Over 30 years ago I remember a man outside of the religious "Christians/Church" system saying a profound and enlightening statement that is true to this day, and of which those who profess to know and follow Christ, need to know and understand. That is that the term church, and by extension, Christian, no longer really have any meaning.
What he meant by that is people had created their own image of Christ and His church that is was so full of unbiblical practices and unbelievers, that it was close to impossible to even interact with someone in trying to show them what the Bible says about Christ and the practices of the Church, that we couldn't even start there as the beginning of our conversation, but had to blow up all sorts of misconceptions, lies, and fabrications just to be able to interact in a meaningful and productive manner.
Usually we couldn't even get past some of the most rudimentary aspects of tearing down the false foundations before we lost them. The listeners had had the modern-day practice of Christianity so ingrained in them that even when what was in the Bible was revealed to them, they couldn't and wouldn't believe it meant what it said.
Tradition had and has become so strong, that to contradict it, even when revealing it in the Holy Scriptures, is considered evil and a lie and attack from the Devil, even in light of the evidence that has been presented.
I'll give you an obvious and quick example which most of you reading this will resist and continue to resist. It it is, "God does not dwell in temple's made with hands." It's said several times in the Bible, the most well-known being just before Stephen was stoned to death over it.
The majority of Christians, to this day, will use all sorts of mental gymnastics and explanations in an attempt to make this mean something that it doesn't. Why so much resistance? It's because the person understands deep down what the cost of that acceptance would be. Their entire world would be placed in an upheaval if they were to embrace and obey this revelation from God Himself.
Although not even the focus and topic of this article, "God does not dwell in temple's made with hands" is the beginning of where the study of and understanding of what God has meant for His people as the corporate expression of Himself called the church.
All that was said to lead to the requirement of Jesus Christ for His people. Let's look at Matthew 16:24–26 to see what that is.
24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Let's take note of a key statement by Jesus here. He said the words “If anyone would come after Me....” The word "anyone" means that there is no one exempt from the statement and requirement He revealed.
So if we say we believe in Jesus Christ, here is what He said He demands of us and how we'll live.
First He says we must deny ourselves. That is the individual and consequently, corporate foundation that flows forth from people that assert they know Jesus Christ. It's a total abandonment of living for oneself and turning around and living unto Christ. Pleasing Christ is the motivation of those entering into true fellowship with Him.
Next He says to take up our cross and follow Me. This goes beyond the first statement to a reality of the fact it could cost us everything if we follow Jesus Christ, and we need to count that cost as we make a decision for Christ. It will cost us everything in the end. That may not be practically true, but for those taking up our cross, it will mean to us it won't matter one way or the other. Nothing has our hearts and minds except the person of Jesus Christ. From there a people grow into a holy temple expressing the person of Christ towards one another while revealing Him visibly to the world.
Finally Jesus says if we are to come after Him, it means we are to follow Him, which isn't a reference to running around the world (although for a few it could mean that), but rather it points to the fact that we are to live and walk as Jesus Himself did. John says that in his first letter, that we'll know those who truly know Christ because they'll walk as He did.
Yes there is grace there in that we aren't expected to start a journey in a perfected practical outworking of believing in Christ, but we are expected to and required to have a perfect heart.
After all, the standard of Jesus Christ has never been lowered. That's why we are told to be perfect because He is perfect. That exhortation remains, and while we don't start there, it remains the goal that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.
That which was mentioned in Matthew should be the very minimal requirements of those who claim they are Christ's. It's the starting place. It's the baby stage. It's the birthing stage. It's expected of all of those that call upon the name of the Lord.
Monday, January 28, 2013
In Ephesians 1:18, Paul prays that the believers there would have the "eyes of your heart" enlightened so they may know what the hope was to which Christ had called them, and of course by extension, all believers.
When talking about Christ in this article, I want to note that in talking about Christ, there is no way to disconnect Him from His people, which will also be included in this revelation that can only come from being enlightened in our inner eyes.
Most Christians don't take time to understand what exactly it is that is being talked about here, and so go on in their walk with the Lord not really grasping some of the major things He is trying to communicate to them.
For example here at Acts29Review, we have talked about the organic church, Christ being the tree of life, and numerous other similar topics which can only be grasped in their meaning if the Holy Spirit enlightens the eyes of our hearts to see it.
You can read all day, every day, that Jesus Christ doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, and yet not really have a single idea as to what that means.
Some have left the traditional, organized church because of that scripture (and others), yet don't really know what it is they're searching for and what Jesus Christ wants once they begin to travel on that journey.
If all that happens is someone takes the practices happening in unbiblical edifices falsely called churches, and plants them into the home, absolutely nothing has happened other than the transference of the practice to a home. Some are actually satisfied with this and believe they've tapped into and fulfilled the reason for God not dwelling in physical structures designated as holy places or churches.
Others do the cell church thing, attempting to have both practices in the congregation to placate those who want the traditional experience and those that want something more. Mixture never works, and besides the point, both of those have really nothing to do with the organic church as expressed throughout the New Testament.
It's nothing less than the expression and embodiment of Jesus Christ in a corporate people that have all been born from above, or born again by the Spirit.
Okay. I keep on going on like this to give hints and signs to point the way. But even here, as in all of life, there is a lack, because in the end, it's something that Jesus Christ must reveal to your in your inner man if you are ever to know what He's seeking and wants, and then being willing to join yourself to a people to walk it out together.
This is why the scriptures, as far as mentally understanding them, are never enough. They are to leap off the pages, so to speak, to become a reality that is lived out practically. Grasping Jesus Christ and the scriptures mentally only takes you as far as the Pharisees and others like them go. We are required to go beyond that to the essence of what it means; and from there live it out for the entirety of our lives on the earth.
All of this is to say we must, as Paul did, ask God to reveal unto our inner man will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit so we can see exactly what it is Jesus Christ is saying. We must go beyond the letter to the meaning behind the letter if we want to experience spiritual growth in our lifetimes.
I'm not talking about adding to the scriptures, but having the Spirit of God help us to see the fullest meaning of them so we can cooperate with Christ in fulfilling His purpose for creating and saving us.
When talking about Christ in this article, I want to note that in talking about Christ, there is no way to disconnect Him from His people, which will also be included in this revelation that can only come from being enlightened in our inner eyes.
Most Christians don't take time to understand what exactly it is that is being talked about here, and so go on in their walk with the Lord not really grasping some of the major things He is trying to communicate to them.
For example here at Acts29Review, we have talked about the organic church, Christ being the tree of life, and numerous other similar topics which can only be grasped in their meaning if the Holy Spirit enlightens the eyes of our hearts to see it.
You can read all day, every day, that Jesus Christ doesn't dwell in temples made with hands, and yet not really have a single idea as to what that means.
Some have left the traditional, organized church because of that scripture (and others), yet don't really know what it is they're searching for and what Jesus Christ wants once they begin to travel on that journey.
If all that happens is someone takes the practices happening in unbiblical edifices falsely called churches, and plants them into the home, absolutely nothing has happened other than the transference of the practice to a home. Some are actually satisfied with this and believe they've tapped into and fulfilled the reason for God not dwelling in physical structures designated as holy places or churches.
Others do the cell church thing, attempting to have both practices in the congregation to placate those who want the traditional experience and those that want something more. Mixture never works, and besides the point, both of those have really nothing to do with the organic church as expressed throughout the New Testament.
It's nothing less than the expression and embodiment of Jesus Christ in a corporate people that have all been born from above, or born again by the Spirit.
Okay. I keep on going on like this to give hints and signs to point the way. But even here, as in all of life, there is a lack, because in the end, it's something that Jesus Christ must reveal to your in your inner man if you are ever to know what He's seeking and wants, and then being willing to join yourself to a people to walk it out together.
This is why the scriptures, as far as mentally understanding them, are never enough. They are to leap off the pages, so to speak, to become a reality that is lived out practically. Grasping Jesus Christ and the scriptures mentally only takes you as far as the Pharisees and others like them go. We are required to go beyond that to the essence of what it means; and from there live it out for the entirety of our lives on the earth.
All of this is to say we must, as Paul did, ask God to reveal unto our inner man will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit so we can see exactly what it is Jesus Christ is saying. We must go beyond the letter to the meaning behind the letter if we want to experience spiritual growth in our lifetimes.
I'm not talking about adding to the scriptures, but having the Spirit of God help us to see the fullest meaning of them so we can cooperate with Christ in fulfilling His purpose for creating and saving us.
Monday, January 21, 2013
John 4:23 New King James Version (NKJV)
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
We hear a lot about the attempt by enemies of Christ and His people to create a new world order which would try to centrally plan and control the entirety of mankind.
But there is a far greater new world order that has existed from before time, and that order is the person of Jesus Christ Himself.
It needs to be understood that when Jesus was referring to the hour that now is, He meant as it related to being revealed to mankind, and the expectations of God accompanying that revelation of His desire from a people.
Most importantly, He, with that brief statement, asserted the entirety of the old Jewish religion and system as revealed in the Old Testament had, as of that moment, been dismissed as being no longer relevant.
Why? Because the true new world order, or in truth, heavenly order, had now come to fruition in the person of Jesus Christ.
All of the types and shadows, which pointed to Christ, were now fulfilled in Him, so the part they played were gotten rid of because they were no longer needed when the reality had revealed Himself to the world.
The new world order is not a system, but a person living in the very hearts of those that have truly repented and turned from themselves, the world, and the devil, and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Out of that living relationship and fellowship is to come forth the unveiling of who Christ is in a people, to the end that He becomes 'all in all.' That's the goal and end result of the enternal purpose talked about in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
The new world order of Jesus Christ is one of Him indwelling us via the Holy Spirit and the truth or reality that accompanies and emerges out of that experience.
Jesus Christ is our world, the only world we are to look to and live in. This is what the Scriptures mean when it says " in Him we live and move and have our being." That's the order of Jesus Christ. Christianity is nothing less than that.
The Father is seeking those who will live their lives in union with Jesus Christ and one another in this manner, and that will reveal to the world who He is. That's Spirit. That's truth. That's the new world order presented by God the Father in Jesus Christ, Who lives within all that place their faith in Him.
It's meant to be lived out on a daily basis by believers, and that means Christ's new heavenly order is organic and unrelated to the props, institutionalism, and buildings so many wrongly associate with Christianity today.
But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
We hear a lot about the attempt by enemies of Christ and His people to create a new world order which would try to centrally plan and control the entirety of mankind.
But there is a far greater new world order that has existed from before time, and that order is the person of Jesus Christ Himself.
It needs to be understood that when Jesus was referring to the hour that now is, He meant as it related to being revealed to mankind, and the expectations of God accompanying that revelation of His desire from a people.
Most importantly, He, with that brief statement, asserted the entirety of the old Jewish religion and system as revealed in the Old Testament had, as of that moment, been dismissed as being no longer relevant.
Why? Because the true new world order, or in truth, heavenly order, had now come to fruition in the person of Jesus Christ.
All of the types and shadows, which pointed to Christ, were now fulfilled in Him, so the part they played were gotten rid of because they were no longer needed when the reality had revealed Himself to the world.
The new world order is not a system, but a person living in the very hearts of those that have truly repented and turned from themselves, the world, and the devil, and put their faith in Jesus Christ.
Out of that living relationship and fellowship is to come forth the unveiling of who Christ is in a people, to the end that He becomes 'all in all.' That's the goal and end result of the enternal purpose talked about in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians.
The new world order of Jesus Christ is one of Him indwelling us via the Holy Spirit and the truth or reality that accompanies and emerges out of that experience.
Jesus Christ is our world, the only world we are to look to and live in. This is what the Scriptures mean when it says " in Him we live and move and have our being." That's the order of Jesus Christ. Christianity is nothing less than that.
The Father is seeking those who will live their lives in union with Jesus Christ and one another in this manner, and that will reveal to the world who He is. That's Spirit. That's truth. That's the new world order presented by God the Father in Jesus Christ, Who lives within all that place their faith in Him.
It's meant to be lived out on a daily basis by believers, and that means Christ's new heavenly order is organic and unrelated to the props, institutionalism, and buildings so many wrongly associate with Christianity today.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
How does one talk about an infinite being that has no beginning or end; that has no limitations or shortcomings; whom is pure love as it can only be; and from that love spoke and designed a world into existence; to not only be a place where He would be welcomed and dwell, but planned to do it via the human race which He created in His own image?
The end and completion of that purpose and creation was to have a people who embraced His character spread out across the earth and fill it with His very glory. It wasn't simply a general presence or impersonal goal God the Father had in Jesus Christ and His brethren, but it was a very personal indwelling where the Spirit of God was to take up passionate and intimate relationship in man, which would have been accomplished immediately after the first creation when Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Life - Jesus Christ. Instead they chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which temporarily set back the purpose of God He had in creating the earth.
None of this changed the secret purpose hidden in God from before the foundation of the earth, and mankind had to wait for the coming of the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ before seeing what type of humanity God desired, expected and commanded to be, while at the same time seeing how that would impact and change the human race.
Fascinatingly, God didn't really change the human race in the sense of making it better, as the old race wasn't able to be healed in any manner. Rather what He did in Christ was to kill it completely, and through faith in the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, He brought forth or birthed a new creation that was really what He had planned from eternity. If Adam had eaten of the Tree of Life with Eve, this event would have taken place almost from the beginning, and the eternal purpose of God would have expanded and grown from that moment in time. In other words, not long after the first Adam was created, His eating of the Tree of Life would have brought forth the Second Adam or mankind, and it would have been done without the emergence of sin.
As it happened, the wages of sin is death, and so the old man had to be killed off in order for Jesus Christ to take His place as the new humanity that was born and is being built into His people that place their trust in Him. Even if Adam hadn't sinned, I think His eating of Christ would have been an act which would have brought Him to being a spirit man rather than the living soul that he was created as. It would have been a form of death rather than death coming from sin; a death to self, which obviously Satan had no desire to see happen, as it would have probably ended the fallen angel long ago.
The great secret hidden from eternity is that God wanted to intimately dwell within a people, whom would be an exact representation of who and what He was and is. Satan's greatest goal is to work against that happening in a people committed to Jesus Christ and one another.
Remember, the presence of God is a living presence - a life. Not only that, but it's a life that brings the very life of God in it, which demands that those receiving it are transformed into who He is as a man (not His divinity, which is His alone).
This is why the scriptures say this in Colossians 1:
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (NASB)
Christ in you! That's the amazing mystery hidden from all mankind, including the Jews, who even to this day, for the vast majority of them, still are blinded concerning this reality.
But we must go far beyond this as simply some type of teaching, as it demands, as it always has on the part of God, that His people welcome and embrace His indwelling presence. This goes beyond the idea of being born again or born from above when we're first saved. It means that from that embryonic birth, we're on a lifelong and eternal journey with God; one that is passionate, intimate, and has as the overall purpose that in our love relationship together the gap between who He is and we are shrinks, and that will be expressed in our attitude and relationship with God Himself, as well as with those who are on the journey together with us.
All of this is to say that it is impossible for the institutional church and its narrow and outward focus to participate in this reality in any way that was in the heart of Jesus Christ.
Read again the Holy Scriptures and see that all the dealings of God came forth for a relationship with Him, or an abandonment of that relationship. There was no middle ground from the point of view of God. Even Jesus said He would rather have people hot or cold, rather than somewhere holding the middle ground which makes Christ sick to His stomach (He'll spew them out of His mouth) concerning those walking in that manner.
Jesus walked in living relationship and fellowship with those who were called to be foundations of the church, as He did with the patriarchs of old. As Solomon said, the house he built for God had no way of holding Him when the created universe couldn't even hold Him.
The point being it's ludicrous and ridiculous how the man-made religious system that most people consider to be the revelation of what God wants in a people, is in fact working against that very purpose, which the writer of Hebrews revealed concerning the outward religion of the Jews as being vastly inferior to the life-giving revelation of Jesus Christ. Strangely, Christians have embraced an outward system that God has revealed does nothing to satisfy His heart or work towards His ultimate vision and goal, and have even persecuted and violently opposed those that hold to the living Christ without the props of institutional religious Christianity to hold it together.
According to the Holy Spirit, He is going to shake all things in heaven and earth, and the result will be only that which is of Christ will remain. Paul noted a similar truth in regard to those who are planting seeds in the lives of others, in that there will be those that build with inferior material, which will result in death for the hearers, and only they themselves will be saved. A horrific and terrible testimony of those refusing to embrace the living Christ in a way that stands with Him outside the camp, willing to bear His reproach with Him.
(Hebrews 13:13)
Even when weak believers embraced the disaster of Constantine in the 4th Century AD, there were those that understood this wasn't the will of God for His people, to institutionalize and build things that took on the bizarre name and designation of Church. It wasn't long afterwards that the unbiblical concept of clergy became an official belief, and the embracing of the Roman Empire as a model for the practices of the people of God the way that it was lived - if you could call it living.
All that has done is left people attending a building with a person in the front spewing pathetic "sermons" which is now considered to be taken right from the Bible, even though they are nowhere to be found.
Jesus is alive and living, and He desires to intimately dwell in a people. That is something that brings about a daily interaction between God and His people, and based upon that fellowship, daily interaction in Christ with one another. At least that's what is desired and wanted, and a growing number are learning and taking the steps to make that a reality in their lives with one another.
Most of the readers who frequent this blog know that and probably wonder why it's being brought up again. The answer is I believe God is taking us to a new level in this life in Christ together, and we'll need to more than ever before commit to one another in Christ on a daily and/or consistent basis. Those not willing to take these steps will find it more and more difficult to make it as the world continues to fall apart at the seams beyond what it has even in the past.
We need to and must be part of one another's lives. Not in some place where you attend some unbiblical practice every Sunday morning, but rather participating in the "one to another" that is expressed and alluded to throughout the entirety of the New Testament revelation. It's also expressed in the Old Testament, but it's not as easy to see because it speaks in types and shadows of what became real in Jesus Christ and His people.
I believe in the days ahead there will be a growing need for the people of God to have a revelation of the organic life of Christ and how He expresses Himself in a people concerning spiritual and practical things.
The attempt by governments, central banks, and so-called Christians who enable and support them, to become everybody's daddy and provider; attempting to take the place of God Himself in their lives, will only grow worse, and the promises already have gone beyond the point of sustainability, and eventually it'll implode, leaving those without a real spiritual family alone to deal with the fallout on their own.
This is a word that goes beyond the revelation of this being what God wants as part of His eternal purpose in that we are facing circumstances in life that demand we take these steps if we want to survive the shaking that is coming upon us in the not-to-distant future.
What I mean by that is the eternal purpose of God has always been and will always be. Now it must be embraced and obeyed and responded to as it never has in the past by God's people, because they will not be immune to the following destruction if they are alone when it comes. And if all that is going on is God's people are attending a building with no true, daily fellowship and interaction, they will not be able to help and aid one another as they should, even if it enters into their hearts to do so. Most will be thinking natural and not spiritual family, and for many that think they'll be helped by those in the faith, there will be a rude awakening.
After all, if it's not happening in regular times, how can it happen and be taken care of when real difficult times come. You can't just turn on a dime and suddenly be ready for all of this.
But even if none of this were to happen, this is the way of life that God expects, desires and wants for us, and in that sense, must be received and lived no matter what the circumstances surrounding us are.
The bottom line is we must find one another in Christ, abandon the shoddy, shallow religious Christianity that now dominates the world, and live a life together that is worthy of the Lord that died for us.
To do that we must die to ourselves and our desires, and ask God to show us the kind of love it will take to bring this about. Only He can do it, but we must be aware of the eternal nature of this calling, as well as recognize the dangerous times we live in where this could be the only way we survive what is coming upon the earth.
This will require closer living together, commitment to each other daily, being open and flexible, and a sincere love of Christ and the brethren. Anything less than that will result in failure.
We all need to get a greater sense of urgency with what is happening in the earth today. God has given us the very provision we need in His Son and the sharing of His life together daily. That's organic, living fellowship; one that is immensely practical in love and taking care of one another.
And if you're reading this 100 years from now, the principles of what we're talking about will never change, as they're based upon the very heart of God before He ever created man. After all, disasters and difficult times will always come and go on this earth, and outside of holding to Christ and one another, there is nothing else that we can count on until Jesus Christ ends His short work on this earth and all enemies are put under His feet.
For now though, we see Christ, or at least should, and we must start making it our ultimate purpose on this earth to live out the fellowship we have with Him towards and with one another. That will require boldness and a pioneering spirit which forsakes everything in order to satisfy the heart of God in Christ Jesus.
Outward, institutional religion won't help, and it's more of a hindrance than anything else. We must become radical with this, allowing Jesus Christ to reveal to us what it is He wants us to do in response to it. Start to pray and prepare now, as the time is coming when it'll be too late for those not heeding His call in this generation and time we live in.
The end and completion of that purpose and creation was to have a people who embraced His character spread out across the earth and fill it with His very glory. It wasn't simply a general presence or impersonal goal God the Father had in Jesus Christ and His brethren, but it was a very personal indwelling where the Spirit of God was to take up passionate and intimate relationship in man, which would have been accomplished immediately after the first creation when Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of Life - Jesus Christ. Instead they chose to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, which temporarily set back the purpose of God He had in creating the earth.
None of this changed the secret purpose hidden in God from before the foundation of the earth, and mankind had to wait for the coming of the Savior and Lord Jesus Christ before seeing what type of humanity God desired, expected and commanded to be, while at the same time seeing how that would impact and change the human race.
Fascinatingly, God didn't really change the human race in the sense of making it better, as the old race wasn't able to be healed in any manner. Rather what He did in Christ was to kill it completely, and through faith in the resurrected and ascended Lord Jesus Christ, He brought forth or birthed a new creation that was really what He had planned from eternity. If Adam had eaten of the Tree of Life with Eve, this event would have taken place almost from the beginning, and the eternal purpose of God would have expanded and grown from that moment in time. In other words, not long after the first Adam was created, His eating of the Tree of Life would have brought forth the Second Adam or mankind, and it would have been done without the emergence of sin.
As it happened, the wages of sin is death, and so the old man had to be killed off in order for Jesus Christ to take His place as the new humanity that was born and is being built into His people that place their trust in Him. Even if Adam hadn't sinned, I think His eating of Christ would have been an act which would have brought Him to being a spirit man rather than the living soul that he was created as. It would have been a form of death rather than death coming from sin; a death to self, which obviously Satan had no desire to see happen, as it would have probably ended the fallen angel long ago.
The great secret hidden from eternity is that God wanted to intimately dwell within a people, whom would be an exact representation of who and what He was and is. Satan's greatest goal is to work against that happening in a people committed to Jesus Christ and one another.
Remember, the presence of God is a living presence - a life. Not only that, but it's a life that brings the very life of God in it, which demands that those receiving it are transformed into who He is as a man (not His divinity, which is His alone).
This is why the scriptures say this in Colossians 1:
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions. 25 Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, 27 to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me. (NASB)
Christ in you! That's the amazing mystery hidden from all mankind, including the Jews, who even to this day, for the vast majority of them, still are blinded concerning this reality.
But we must go far beyond this as simply some type of teaching, as it demands, as it always has on the part of God, that His people welcome and embrace His indwelling presence. This goes beyond the idea of being born again or born from above when we're first saved. It means that from that embryonic birth, we're on a lifelong and eternal journey with God; one that is passionate, intimate, and has as the overall purpose that in our love relationship together the gap between who He is and we are shrinks, and that will be expressed in our attitude and relationship with God Himself, as well as with those who are on the journey together with us.
All of this is to say that it is impossible for the institutional church and its narrow and outward focus to participate in this reality in any way that was in the heart of Jesus Christ.
Read again the Holy Scriptures and see that all the dealings of God came forth for a relationship with Him, or an abandonment of that relationship. There was no middle ground from the point of view of God. Even Jesus said He would rather have people hot or cold, rather than somewhere holding the middle ground which makes Christ sick to His stomach (He'll spew them out of His mouth) concerning those walking in that manner.
Jesus walked in living relationship and fellowship with those who were called to be foundations of the church, as He did with the patriarchs of old. As Solomon said, the house he built for God had no way of holding Him when the created universe couldn't even hold Him.
The point being it's ludicrous and ridiculous how the man-made religious system that most people consider to be the revelation of what God wants in a people, is in fact working against that very purpose, which the writer of Hebrews revealed concerning the outward religion of the Jews as being vastly inferior to the life-giving revelation of Jesus Christ. Strangely, Christians have embraced an outward system that God has revealed does nothing to satisfy His heart or work towards His ultimate vision and goal, and have even persecuted and violently opposed those that hold to the living Christ without the props of institutional religious Christianity to hold it together.
According to the Holy Spirit, He is going to shake all things in heaven and earth, and the result will be only that which is of Christ will remain. Paul noted a similar truth in regard to those who are planting seeds in the lives of others, in that there will be those that build with inferior material, which will result in death for the hearers, and only they themselves will be saved. A horrific and terrible testimony of those refusing to embrace the living Christ in a way that stands with Him outside the camp, willing to bear His reproach with Him.
(Hebrews 13:13)
Even when weak believers embraced the disaster of Constantine in the 4th Century AD, there were those that understood this wasn't the will of God for His people, to institutionalize and build things that took on the bizarre name and designation of Church. It wasn't long afterwards that the unbiblical concept of clergy became an official belief, and the embracing of the Roman Empire as a model for the practices of the people of God the way that it was lived - if you could call it living.
All that has done is left people attending a building with a person in the front spewing pathetic "sermons" which is now considered to be taken right from the Bible, even though they are nowhere to be found.
Jesus is alive and living, and He desires to intimately dwell in a people. That is something that brings about a daily interaction between God and His people, and based upon that fellowship, daily interaction in Christ with one another. At least that's what is desired and wanted, and a growing number are learning and taking the steps to make that a reality in their lives with one another.
Most of the readers who frequent this blog know that and probably wonder why it's being brought up again. The answer is I believe God is taking us to a new level in this life in Christ together, and we'll need to more than ever before commit to one another in Christ on a daily and/or consistent basis. Those not willing to take these steps will find it more and more difficult to make it as the world continues to fall apart at the seams beyond what it has even in the past.
We need to and must be part of one another's lives. Not in some place where you attend some unbiblical practice every Sunday morning, but rather participating in the "one to another" that is expressed and alluded to throughout the entirety of the New Testament revelation. It's also expressed in the Old Testament, but it's not as easy to see because it speaks in types and shadows of what became real in Jesus Christ and His people.
I believe in the days ahead there will be a growing need for the people of God to have a revelation of the organic life of Christ and how He expresses Himself in a people concerning spiritual and practical things.
The attempt by governments, central banks, and so-called Christians who enable and support them, to become everybody's daddy and provider; attempting to take the place of God Himself in their lives, will only grow worse, and the promises already have gone beyond the point of sustainability, and eventually it'll implode, leaving those without a real spiritual family alone to deal with the fallout on their own.
This is a word that goes beyond the revelation of this being what God wants as part of His eternal purpose in that we are facing circumstances in life that demand we take these steps if we want to survive the shaking that is coming upon us in the not-to-distant future.
What I mean by that is the eternal purpose of God has always been and will always be. Now it must be embraced and obeyed and responded to as it never has in the past by God's people, because they will not be immune to the following destruction if they are alone when it comes. And if all that is going on is God's people are attending a building with no true, daily fellowship and interaction, they will not be able to help and aid one another as they should, even if it enters into their hearts to do so. Most will be thinking natural and not spiritual family, and for many that think they'll be helped by those in the faith, there will be a rude awakening.
After all, if it's not happening in regular times, how can it happen and be taken care of when real difficult times come. You can't just turn on a dime and suddenly be ready for all of this.
But even if none of this were to happen, this is the way of life that God expects, desires and wants for us, and in that sense, must be received and lived no matter what the circumstances surrounding us are.
The bottom line is we must find one another in Christ, abandon the shoddy, shallow religious Christianity that now dominates the world, and live a life together that is worthy of the Lord that died for us.
To do that we must die to ourselves and our desires, and ask God to show us the kind of love it will take to bring this about. Only He can do it, but we must be aware of the eternal nature of this calling, as well as recognize the dangerous times we live in where this could be the only way we survive what is coming upon the earth.
This will require closer living together, commitment to each other daily, being open and flexible, and a sincere love of Christ and the brethren. Anything less than that will result in failure.
We all need to get a greater sense of urgency with what is happening in the earth today. God has given us the very provision we need in His Son and the sharing of His life together daily. That's organic, living fellowship; one that is immensely practical in love and taking care of one another.
And if you're reading this 100 years from now, the principles of what we're talking about will never change, as they're based upon the very heart of God before He ever created man. After all, disasters and difficult times will always come and go on this earth, and outside of holding to Christ and one another, there is nothing else that we can count on until Jesus Christ ends His short work on this earth and all enemies are put under His feet.
For now though, we see Christ, or at least should, and we must start making it our ultimate purpose on this earth to live out the fellowship we have with Him towards and with one another. That will require boldness and a pioneering spirit which forsakes everything in order to satisfy the heart of God in Christ Jesus.
Outward, institutional religion won't help, and it's more of a hindrance than anything else. We must become radical with this, allowing Jesus Christ to reveal to us what it is He wants us to do in response to it. Start to pray and prepare now, as the time is coming when it'll be too late for those not heeding His call in this generation and time we live in.
Friday, January 4, 2013
Nothing can be understood scripturally or by experience concerning Jesus Christ unless there is an understanding that the love of Jesus Christ is so complete and thorough, that it has been rarely comprehended and responded to by natural Israel and those professing a faith in Christ.
If you've ever read the prophets of the Old Testament, you'll find that in the end, the reason for the wrath and judgement of God Israel was because they rejected the love relationship God initiated with them. Throughout God expresses His disappointment and righteous anger over the casting aside of their love for Him for other gods.
That is extended in the New Testament with the numerous warnings of the apostles concerning those saying they believe in Jesus Christ as well.
We must see and understand that the reason for creation in the first place came from the inability of God to keep His amazing love, which was expressed between the Godhead, but because of what that love was and is, couldn't be kept to itself, so creation had to be enacted so that man could be created in the image of God for the purpose of deep love and fellowship with God Himself, as well as with one another; based upon the character and person of God Himself, which was revealed ultimately and fully in Jesus Christ.
Since we use the terms of the Bible concerning love so loosely at times, because of repetition and familiarity, we are apt to not come close to understanding, experiencing and having a revelation of how deep this love of God is.
He is love personified, and so it is impossible not to be who He is. That love consequently pours forth upon His creation, even as it largely rejects Him; as even do the majority who claim His name and the salvation connected to and with it.
What is desperately needed by those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to "comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:18,19)
This love is so great that Paul adds that he is "persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38,39)
We could go on and on with scriptures like these to reinforce the fact that God is love, and that love is something we may never fully grasp as to its nature, but can participate in and receive that love, and together learn the width and length and depth and height of it.
The only way that can be done is by dying to self and allowing the Spirit of God within us to live that love out towards one another, and from their to the dying, lost world we live in.
This has zero to do with what most would call "the ministry," or finding some so-called purpose to fulfill. What this is is call to the raw love of God that has nothing to do with anything official, but a practical involvement with the people of God on a daily basis, which is the only way we can learn how the love of Christ is meant to be given, shared and understood.
Anybody can do stuff, very few people can truly love with the aching that God loves us with and reaches out and yearns for us because of it.
When talking of God's love, forget that sentimental slush that passes for what many believe is the love of God. It isn't. The love of God is real and is demanding because every bit of who God is is expressed in it towards us. That's why a real relationship with God includes the fellowship of His sufferings, as true love will hurt, and even in the best of circumstances and mountainous heights reached, there will always be this great burden of love that falls upon our hearts when that love is initiated from God.
Think of some people you may deeply love but don't get to see very often. I remember many years ago when I was only able to see someone about once every couple of years. When they came the friendship and interaction was exquisite. Even the anticipation of their coming caused a response within that was not only positive, but painful in having to wait to interact with the mutual love for one another.
Some of that is reflective of the amazing love that is the only God of the universe and His Christ that was given for us in the ultimate act of love, which was by His own words, the greatest of all in that He laid down His life for us. Love can't be expressed at any higher level than that practically, and someone moved by the love of God can never be without a nagging anguish and pain in the suffering and pain He shares with those He opens His heart up to.
Anyone can be such a person, but the walk of this type of love isn't easy, and when you bear some of that extraordinary love of God, which is beyond understanding, you receive a closeness with the living God that is unmeasurable, and by extension, will begin to see and feel how He focuses that on those created in His very own image.
What does all of this mean? The love of God is pain. The pain of a being that is love in Himself. A love so selfless that it is truly fierce in its nature, and in reaching out with that love towards His children, first allows those willing to embrace that love by faith to be placed under His potter's hand and to be shaped into His very image.
That's what Paul saw and attempted to communicate by saying together we need to embrace and pursue this magnificent love this is God. We won't reach the end of the eternal purpose of God if we don't fellowship with Christ directly and with one another from that love, as it's only there that we will be filled with all the fullness of God, and He becomes all in all.
If you've ever read the prophets of the Old Testament, you'll find that in the end, the reason for the wrath and judgement of God Israel was because they rejected the love relationship God initiated with them. Throughout God expresses His disappointment and righteous anger over the casting aside of their love for Him for other gods.
That is extended in the New Testament with the numerous warnings of the apostles concerning those saying they believe in Jesus Christ as well.
We must see and understand that the reason for creation in the first place came from the inability of God to keep His amazing love, which was expressed between the Godhead, but because of what that love was and is, couldn't be kept to itself, so creation had to be enacted so that man could be created in the image of God for the purpose of deep love and fellowship with God Himself, as well as with one another; based upon the character and person of God Himself, which was revealed ultimately and fully in Jesus Christ.
Since we use the terms of the Bible concerning love so loosely at times, because of repetition and familiarity, we are apt to not come close to understanding, experiencing and having a revelation of how deep this love of God is.
He is love personified, and so it is impossible not to be who He is. That love consequently pours forth upon His creation, even as it largely rejects Him; as even do the majority who claim His name and the salvation connected to and with it.
What is desperately needed by those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ is to "comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height — to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." (Ephesians 3:18,19)
This love is so great that Paul adds that he is "persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38,39)
We could go on and on with scriptures like these to reinforce the fact that God is love, and that love is something we may never fully grasp as to its nature, but can participate in and receive that love, and together learn the width and length and depth and height of it.
The only way that can be done is by dying to self and allowing the Spirit of God within us to live that love out towards one another, and from their to the dying, lost world we live in.
This has zero to do with what most would call "the ministry," or finding some so-called purpose to fulfill. What this is is call to the raw love of God that has nothing to do with anything official, but a practical involvement with the people of God on a daily basis, which is the only way we can learn how the love of Christ is meant to be given, shared and understood.
Anybody can do stuff, very few people can truly love with the aching that God loves us with and reaches out and yearns for us because of it.
When talking of God's love, forget that sentimental slush that passes for what many believe is the love of God. It isn't. The love of God is real and is demanding because every bit of who God is is expressed in it towards us. That's why a real relationship with God includes the fellowship of His sufferings, as true love will hurt, and even in the best of circumstances and mountainous heights reached, there will always be this great burden of love that falls upon our hearts when that love is initiated from God.
Think of some people you may deeply love but don't get to see very often. I remember many years ago when I was only able to see someone about once every couple of years. When they came the friendship and interaction was exquisite. Even the anticipation of their coming caused a response within that was not only positive, but painful in having to wait to interact with the mutual love for one another.
Some of that is reflective of the amazing love that is the only God of the universe and His Christ that was given for us in the ultimate act of love, which was by His own words, the greatest of all in that He laid down His life for us. Love can't be expressed at any higher level than that practically, and someone moved by the love of God can never be without a nagging anguish and pain in the suffering and pain He shares with those He opens His heart up to.
Anyone can be such a person, but the walk of this type of love isn't easy, and when you bear some of that extraordinary love of God, which is beyond understanding, you receive a closeness with the living God that is unmeasurable, and by extension, will begin to see and feel how He focuses that on those created in His very own image.
What does all of this mean? The love of God is pain. The pain of a being that is love in Himself. A love so selfless that it is truly fierce in its nature, and in reaching out with that love towards His children, first allows those willing to embrace that love by faith to be placed under His potter's hand and to be shaped into His very image.
That's what Paul saw and attempted to communicate by saying together we need to embrace and pursue this magnificent love this is God. We won't reach the end of the eternal purpose of God if we don't fellowship with Christ directly and with one another from that love, as it's only there that we will be filled with all the fullness of God, and He becomes all in all.
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