Paradigm Shift
The definition of “paradigm” is a widely accepted "example, belief, concept, pattern, or model". A paradigm is the lens in which we look through to view the world. The way a person views their world is their paradigm.
Do you ever wonder why two different people, who love the Lord, can look at the same Scripture and come up with two entirely different meanings?
This is because we each have a “lens” or “paradigm” through which we view Scriptures. What each one of us must pray and seek to do, is to look at Scriptures through the lens of the Word of God in its entirety.
The Scriptures will explain themselves if we study and compare Scripture with Scripture. Instead of trying to fit the Scripture into our own personal paradigm of interpretation that we may have been taught all our lives, let’s look at the Scriptures simply for what they are saying.
Paradigm shifts are the changes that we make in life. A paradigm shift is when a person views things one way and then he shifts or changes his view to another way.
Examples of a Paradigm shift
A good example of a paradigm shift with which we are all familiar is: at one time, all men held the paradigm that the earth was flat. When certain men, Magellan, Marco Polo, Erik the Viking King, Christopher Columbus, came on the scene, they went out beyond the known and discovered that the earth was not flat at all, but was circular. From that point on, the way people viewed the earth was forever changed; they had a paradigm shift.
Their world view was changed forever.
Examples of paradigm shifts are present in the Scriptures as well. Saul of Tarsus had a huge paradigm shift on the road to Damascus. Saul originally thought Jesus Christ was a heretic, a false prophet, an enemy of the Law.
Saul was determined to destroy anyone who followed the teachings of this “false” teacher, Jesus.
He was a great persecutor of the church. Saul was very sincere in what he was doing. He really thought that he was doing the right thing in persecuting the early church.
Then Saul of Tarsus actually met Jesus on the road to Damascus that day. Everything that he believed about Him was turned inside out that day.
That same person that he preached against now became his life.
Saul had a major paradigm shift in his life that day. The whole way that he looked at everything changed that day.
When you change the way you look at things, the way you look at things changes. Saul of Tarsus is a great example of this concept. Please read Acts chapter 9 for an in-depth understanding.
Another example of a paradigm shift in the Scripture is the man named Apollos. Acts 18:24-28 Apollos was a mighty man in the Scripture but only knew the baptism of John. When Aquila and Priscilla approached him and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly, Apollos had a paradigm shift. He changed his way of viewing the plan of God.
In Acts 17:10-11, we read about Paul and Silas escaping Thessalonica by night and coming to Berea. The Bereans were more “noble” than the Thessalonians, in that they received the word with all readiness and that they searched the Scriptures daily to see whether those things which Paul and Silas were teaching them were true.
The Bereans had the true spirit of open-mindedness for religious truth. In the spirit of sincerity, they sought to understand what Paul and Silas were telling them even though these things went against what they always thought to be true. Because of their openness and sincere desire for the Truth, the Scripture tells us many of the Bereans believed.
We are asking you to be a Berean, to search the Scriptures, not to poll your friends, not to see what your church history says, nor consult your commentaries, but to rather search the Scriptures themselves to see if these things are so.
Our cry must be “Sola Scriptura”, which means the Scriptures alone. Anything that contradicts Scripture must be set aside. The Scripture MUST be the final authority.
Know what you believe and believe what you know based on book, chapter, and verse, by example of person, place, and thing.
We must not be afraid of having our own personal paradigm shift as we begin to study the Scriptures in their entirety.
We must derive our doctrine from the Scriptures alone, “Sola Scriptura”. 1 Timothy 4:16 Doctrine is the specifications of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2:3 Many people believe the Apostles’ Doctrine is only about the message of salvation, but the Apostles taught things that impacted their generation.
• They taught that Jesus was going to return in their lifetime. Matthew 16:27-28, 10:23, 26:64
• They also taught that the resurrection of the dead would occur on the last day of the last days in AD 70. John 5:28-29, 6:39, 40, 44, 54, 11:24)
• They taught that Judgment Day would begin on the last day of the last days in AD 70. John 5:28-29, 12:48, 12:31
When reading the Epistles of the New Testament, you are reading the letters written by the Apostles to the churches about the events getting ready to take place in their lifetime not in our future.
Those events are in our past.
NOT IN OUR FUTURE!!!!!!!!!
If “the last days” are still claimed to be a future event, in our future that is, would it not also affirm that we are still waiting for our salvation to be complete which Paul said was near? Romans 13:11
The Bible declares that:
• “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Matthew 3:2
• “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
• “…the age is about to come.” Matthew 12:32
• “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Matthew 24:34
• “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Mark 1:15
• “There is about to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” Acts 24:15
• “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” Romans 16:20
• “The gospel…was proclaimed in all creation under heaven.” Colossians 1:5-6, Matthew 24:14, Romans 10:18, 16:26, Colossians 1:5-6, 2 Timothy 4:17
• “…things which are a shadow of what is about to come.” Colossians 2:16-17
• “For the Law, having a shadow of the good things to come….” Hebrews 10:1
• “It is the last hour.” 1 John 2:18
• “The time is near.” Revelation 1:3
The last days spoken of in the New Testament were the last days of the Old Covenant. The book of Revelation is a book of prophecy which was written in apocalyptic language explaining the passing of the Old Covenant.
The Old Covenant and the New Covenant had coexisted for 40 years (AD 30- AD 70) which is the length of one generation. Please see pur teachings on: The Generations of Jesus and the Number Forty & Identifying This Generation
Paul shares several times in Scriptures that the hope of Israel was the resurrection. Acts 23:6, 24:15, 28:20, 26:6-8 Paul was affirming that Jesus Christ came to redeem man from death and to resurrect man back into the presence of God.
The Bible is God’s book about His plan to restore the spiritual union of His creation. Resurrection is not about bringing physical bodies out of the graves, it is about restoring man into the presence of God.
The New Covenant restoration into God’s presence only comes through being born again. John 3:3,5
Repentance and Baptism by immersion in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin and receiving the Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the
Death,
Burial, and
Resurrection required by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Acts 2:38, 2:1-4, John 3:8
This is how we attain eternal life through obedience to the Scriptures. Romans 6:3-4
Conclusion
May the Holy Spirit remove the veil from our eyes and help us to begin to see the things of God in the way they are meant to be seen. May the Lord help us have our own paradigm shift back to believing exactly what His Word is telling us to believe.
We can live our lives today knowing that God is already victorious and that He has already accomplished the task that was needed to be done so that we all can now approach the throne of grace. Hebrews 4:16, Romans 8:15
1 Peter 3:18 tells us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Knowledge is knowing the facts, the Biblical facts. Remember, growing produces change.
When you change the way, you look at things, the way you look at things changes. This is a paradigm shift. If you are unwilling to change, you create an inability to learn. Open your heart when you open your Bible.
Are you ready for your Paradigm Shift!
