The work (fruit) of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, . My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places (Isaiah 32: 17-18).
The work or fruit of righteousness is peace. That peace is a work within us, as our soul lines up with our spirit which is in fellowship directly with Christ.
This is part of what is meant when Jesus told us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. When we throw all of who we are onto Christ, who dwells within us, we are working toward a place of quietness of the soul, and a resting place where we cease from our own labors.
That's the end of the pursuit of the righteousness of Christ. We rest in Him and His work, and labor only as we see Him labor, and speak only what we hear Him speak.
Jesus lived this way throughout His life on earth, submitting His purpose and soul unto the Father.
Our major job in this life is to learn to rest in Christ within, allowing the cross to destroy our self-centered lives so we may live our lives unto Him; or rather, allow His life to live in us. We are to live by His life after all.
While this is simple to understand, it takes a lifetime of pursuit to accomplish. Our souls have become so over-stimulated and strong that we need to ask the Lord to weaken it through the work of the cross in us so we even have the desire to pursue this way of life.
Jesus did this His entire life on earth, not only when He was in public ministry. This is why the Father was "well pleased" with Him when He was identified by John the Baptist and emerged out of the water of baptism, before He did anything related to what we consider ministry.
The Father was pleased with Him before He did anything publicly, because Jesus simply lived out His life in union with the Father in His spirit within Him.
They didn't suddenly become closer because Jesus went public, they were close during His entire life on earth. He quietly spent His life fellowshipping with the Father, and kept doing it even when He became busy.
Dwelling in union with Christ in us is the peaceful habitation and quiet resting place referred to by Isaiah. While we need to learn to do this individually, it's primarily related to the church, which will become a peaceful resting place when we learn to deny ourselves and think of each other more important than ourselves.
The reason there is so much turmoil in the church is because people don't embrace the cross and allow it to demolish their old man and self so that the life of Christ may be formed within them, and ultimately flow out to others as the river of life.
First we must individually embrace the cross, and then connect to others looking to travel the same journey. If we don't embrace the cross, all the talk of the organic church or non-institutional church will be meaningless, as the self-life will always end up destroying the work of God He attempts to give birth to.
Only a people who are willing to have their self-life weakened and destroyed will be able to enter into peaceful habitations; within themselves or with their brothers and sisters.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Last post we talked a little about the reason why Christ dwells within us. I did want to follow it up to clarify that while there is definitely a transformation that happens when we pursue union with Christ, at the same time, it's not a negative thing to simply enjoy the general presence of God as well.
In reality, what I termed the general presence of Christ within us was for the sake of understanding, in practice we really can't separate them, as if we enter into union with Christ , we can't escape the change that will come.
How much we change depends on the type of ground the seed falls into, as Christ Himself is the perfect seed without blemish, and He will transform us practically into His image as much as we allow the cross to work itself within us; removing the love of self so the love of Christ, and Christ alone becomes our focus, while we become like Him as we fellowship with Him.
I mention this because it could have been misunderstood that simply enjoying being with the Lord isn't the greatest end in itself. It's just that when we are with Him (which can be always), it will end up with us changing - it's impossible that we don't if we open our hearts to Him and focus on Him on a consistent basis.
In reality, what I termed the general presence of Christ within us was for the sake of understanding, in practice we really can't separate them, as if we enter into union with Christ , we can't escape the change that will come.
How much we change depends on the type of ground the seed falls into, as Christ Himself is the perfect seed without blemish, and He will transform us practically into His image as much as we allow the cross to work itself within us; removing the love of self so the love of Christ, and Christ alone becomes our focus, while we become like Him as we fellowship with Him.
I mention this because it could have been misunderstood that simply enjoying being with the Lord isn't the greatest end in itself. It's just that when we are with Him (which can be always), it will end up with us changing - it's impossible that we don't if we open our hearts to Him and focus on Him on a consistent basis.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A number of people I've communicated with through the years have misunderstood what it means to walk in the presence of the Lord. I thought I'd take a moment and help give some understanding and insight into this so we can know better what it is this means.
First of all, let's talk about the presence of the Lord from a couple different areas. You have the general presence of the Lord, which fills the universe, and which the created universe can't hold; even the heavens of heavens. That talks about a general presence where God is everywhere because nothing created can hold Him.
Second, there's the much more important specific presence of God, which dwells within those who have received Christ as their Lord and Savior. That presence dwells within us with a very stated purpose: filling us with Christ. But it isn't a general filling, where God is there because of his endless, eternal makeup, rather He's there so His life can inhabit us in a complete way.
Taking up residence within our spirit, God then begins to work His presence within us through the cross so that He doesn't simply inhabit us, but changes us into His very image.
Eventually, His eternal purpose of filling everything with Himself will be fulfilled, as His people embrace union with Him and change from glory to glory through the many trials and struggles of life.
So while the presence of Christ within us definitely is a tremendous blessing and closeness, at the same time His dwelling within us is so He can have pre-eminence and the two will become one. Essentially that's what it means for the church to exist, to be a visible testimony of the invisible Lord.
For that to happen we must open our hearts to Him in faith so He can rule the kingdom of our hearts.
All of us who truly believe have the life of Christ within us, but very few are willing to walk the difficult path that will destroy our self life in order for the life of Christ to be manifest. The work of the cross is the tool used by God to bring this about, but most aren't able or willing to embrace that effective, destructive tool in order that the perfume of Christ can be released from these human vessels.
This is why God continually calls a people to walk in this way, as there aren't many able to walk this walk individually. It's also his ultimate will and purpose that a people exist that show forth who Christ is; not simply an individual.
While we all need to embrace this way as individuals, it's to be expressed and displayed in a corporate people. In the end, that's the reason God created and the purpose for being called out of all the nations to Christ. That's what the church is, a people called out of this world into a higher life and world, which, corporately, is to be brought from a higher realm to this one.
It all happens in the hearts of a people sincere and serious about walking in union with Christ.
First of all, let's talk about the presence of the Lord from a couple different areas. You have the general presence of the Lord, which fills the universe, and which the created universe can't hold; even the heavens of heavens. That talks about a general presence where God is everywhere because nothing created can hold Him.
Second, there's the much more important specific presence of God, which dwells within those who have received Christ as their Lord and Savior. That presence dwells within us with a very stated purpose: filling us with Christ. But it isn't a general filling, where God is there because of his endless, eternal makeup, rather He's there so His life can inhabit us in a complete way.
Taking up residence within our spirit, God then begins to work His presence within us through the cross so that He doesn't simply inhabit us, but changes us into His very image.
Eventually, His eternal purpose of filling everything with Himself will be fulfilled, as His people embrace union with Him and change from glory to glory through the many trials and struggles of life.
So while the presence of Christ within us definitely is a tremendous blessing and closeness, at the same time His dwelling within us is so He can have pre-eminence and the two will become one. Essentially that's what it means for the church to exist, to be a visible testimony of the invisible Lord.
For that to happen we must open our hearts to Him in faith so He can rule the kingdom of our hearts.
All of us who truly believe have the life of Christ within us, but very few are willing to walk the difficult path that will destroy our self life in order for the life of Christ to be manifest. The work of the cross is the tool used by God to bring this about, but most aren't able or willing to embrace that effective, destructive tool in order that the perfume of Christ can be released from these human vessels.
This is why God continually calls a people to walk in this way, as there aren't many able to walk this walk individually. It's also his ultimate will and purpose that a people exist that show forth who Christ is; not simply an individual.
While we all need to embrace this way as individuals, it's to be expressed and displayed in a corporate people. In the end, that's the reason God created and the purpose for being called out of all the nations to Christ. That's what the church is, a people called out of this world into a higher life and world, which, corporately, is to be brought from a higher realm to this one.
It all happens in the hearts of a people sincere and serious about walking in union with Christ.
Monday, August 11, 2008
In what I can only call disgusting, a new reality "Christian" TV series is going to air in Britain, where a group of 13 non-Christians have volunteered and agreed to "live by the teachings of the Bible for three weeks."
Dubbed "Make Me a Christian," four so-called pastors from various religious Christian backgrounds - Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal – are supposed to mentor these people into how to live like a Christian.
One of these pastors had this to say: "Viewers will be deeply moved by the participants' personal journeys. I believe that a major nationwide evangelism initiative could be launched on the back of the series."
Of course to make it interesting to gullible viewers, they've included a mix of extreme people to draw in eyeballs.
For example, they have the necessary lesbian, and then a lap-dancer, party animal, tattooed militant atheist biker ... you get the idea. In other words it's a circus and mockery for all those involved. It's hard to believe these four pastors are allowing themselves to sell out to get name recognition.
It's nothing other than idiocy to say that off the back of this sick show a nationwide evangelistic effort will be launched. It's shows the warped state of people purporting to be spiritual leaders to allow themselves to be brought to the spotlight for the purpose of fame. They can say what they want, there's no other purpose in this.
But worse to me, is the exploitation of the participants, who have many obvious issues which are dealt with in an anemic way.
What are some of the suggestions offered by these spiritual counterfeits? "The lesbian is asked to throw away her porn, the witch is encouraged to toss her Tarot cards, the womanizer is instructed not to look lustfully at women and so forth."
The entire show is based upon showing these people how to outwardly conform to a "Christian code of conduct." In other words, teach them how to be hypocrits.
The only way people can be changed is by Christ within them. That requires believing in Him and then learning to fellowship and walk with Him inwardly, which results in a changed life if it's pursued over a lifetime.
To lower Christianity to a reality show to exploit Christ for ratings, and to have these alleged mentors participate is about as low as I've seen things go. Evidently opportunists have no shame whatsover, and promoting themselves at the expense of everything, including the Lord and His people, as well as the non-believers involved, is an abomination.
Dubbed "Make Me a Christian," four so-called pastors from various religious Christian backgrounds - Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal – are supposed to mentor these people into how to live like a Christian.
One of these pastors had this to say: "Viewers will be deeply moved by the participants' personal journeys. I believe that a major nationwide evangelism initiative could be launched on the back of the series."
Of course to make it interesting to gullible viewers, they've included a mix of extreme people to draw in eyeballs.
For example, they have the necessary lesbian, and then a lap-dancer, party animal, tattooed militant atheist biker ... you get the idea. In other words it's a circus and mockery for all those involved. It's hard to believe these four pastors are allowing themselves to sell out to get name recognition.
It's nothing other than idiocy to say that off the back of this sick show a nationwide evangelistic effort will be launched. It's shows the warped state of people purporting to be spiritual leaders to allow themselves to be brought to the spotlight for the purpose of fame. They can say what they want, there's no other purpose in this.
But worse to me, is the exploitation of the participants, who have many obvious issues which are dealt with in an anemic way.
What are some of the suggestions offered by these spiritual counterfeits? "The lesbian is asked to throw away her porn, the witch is encouraged to toss her Tarot cards, the womanizer is instructed not to look lustfully at women and so forth."
The entire show is based upon showing these people how to outwardly conform to a "Christian code of conduct." In other words, teach them how to be hypocrits.
The only way people can be changed is by Christ within them. That requires believing in Him and then learning to fellowship and walk with Him inwardly, which results in a changed life if it's pursued over a lifetime.
To lower Christianity to a reality show to exploit Christ for ratings, and to have these alleged mentors participate is about as low as I've seen things go. Evidently opportunists have no shame whatsover, and promoting themselves at the expense of everything, including the Lord and His people, as well as the non-believers involved, is an abomination.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 7
The recent death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on August 3, made a lot of people who lived through the times when he wrote his powerful books that changed an empire - reflective.
There's one thing I want to mention, because it has to do with our recent theme of Jesus as the tree of life.
I want to focus on what he talked about in reference to good and evil some time ago. Here's what one writer says about it:
"For Solzhenitsyn, right and wrong, good and evil, undoubtedly do exist. However, as he first expressed it in a poem written in his head in the camps nearly 60 years ago, the dividing line between good and evil passes not between warring parties, ideologies, armies, but runs through the heart of each individual and flickers ceaselessly to and fro."
This is an extraordinary understanding of the source of what becomes outward actions and deeds: it comes from the heart.
Eating of the tree of life was meant to take in the life of Christ interally, and willingly allow Him to live out that live in creation. That's the very purpose of creation, that it would bear the testimony of the invisible Christ. It's still the ultimate end of the eternal purpose of God. This is the purpose of the church, to be a letter written from God within, that then expresses itself outwardly.
Solzhenitsyn understood that everything was connected to the heart, and if that changed, the rest would follow.
That's why the scriptures teach that Christ has written His laws in our hearts. He is the king and ruler, and His kingdom is an inner one. Once we learn to eat of the tree of life, the outer starts to take care of itself as the living Christ expands who he is within us. Eventually the two will become one, as heaven and earth become a visible testimony to who Christ is.
This is why we are to embrace the kingdom coming and the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven, because the two are one in Christ. Now He is looking for people who are willing to endure the cross so that can become a reality. The ultimate work of the cross is to eliminate who we are so He can live fully within us.
The secret is we retain our soul while He becomes everything. He never forces us, but woos us to Himself within. That puts the responsibility upon us to keep our hearts open and pliable to Him while we go through the myriad tough times those embracing the cross will always go through.
It all has to do with internalizing and eating of the tree of life.
By the way, if you want to understand a portion of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Solzhenitsyn expresses the fruit of it accurately, it "runs through the heart of each individual and flickers ceaselessly to and fro."
The tree of life on the other hand, does the opposite.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
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The Saudi Arabian government ordered that over a dozen Christians must leave the country for meeting in their homes for worship.
This is important because there was a big deal made about Saudi King Abdullah calling for "interfaith dialogue" a few weeks ago, where the media made a big deal about representives of major religions coming together.
"Deporting Christians for worshipping in their private homes shows that King Abdullah's speech is mere rhetoric and his country is deceiving the international community about their desire for change and reconciliation," said Jeff King, the president of ICC.
This is true of course, as Abdullah called for reconciliation between religions, which he evidently says through his actions doesn't apply to Christianity.
Altogether, 15 Christians will be deported of the 16 arrested at the end of April this year. One has already left the country after being released three days after the arrest.
The original charges against those were for preaching and singing, while they "later changed the charge to holding a 'dance party' and collecting money to support terrorism."
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Sheikh Hassan Yousef - Masab's Jailed Father
In an exclusive interview in Israel's Haaretz newspaper, son of West Bank Hamas leader Sheikh Hassan Yousef, Masab, says he has now turned to Christ.
Masab, who has now moved to the U.S. said he'll probably never be able to return to the middle east in his lifetime: "I know that I'm endangering my life and am even liable to lose my father, but I hope that he'll understand this and that God will give him and my family patience and willingness to open their eyes to Jesus and to Christianity. Maybe one day I'll be able to return to Palestine and to Ramallah with Jesus, in the Kingdom of God."
Speaking to Israel as a nation, Masab added, "You Jews should be aware: You will never, but never have peace with Hamas. Islam, as the ideology that guides them, will not allow them to achieve a peace agreement with the Jews. They believe that tradition says that the Prophet Mohammed fought against the Jews and that therefore they must continue to fight them to the death."
Talking to the Palestinian Maan news agency, Masab's brother, Suhaib, asserted that Masab hasn't "converted to Christianity."
Haaretz says it sticks by its story, and said they sent a reporter to the U.S., who did a personal innterview with him.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
In continuing on with our look at Jesus as the Tree of Life, I want to start off this time with the comment thousands of years ago by Soloman that there is "nothing new under the sun."
Taking that insight and applying it to Christ as the Tree of Life, I want to show some of the simplicity of this as it relates to the church.
Our walk with the Lord within, while it may be new to us, as far as experience goes, is not new at all, from the point of view of the Godhead. They have been walking this eternally.
What this means is we are partaking within of His existing experience and living it out among one another.
One easy to understand concept we can embrace and practice as the church, is to comprehend that much of we do when we practice our Christianity, or Christ-centeredness (which is what Christian means), is repeating how the Godhead has lived together before time.
So when we share with one another what it is Jesus is doing through our current circumstances or revealing to us, is more than anything else, reminding one another of what has happened throughout the existence of God.
The practical outworking, is that when we share, much of it is to remind one another of who He is, and help one another to learn more of who He has always been.
In other words, we do more reminding when we talk and share life together, than anything else. As a matter of fact, as we grow in Him, it simply becomes His life emerging out of us toward and into one another.
The reason this has become complicated isn't the only the unbibical way people meet and the whole pagan structure and practice, but many times even when people start to see the organic, they tend to share the things they've learned in schools or colleges, especially related to philosophy and related courses that are diametrically opposite of who Christ really is.
It's nothing other than the old alternative tree of the knowledge of good and evil being consumed.
So we again get the mixture that always weakens and ultimately destroys the testimony of Christ in His people.
Remember, Christ is writing His story within us, so ultimately people will be able to read us as a letter from God. That's why Paul one time said "you are my letter," referring to the church.
In the end, that's the overall purpose of Christ as the Tree of Life, to be eaten and internalized, so what is within will be shown without and read by all men.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
Taking that insight and applying it to Christ as the Tree of Life, I want to show some of the simplicity of this as it relates to the church.
Our walk with the Lord within, while it may be new to us, as far as experience goes, is not new at all, from the point of view of the Godhead. They have been walking this eternally.
What this means is we are partaking within of His existing experience and living it out among one another.
One easy to understand concept we can embrace and practice as the church, is to comprehend that much of we do when we practice our Christianity, or Christ-centeredness (which is what Christian means), is repeating how the Godhead has lived together before time.
So when we share with one another what it is Jesus is doing through our current circumstances or revealing to us, is more than anything else, reminding one another of what has happened throughout the existence of God.
The practical outworking, is that when we share, much of it is to remind one another of who He is, and help one another to learn more of who He has always been.
In other words, we do more reminding when we talk and share life together, than anything else. As a matter of fact, as we grow in Him, it simply becomes His life emerging out of us toward and into one another.
The reason this has become complicated isn't the only the unbibical way people meet and the whole pagan structure and practice, but many times even when people start to see the organic, they tend to share the things they've learned in schools or colleges, especially related to philosophy and related courses that are diametrically opposite of who Christ really is.
It's nothing other than the old alternative tree of the knowledge of good and evil being consumed.
So we again get the mixture that always weakens and ultimately destroys the testimony of Christ in His people.
Remember, Christ is writing His story within us, so ultimately people will be able to read us as a letter from God. That's why Paul one time said "you are my letter," referring to the church.
In the end, that's the overall purpose of Christ as the Tree of Life, to be eaten and internalized, so what is within will be shown without and read by all men.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Have you ever wondered what it was that Adam and Eve saw when they went to the center of the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil stood side by side? The contrast is extraordinary.
Remember one thing concerning Adam and Eve at this portion of their lives: they saw things as they were, so when they viewed these two trees that didn't have an origin on Earth, they saw them in a unique way, and how they saw them, especially with Eve, was a huge factor in the fateful decision to eat of the wrong tree.
It's tempting to really get into the depths of what really happened at that time, but the simplicity of it is enough, because in the end, that was one of the key elements of what was going on.
Paul mentions that in the time of the temptation of Eve, she was deceived concerning maintaining the simplicity of devotion to Christ. That was the major issue concerning the two trees. One offered simplicity, devotion and dependence on the life of Christ, and fellowship with Him, while the other offered independence from God, and a different type of knowledge, wisdom and food.
This is the center of the powerful story of Martha and Mary, where Martha attempted to influence Jesus to get Mary away from being centered on Him, where Jesus responded it was really the only thing that mattered, and He wasn't going to take that away from her.
Satan offered Eve the opportunity to be like God, without the help and dependence upon God; without the need to internalize and fellowship with Him within, which is part of what it meant to eat the fruit of the tree. To eat it meant to internalize the relationship we were offered with Christ.
The other major element was that the Tree of Life, or Christ, wasn't an attractive tree, whereas the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was, as represented by Satan, who was a beautiful being at one time.
While spiritually Christ as the Tree of Life was attractive from the point of view of God, to natural man he wasn't, as the cross was at the center of the Tree, and built into it. This is something many Christians to this day resist. It's one of the major reasons much of the inner fellowship with Christ isn't pursued, because it means dying to self, and the application of the work of the cross within. Not many are willing to go that route anymore.
So when Satan started getting Eve's eyes fixated on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the idea was to get her to completely forget about the Tree of Life, which he succeeded at doing. History has unveiled the results of that mistake.
When Adam and Eve viewed the two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was far more attractive and conducive to humanity than the counterintuitive Tree of Life. Even in their sinless state, immediately before partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the desire for an easier way to live was pursued by the old man; the first Adam.
What's interesting, taking into account that Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't, is that even though Adam wasn't deceived, he preferred to internalize a life form contrary to who God was. It looked wiser and easier, but in the end it was devastating and resulted in life being even harder.
To this day the major job our spiritual enemy continues to do is keep our eyes off of the simplicity of devotion to Christ, and eat of a tree that complicates and distracts us from that simple fellowship with Him, which is how Jesus describes of eternal life is, which was embedded in Him, the Tree of Life.
We must battle to eat of the Tree of Life once again, and remind one another to do it often. More on this in the next post.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
Remember one thing concerning Adam and Eve at this portion of their lives: they saw things as they were, so when they viewed these two trees that didn't have an origin on Earth, they saw them in a unique way, and how they saw them, especially with Eve, was a huge factor in the fateful decision to eat of the wrong tree.
It's tempting to really get into the depths of what really happened at that time, but the simplicity of it is enough, because in the end, that was one of the key elements of what was going on.
Paul mentions that in the time of the temptation of Eve, she was deceived concerning maintaining the simplicity of devotion to Christ. That was the major issue concerning the two trees. One offered simplicity, devotion and dependence on the life of Christ, and fellowship with Him, while the other offered independence from God, and a different type of knowledge, wisdom and food.
This is the center of the powerful story of Martha and Mary, where Martha attempted to influence Jesus to get Mary away from being centered on Him, where Jesus responded it was really the only thing that mattered, and He wasn't going to take that away from her.
Satan offered Eve the opportunity to be like God, without the help and dependence upon God; without the need to internalize and fellowship with Him within, which is part of what it meant to eat the fruit of the tree. To eat it meant to internalize the relationship we were offered with Christ.
The other major element was that the Tree of Life, or Christ, wasn't an attractive tree, whereas the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was, as represented by Satan, who was a beautiful being at one time.
While spiritually Christ as the Tree of Life was attractive from the point of view of God, to natural man he wasn't, as the cross was at the center of the Tree, and built into it. This is something many Christians to this day resist. It's one of the major reasons much of the inner fellowship with Christ isn't pursued, because it means dying to self, and the application of the work of the cross within. Not many are willing to go that route anymore.
So when Satan started getting Eve's eyes fixated on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the idea was to get her to completely forget about the Tree of Life, which he succeeded at doing. History has unveiled the results of that mistake.
When Adam and Eve viewed the two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was far more attractive and conducive to humanity than the counterintuitive Tree of Life. Even in their sinless state, immediately before partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the desire for an easier way to live was pursued by the old man; the first Adam.
What's interesting, taking into account that Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't, is that even though Adam wasn't deceived, he preferred to internalize a life form contrary to who God was. It looked wiser and easier, but in the end it was devastating and resulted in life being even harder.
To this day the major job our spiritual enemy continues to do is keep our eyes off of the simplicity of devotion to Christ, and eat of a tree that complicates and distracts us from that simple fellowship with Him, which is how Jesus describes of eternal life is, which was embedded in Him, the Tree of Life.
We must battle to eat of the Tree of Life once again, and remind one another to do it often. More on this in the next post.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Now we have God no longer on the scene in Eden, at least not in the way He was at times directly communicating with Adam.
At that time, the serpent starts to communicate with Eve concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice how there isn't anything mentioned about the Tree of Life again.
The entire purpose of the conversation was for Satan to get the attention of Eve solely on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order that she wouldn't think of the Tree of Life.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3, that he was jealous over them with a godly jealousy, and promised them to one husband: Christ. He wanted to present them as a pure virgin to Christ, but now he was afraid that in the similar way Eve was deceived by the cunning of Satan, their minds would also be led astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
We get a glimpse into the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here, where it was the opposite of the Tree of Life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gets you away from simplicity and sincerity, and into mixture, as far as in relationship with Christ. It makes things complicated and heady. If your life is complicated, you may want to take a look at which tree you're eating from as well.
Jesus said this in a different way when Martha protested her sister not helping her because she sat at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach. Jesus' response was that there was nothing else that really mattered, and He wouldn't take that away from Mary.
A people centered around Christ is all that matters. That's the battle that was going on from the first interaction between man and Satan, and it's still the same battle raging today. Satan is still tempting us to look to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the expense of Christ Himself.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
At that time, the serpent starts to communicate with Eve concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice how there isn't anything mentioned about the Tree of Life again.
The entire purpose of the conversation was for Satan to get the attention of Eve solely on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order that she wouldn't think of the Tree of Life.
Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3, that he was jealous over them with a godly jealousy, and promised them to one husband: Christ. He wanted to present them as a pure virgin to Christ, but now he was afraid that in the similar way Eve was deceived by the cunning of Satan, their minds would also be led astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Christ.
We get a glimpse into the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here, where it was the opposite of the Tree of Life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gets you away from simplicity and sincerity, and into mixture, as far as in relationship with Christ. It makes things complicated and heady. If your life is complicated, you may want to take a look at which tree you're eating from as well.
Jesus said this in a different way when Martha protested her sister not helping her because she sat at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach. Jesus' response was that there was nothing else that really mattered, and He wouldn't take that away from Mary.
A people centered around Christ is all that matters. That's the battle that was going on from the first interaction between man and Satan, and it's still the same battle raging today. Satan is still tempting us to look to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the expense of Christ Himself.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
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