the very purpose of being born of God—born into God’s own family—the marriage institution, giving us the experience of family life, would never have been ordained. If we were mere animals, developed by evolution, marriage would never have existed ….
“God is a Family!
“He bequeathed to humans alone His kind of life—family life” (ibid).
God bequeathed to humans alone marriage and family life!
Why?
Because physical marriage is the likeness of the spiritual reality. Human marriage, reproduction and family life exactly typify spiritual marriage, reproduction and family life. Human life is begotten by a human father through the mother. Spirit life is begotten by God the Father through the spiritual mother—the Church. The human embryo is protected inside the human mother and nourished through her. The spiritual embryo is protected inside the spiritual mother—the Church—and nourished through it. At physical conception, the human spirit enters the human brain, imparting the “earnest” of the power of the human mind. At spiritual conception, God’s Spirit enters into the human and impregnates the human mind with the earnest of the mind and life of God!
Just as animals, with pre-programmed instinct, cannot understand things on the human level, humans, without the Spirit of God, cannot understand the things of God! (1 Corinthians 2:9-14).
Physical man has a mind like God’s, but with limited creative capacity. He has a mind with the ability to develop a sense of moral and spiritual values. Without the Spirit of God, however, man’s moral and spiritual values will be based on faulty human reasoning—on knowledge acquired from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—knowledge that leads to unhappiness, suffering and death.
Man, without God’s Spirit, is incomplete—he is not all there—he can only understand physical things!
Physical Exact Type of Spiritual
Just as the human child has to be taught and learn human knowledge through the human spirit, the children of God have to be taught and learn the knowledge of God through the Holy Spirit.
When we are impregnated by God’s Spirit, we become His begotten children. He is our Father—we call Him “Father”—the same as Jesus Christ calls Him Father! Christ becomes our Brother!
“Now see how human begettal, period of gestation, and birth is the astounding identical type of spiritual salvation—being born of God—being given eternal life in the Kingdom of God—the God Family into which we may be born!
“Each adult human is, spiritually, an ‘egg’ or ‘ovum.’ In this spiritual ovum is a nucleus, the human mind with its human spirit. This spiritual ‘ovum’ has a very limited life span, of itself—compared to eternal life—an average of some 70 years [just like the physical ovum has a life of only a few days, unless fertilized]. But spiritual, divine immortal life may be imparted to it by the entrance into it of the holy spirit, which comes from the very Person of God the Father. This divine Spirit of God joins with the nucleus of the human ovum, which is the human spirit and mind, and imparts to us also the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4). Heretofore we have had only human, fleshly or carnal nature ….
“So now, once spiritually begotten, we are merely a spiritual embryo. Now we must be fed and nourished on spiritual food! Jesus said man shall not live by bread (physical food) alone, but by every word of God (spiritual food)! This we drink in from the Bible! But we drink in this spiritual knowledge and character, also, through personal, intimate, continuous contact with God through prayer, and through Christian fellowship with God’s children in His Church. And also by the continual teaching imparted by the Church.
“Now the physical embryo and fetus is fed physically through the mother. God’s Church is called Jerusalem above ‘which is the mother of us all’ (Galatians 4:26).
“Notice the exact parallel! The Church is the spiritual mother of its members. God has set His called and chosen ministers in His Church to feed the flock—’for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body [Church] of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:11-13). …
“It is the function of the Church—as the spiritual mother of Christians in it—to develop holy, righteous and perfect godly character in those God has called—those God has added to the Church” (Mystery of the Ages).
A Definite Time Order
Jesus Christ is the firstborn of God’s children—He is “the firstborn among many brethren.” It is through His marriage to the resurrected Church, as His wife, that Christ is going to produce billions of spiritual children—that He is going to offer the entire human family the opportunity to realize their potential to become God. But He has a time order. Unlike the promiscuous in Satan’s world, our Husband deems marriage first—then children.
God created and ordained marriage as a loving relationship between a man and a woman that would lead to the procreation, nurturing, nourishing and proper training of children. Christ is presently getting to know His wife. Shortly He will marry us. Then, through our marriage, we will produce children.
As the instrumentality through which God will call the rest of the world into His Family the Church—Christ’s Bride—is also referred to as firstfruits.
The Church is to marry Jesus Christ for the purpose of saving the world—bringing the rest of the world into the Family of God.
Undoubtedly, the most well-known and frequently quoted verse in the Bible is John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The majority of professing “Christians” read this scripture and believe that God is presently in a titanic battle with Satan and his demons to “save” the world. If this was the case, one would have to conclude that Satan is prevailing and God is losing abysmally.
It is true that “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (verse 17). But God is bringing about the fulfillment of John 3:16-17 in a time order—through a specific sequence of events.
“God’s master plan calls for offering salvation and eternal life to every person ever born, but His plan calls for doing that in a time order.
“Those called out of the world and into the Church at this time are called for a specific purpose and a specific work. This specific work was to make possible the spiritual training to aid in the conversion of humanity as whole. …
“The Church is a necessary instrumentality preparatory to, and in order to, bring salvation to humanity. … [L]et it be emphasized that the purpose of the Church is not merely to give salvation to those called into the Church, but to teach and train those predestined and called into the Church as instruments God shall use in bringing the world to salvation” (ibid).
Clearly, this is not the time when God is trying to save the world. God has a definite time order in His plan to save the world—add members to His Family. The death and resurrection of Christ was the first step in that plan (1 Corinthians 15:20). “But every man in his own order [according to God’s sequence of events]: Christ the firstfruits [the first to be reaped]; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming” (verse 23).
“Thus the marriage of the converted Church to Christ will result in the begettal and birth of divine children—children who, during the 1,000-year reign with Christ, are Spirit-born—and, in all probability, untold millions of them” (Why Marriage—Soon Obsolete?).
At the end of Christ’s millennial reign, “[t]hen cometh the end” (1 Corinthians 15:24). The Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary states that the word then means “after that: next in the succession of ‘orders’ or ‘ranks.’” The end here would be better translated “aim.” So 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 would be more clearly translated: But every man in his own order: Christ the first to be reaped; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming (in a resurrection to spirit life). Then—after that: next in the succession of orders or ranks—the aim: the second resurrection (to physical life), when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all opposing rule and all opposing authority and power.
Those of us called now are being prepared to marry Jesus Christ, so that, through us, He can gather the world into the Family of God. The world at this time is denied access to God—they are cut off. We have been called out of season—ahead of the time when salvation will be offered to the world—so that, through us, God can save the world.
How magnificent, beyond words to describe, is God’s plan to save mankind!
The Hope of the World
“We are the hope of the world. No other hope exists. The world has nothing to look forward to. Christ’s Bride, however, who is concerned about her future children, does everything she can to help those people. We are Christ’s helpmeet. We need to think about that a great deal more. When God talks about helpmeet in Genesis 2, He is really talking about the spiritual marriage: the firstfruits, marrying Jesus Christ, helping Him to serve the entirety of this Earth! That is our job, if we are to be His Bride. What a responsibility! He wants us to help Him build the Family; because we love God’s Family—it is our Family!” (God Family Vision).
Do we really see the world as our family? Do we really love our neighbor as ourselves?
We have been called in advance of those in the world to prepare to marry Christ and raise billions of spiritual children. How much do you desire spiritual children? This is what Pentecost is all about—marriage first, then, afterward, children! Jesus Christ is going to marry the firstfruits as the instrumentality through which God is going to offer all mankind the opportunity to enter the God Family—to become God!
“How much time do you spend thinking about all those wonderful children that you’re going to have with Jesus Christ, your Husband? How much do you yearn for sons and daughters in the Family of God? Do you desire with all your passions to have children in the Family of God? …
“The Bride of Christ must build a natural yearning, a natural desire, to have spiritual children! That desire, however, must come from God. Remember, spiritually we are the woman; we must be building this spiritual yearning within us, where we feel we must have spiritual children. The real family is the God Family! That’s the family God wants us to really get passionate about. …
“Christ is determining now if you want to have a lot of children; and by a lot, He means all of humanity” (ibid).
Wife Made Ready
“And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:6-7).
What is it that the Church—Christ’s wife—has made herself “ready” for? To work as a coheir, coruler and co-savior with Jesus Christ to bring about God’s plan to offer all mankind the opportunity to realize their inherent potential to be transformed from humans into Gods.
Physical marriage and family life is an exact type of the spiritual. As husbands, we represent Christ to our wives. As wives, we should relate to our husbands the way the Church does to Christ. Our children are spiritual ova entrusted to our care to prepare for spiritual begettal. The effort we apply in our physical marriages and child rearing today is evidence to Christ of the zeal and passion we have for spiritual children.
Proper child rearing starts long before a child is born. We have been called now to prepare to raise and teach Christ’s children. “The world will come to God the Father through Christ and His Bride. We shall be their spiritual parents, in that sense. Our job is to help build the Father’s Family ….
“Those converted in the Millennium are likened to children of the Husband and the wife, the Church. Having physical children is a type of what we will be doing in the World Tomorrow! We are called to help Christ in this job—to be His helpmeet. God wants us to focus our minds on all the children to come on the scene in the future and to get ready to rear them and dedicate them all to God ….
“Are you ready for that responsibility? Are you ready to rear and train billions of spiritual children? That is why we are here in God’s Church today” (ibid).
Do We Get It?
Year after year, Mr. Armstrong labored in sermons and articles to make the meaning of the day of Pentecost clear. Right up to his last Pentecost message, in June 1985, he strained to make the meaning of the day clear. In his final Pentecost message, he said, “I fear most of you just don’t get it. I am going to try to make it plain—and still I think you won’t get it.”
The point Mr. Armstrong worked so hard to get us to understand is that God is not calling the world now. This is not their time of salvation. We live in a world that is cut off from a relationship with God. It is not God’s world—it is Satan’s world. Out of Satan’s world—God has called His firstfruits—Christ’s Bride—just a small group of people, through whom He will ultimately save the world.
Ninety-five percent of God’s Family did not heed His warning through Mr. Armstrong. They didn’t “get it.”
The Largest Audience Possible!
Pentecost pictures the marriage covenant we made with our Husband, Jesus Christ, at baptism. Through the power of God’s Spirit—made available to the firstfruits, or affianced bride of Jesus Christ, since Pentecost, a.d. 31—we have been given the great honor of introducing our Husband to the world—to “nations, and tongues, and kings”—to the largest audience possible!
Soon we will consummate our marriage with Christ and begin to restore God’s way of life on Earth through multiple millions of spiritual children, born into the God Family during Christ’s thousand-year reign. In fact, as we get God’s message of hope to the world, we are, right now, preparing the minds of our first spiritual ova for fertilization. Billions more will be added to the God Family—at the end of our millennial rule with Christ—during the Great White Throne Judgment period. After this, our Father will relocate His throne to Earth and, together, we will all embark on “Operation Universe”!
The whole endeavor, however, is predicated upon us—Christ’s wife—understanding who we are and energetically making ourselves ready to marry Him, so that through us He can then save mankind!
Marriage first, then children! This is the meaning of Pentecost. This is the core of the God Family vision!