IT’S A CONTINUUM

      FOR THERE IS NO OTHER NAME!—Acts 4:12

      Copyright © 2019 Leo Emmanuel Lochard. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions, Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

      Resource Publications

      An Imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers

      199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3

      Eugene, OR 97401

      www.wipfandstock.com

      paperback isbn: 978-1-5326-7093-0

      hardcover isbn: 978-1-5326-7094-7

      ebook isbn: 978-1-5326-7095-4

      Manufactured in the U.S.A. 09/17/15

      To my parents who taught us the joy of sacrificial love and the depth of Human affection for emotional nourishment. To God who gives us a truly meaningful sense of purpose and fulfillment as we journey throughout our earthly life. To our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for empowering us with His Holy Spirit, not only for “life more abundant,” but also for eternal life.

      *

      “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

      (Philippians 4:13)

      INTRODUCTION

      “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light: that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” (Genesis 1:1–5, Holy Bible.)

      Thus, began our material physical Universe, sum of which, God spoke into being, after which, God created us: Humankind. We work during the Day and rest during the Night. Day is light; and Night is darkness.

      “We’ve heard it all,” some people will exclaim. And that can be said about a lot of things. But how about the Name Above All Names?

      Many people used to know that Name: the Name of Jesus. They’ve either forgotten it, grown weary of life’s turmoil, or they’ve gone a little bit “off the track.”

      Other people have either not been taught about that Name or they’ve decided not to learn about that Name. And that Name is Jesus Christ, Savior of all Humankind!

      Why is the Name of Jesus “above every name?” What is so special about that Name, the Name of Jesus? Why is He Savior of all Humankind?

      This expository book will analytically explore those questions, as supported by Scriptures, that is, the Word of God in the Holy Bible.

      ***

      OUR FRAME OF REFERENCE

      “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shined in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:1–5, Holy Bible).

      And thus began, the spiritual Creation of Humankind by the Word of God who spoke the Light into being. Thus, in God was life. And light proceeds from Life. Light and Darkness were created together; but the Darkness could not understand the Light.

      “For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.” (1 Corinthians 14:33).

      Truth chases out ignorance and love chases out fear. Darkness tends to instill fear due to confusion; as Light tends to instill peace due to clarity.

      And love casts out fear, because, in love, there is understanding, and thus, repentance. Peace chases out confusion, because in peace, there is forgiveness, patience and forbearance. (1 John 4:18).

      Love, peace, understanding, patience, and forbearance nourish Liberty from which ensues freedom. Freedom brings joy that produces endurance and thus grace!

      “Law” is “the right way” to do something “truly real.” How do we go from “law” to “grace?”

      “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (John 1:17).

      We have to begin “on the same page.” Human reasoning alone cannot do genuine credit to God’s love for us. But only through the Holy Spirit of God, can we gain a fuller, deeper, and more complete comprehension of our “reasons for living.” Otherwise, misunderstandings and misinterpretations might creep in, so as to either drive the message to confusion or to the wrong conclusions.

      Did not the Devil deceive Adam and Eve, our Forbears, through “his deceitful reasoning,” in order to annul the efficacy or “right working” of the commandment or “law” which God had given them, not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, lest they shall die? (Genesis 2:15–17).

      But did God “kill them” because of their disobedience? They did not “die” right away, but became mortal. Mortality came with their commission of the sin of disobedience. Violation of the “law” or “commandment” gave birth to “moral conscience” or the “foreknowledge” of the difference between right and wrong, and between good and evil. They could no longer “stay in the presence of the Lord.” For, now, “their eyes were opened.” They had gained “understanding.” Thus, they “hid from God.” (Genesis 2:25; 3:4–5).

      What was their “punishment?” God showed or demonstrated how His “loving grace” would “work right” to lead Humankind into the “path of righteousness,” in order that the guilt and shame associated with the sin of disobedience might dissipate, so as to give birth to peace, liberty, freedom, patience, endurance, and thus, “prosperity.” God showed them Mercy!

      But now, they would have to only “pursue a life of travail.”

      “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.”

      “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.” (Genesis 3:17–24).

      Now that Adam and Eve had eaten out of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they became mortal, and thus, God prevented them from eating out of the tree of life, which would allow them to live forever.

      “And the Lord said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever: Therefore the Lord sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”

      God made “coats of skins, and clothed them.” That was the first “animal sacrifice” as “atonement for sin.” (Genesis 3:21). For “life is in the blood.” And no person shall eat of it! (Leviticus 17:10)

      “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life.” (Leviticus 17:11).

      God did not institute “Human sacrifice” for sin atonement; only pagan cultures had practiced “Human sacrifice” to the false “gods” which they thought they were worshipping. God had another plan for saving Humanity.

      “You shall make for yourselves no idols nor graven