First Love

Guest (Female): Welcome to First Love with Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas, where faith meets real life. In this week's broadcast, you'll discover practical and spiritual keys to reclaim God's story in your life, deepen your relationship with Jesus, and encounter Him as your first love, whether for the first time or all over over again. No topic is off-limits as we make Jesus real, relevant, and relational. Stay with us. Your journey back to first love starts now.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Hello everyone, and welcome back to First Love. My name is Dr. Nathan Kassas, and I am privileged to sit across from my mother, also my partner in ministry, Dr. Robyn Kassas. Dr. Robyn, how are you today?

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I'm fine. How are you?

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Doing very good. A great Fourth of July weekend and a celebratory event for America 250 and all that God did, along with my daughter, your granddaughter, Keika, launching at a public concert in Ridgefield, New Jersey and being able to bless us with her gift.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And singing the Star Spangled Banner. What an amazing thing that she could bring that in.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It's so powerful because before that, in our last episode, we actually got the privilege of being live in Times Square joining in with WMCA, who we're very grateful for. Thank you for hosting us and being a voice in Times Square to bring Jesus as real, relevant, and relational to New York City.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I think it's so important because New York very much needs to have Jesus in there with everything that's going on in New York. This is where we work in New York. So, we're a part of New York as well as New Jersey.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It's powerful that we got to be in the place where the center of the world was: the center of fashion, the center of arts, the center of business, the center of everything. We got to be able to declare the name of Jesus and say you don't need to just have information about Jesus; you need to know Jesus.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Because He's the one that's real, relevant, and relational.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: In order to do that, you can't just admire Jesus on the outside; you have to go through Jesus.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's why we want to talk about the gates, because you have to go through a gate. You cannot just look at the gate. I've been to Israel many times, or at least two times now, and I could just stand there and look at the gate. But then you've got to go through that gate. Jesus is the door. He's the gate you have to go through. There is no other way.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: I think it's so powerful because we're coming to that place in our life and in history where we're ready to go through transitions. You gave this episode a really powerful title: Transition For Transformation. Before a transformation can take place, there has to be a transition from a state of where you were to where you are and possibly where you're going.

Already the gems are flowing. We want to give a little overview. What we do at First Love is we combine the scientific, the spiritual, the biblical, the physiological, and the psychological all into one package. How we do that is we like to develop these little series. We started with the Yada series, and then we moved on to the Tabernacle series, which was incredible, walking through each station of the tabernacle.

Then, we also began the series of unpacking God's story. That was when you introduced Jesus the man and humanity and that series. We went through every facet of Jesus' humanity and how it applies to us today in our Christian walk. In that kind of fashion, we want to continue that trend and that model that the Holy Spirit's given us. We want to start the series on these 15 gates that surrounded the walls and the city of Jerusalem and the critical importance of what they represent to each believer.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And each person, not just a believer, but each person on their journey to transformation and formation into the image of Christ, because that's the ultimate destination. I think the thing we need to realize is that this was not a manmade idea, Jerusalem. This was a God idea. Everything in it is so significant of God's character, of God's will, and God's way and God's word.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It's like a beautifully woven together tapestry that you've used many times. Before we go into diving into the first gate, there are 15 gates that I've, through research and biblical findings, put together that really represent 15 different major conversations that the Holy Spirit needs to have with each believer.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And also 15 different actions.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: These are not just places where we can hang out. A gate is for the purpose of walking through. I love in David's Psalm where he says, "Come, let us go up into the house of the Lord. Our feet have stood at the gates for too long." He's pointing out there, okay, your feet are at the gates, but unless you go through and unless you go in, you don't have the experience of the intimate connection. You can't be intimate as an observer from the outside. You've got to go in.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Talking about that, just the fact that I actually was there, I would look at different gates that I would just go to. Then you would stand there for a while. They had lots of things outside the gate, like where you could sit down and have your lunch. But if you didn't go into the gate, you did not know what was in there. If you were looking for something or needed something, you had to go in to find it.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: For those listening, the Lord is pointing out in this timeline that it's not enough to just hear it. It's not enough to just observe it. You've got to go into it. You've got to become one with it. You can't just observe Jesus the man. "Oh, well, I've known Jesus the man all my life." Well, where's the fruit of you going into Jesus the man is what I would ask you as a question. Because if you've gone into the gate, it means the fruit will show in your life.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: But I want to challenge that statement. When you say you've known Jesus all your life, you've known of Him. But to know Him, you have to enter into Him.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Just historically Jerusalem, if we look at the geography, Jerusalem was surrounded by walls. But God never intended those walls to keep people out. He actually placed gates in the walls, and these walls represented protection, but the gates are where relationship begins. As you said earlier, Dr. Robyn, Jesus did not say I am the wall.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: No. He said He is the door.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: I am the door, and only those who go through me. It's not enough to just come to the door. You've got to go through. Every gate that we're going to talk about represents a conversation that has to be had by entering in.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: If I could just quickly give a neuroscience perspective here why it's so important, our brain is built around what we call thresholds. Every meaningful transformation requires passing through another threshold. So, you can't reach Christ's formation until you develop new neural pathways and leave old ones. So, that's a transition. That's going through a gate into new formations. The nervous system is always going to ask you, is it safe to go through this? Is it safe to go through this part of life? Is it safe to go through this change of circumstances? God spiritually is also asking, will you trust God enough to enter what you've never experienced?

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Well, it says really, will you trust Him for what He's already done for you? All right, I think we're going to go to a break, and then we'll come back and we'll go into the first gate, we'll go through the first gate, which is the Sheep Gate. Let's take a break.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Hi, my name is Dr. Robyn Kassas.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And I'm Dr. Nathan Kassas. We'd love to invite you to join us every Monday at 9:30 PM for First Love. God is bringing us back to His original plan, a relationship with the fullness of the Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this is the full package of salvation and it's available through this broadcast.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Join us for First Love every Monday at 9:30 PM.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Because the one who loved you first is still loving you best.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Well, Dr. Robyn, we're back. Quick break just to get our bearings because we're about to go on a journey. We're going to go through the first gate, which is the Sheep Gate. I want to just give a little historical understanding of why and how the Sheep Gate is so important to the layout of Jerusalem and Israel, and then I will ask you to do what you brilliantly do and just give us the understanding of why that Sheep Gate is so significant in our life with the Lord and our understanding of the humanity of Jesus Christ.

So, here just to give the listeners a little bit of an overview, the Sheep Gate was located on the northeastern side of Jerusalem near the temple. So, this is where the temple is accessed by mainly. It was used to bring in sheep from nearby pastures, especially from the area around Bethlehem into the temple for sacrifice. This is significant because Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, was also associated with shepherding. Some scholars note that flocks raised near Bethlehem were used for temple sacrifices. Though the exact historical extent of this practice is debated, the symbolism is unmistakable.

Jesus, born into the region of shepherds, becomes the lamb who enters and entered as the final sacrifice. In reality, thousands of lambs passed through this gate every year for Yom Kippur, which is the Day of Atonement, and also for the everyday sacrifices in the sacrificial system of the temple. So, this is a gate of lambs, a gate of surrender and sacrifice. Now, throwing over to you, Dr. Robyn, what is the importance of going through this first gate and why is it so significant to each believer?

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Because the lamb represents innocence. He represents gentleness. He represents surrender, trust. He represents these things. And so, we need to go through the lamb because when He came, He didn't come as a king, and we can't go through our life as a king. We need to be allowed to go through Jesus, who is the Lamb of God. Now we're talking about the Lamb of God, not the man of God.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And not even the Lion of God. I like what you just said: not the man of God, the Lamb of God. Some of us have problems with being a lamb. We do. I'm one of them. I wrote a song called Lion and the Lamb because I want the Lord to make me, my strength gentle and make my mercy lead, not my dominance.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I think what we said about the innocence and the gentleness and surrendering and trusting, all those things show the character of God in Jesus.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: What's so significant about a lamb is that a lamb laid down its life for the worshiper. It was someone laying down their agenda, laying down their life, a representation of something dying so something else could live.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's important, so very important. So, that gate, we need to know is so important to us because that's where we walk through to be a sacrifice.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It's literally that Romans 12, become a living sacrifice, like Jesus became a living sacrifice. So, we sometimes think our humanity gives us and identifying with Jesus as the man gives us the right to live. But before you can live like Jesus, you've had to have died like Jesus.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Always remember, He took off that deity and He was gentle and He was innocent and He surrendered to the Lord's will. He trusted the Lord's will. We need to see this because we need to have that humility. We need to have that. It's important for us to have that. We have to see it's not the law. It's not effort. It's obedience, but it's not performance.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: So, God is not, at this gate, the first thing He's confronting is not your behavior.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: No. He's revealing His sacrifice.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And His sacrifice has to be sufficient.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: It has to be.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Otherwise, you will strive and strive and strive to outdo His sacrifice.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: He says at that gate, will you accept what I did for you?

Dr. Nathan Kassas: So, the Christian life does not begin with what you offer God.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: No. It's what He offered you. And that's why grace will always precede transformation. And you can't offer God enough. Nothing outgives the cross. Nothing. So, you're really saying it says stop trying to become worthy and receive the worthy one.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: The worthy one. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Now let's bring that into an everyday perspective. We've got that in our theological perspective of walking with the Lord, but we find it hard, Dr. Robyn, to walk through the Sheep Gate in everyday situations. We find it hard to lay down our lives, lay down our opinions, lay down our agenda. You said something recently. You said, "I don't want to hear what you think. I want to hear what God is saying."

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yeah, but we find it hard because we don't want to go in as a lamb. We want to go in as a lion constantly.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: It's so true. I'm being challenged even listening to this now because the brain is constantly wired around keep me alive, let me survive. The lamb lays down that concept and says no, I'll die.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: Yes, we need to be able to become and receive the worthy one, not become trying to be worthy.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: So, the Sheep Gate is really teaching us that real intimacy with Christ begins when your self-preservation bows down to the lamb of Christ within you.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I think it's also where your life begins, when your nature and your character gets challenged.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: And that's what we don't like. We don't like our character and our temperament and our nature being challenged.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: It's God who challenges, He confronts our nature and our character in this gate. He has the conversation.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: He's basically saying until you transition out of who you have been into who I am creating you to be, there can be no road or journey of intimacy. You've got to go through this Sheep Gate. You've got to be like a lamb led to the slaughter. Not that you're dying for your own sins because Jesus died once and He's only going to die once, but you have to be ready to like Isaiah says, be a man of sorrows.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: I think also we need to be ready to allow some of our character flaws to be slaughtered because we blame them and say it's a weakness. It cannot continually be a weakness.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: Am I ready to let that character flaw be slaughtered? That has been, come through, and I love what Pastor Tony said last night in a way that he did the salvation prayer. He said you have inherited a rebellious nature from Adam and Eve when he was giving the salvation call. He said the only way to do that is to allow that nature to be overcome by the blood of Jesus.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: That's it. It needs your character flaws, what you think you are needs to be put on that cross and be sacrificed. When we come into the tabernacle, it's the altar of sacrifice. Here, we're going to be asked at the gate to be sacrificed or allow that sacrificial lamb to be your nature and your character from that moment on as it moves in your life.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: I think what's powerful is that when John sees Jesus, the first person to confirm Him as the Messiah, as the one sent by the Father, he doesn't say, "Behold, the man of God."

Dr. Robyn Kassas: No. He said, "Behold the Lamb of God."

Dr. Nathan Kassas: That's in John 1:29 for your scriptural reference there. He recognizes Him as having come to lay down His life.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: So, nothing can get taken away from my life if I live in a position of being a lion. It can only get taken away if I live from the position of entering as a lamb. But again, I'll say it, that's the one of the hardest things that we allow God to take and bring to that altar of sacrifice, and that's our lion. We want to rear up. We want to roar.

If I could add just a little hope here to show people that sacrifice is also something you inherited from a godly moral DNA fiber. Every day, white blood cells and red blood cells are dying off to give way to new ones. Every day, skin cells are dying off to give way to new ones. Sacrifice is built into you. Not just selfishness is built into you; sacrifice is a part of your moral fiber. But the problem is we believe the lie of the enemy that it's too hard, it's unattainable. But it's literally part of us. In 30 days from now, my skin cells will all shed and die and be replaced by new ones. That's in the image of the Creator who gave His son for me. So, He put that into my body. I'm programmed through sacrifice, not just through selfishness. And that's the whole goal.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: And I think sometimes we call it a weakness, but there's another name: defensive behavior. You will defend your behavior. The lion is a defender. And that part of the lion has to die. To bring clarity, the lion is represented by the tribe of Judah. The tribe of Judah is praise. Praise is giving credit to somebody else. It's not taking the glory for oneself; it's giving it to who created you.

Dr. Nathan Kassas: So, just let me tie in a little neuroscience before I throw it to you for your final words. Sacrifice actually, when we bring it into neuroscience, it actually confronts the survival brain. We talk about interrupting arguments. When we live from a position and a place of sacrifice, the nervous system always wants self-preservation. But love requires self-giving. So, when we enter into sacrifice, we actually confront that neural loop of, "let me protect myself." We strengthen the ability of the prefrontal cortex to forethink and not have to learn after the fact. This is a really powerful thing, Dr. Robyn. We're being told not just to enter as the man of Christ, but now enter in as the Lamb of God. It's the first gate we've got to go through. Throwing it to you now for your final words.

Dr. Robyn Kassas: All I want to say is as we enter into that Sheep Gate and become in Christ, in the Lamb of God, we won't have defensive attitudes and behavior patterns. Because if you continue to defend, you can't change. If you can't change, you can't transition to transformation.

Guest (Female): Thanks for spending time with us today on First Love. If today's message spoke to you, share it with someone. And if you're looking for more teachings, visit www.torcc.org. That's T-O-R-C-C dot O-R-G for more. We'll be back next week, same time, same truth. And as you go, don't forget the one who loved you first is still loving you best.