Author: whythedivinerevelation

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1 :4) When we learn about God, the understanding can come from two sources. It could be revealed to us directly or it could be an understanding that from someone preaching to us or from reading it through as doctrine trying to understand it through commentaries. What is the difference? What is the difference between receiving the light from God directly or receiving the reflected light of God?

There are many differences. Firstly, the direct light is a shining from God, based on the Spirit. The reflected light is a shining from men, based on the flesh. The direct light imparts the glory of God into us. The reflected light provides an understanding of the glory of God. Reflected light gives us an understanding, direct light is transformational.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai after being in the presence of God, the glory of God glowed from his face that the children of Israel could not bear to look at it so he wore a veil. Being in the presence of God, Moses was transformed. His face shone with the glory of God. However, the children of Israel who looked on Moses’s face and saw the glory of God reflected there, they were not transformed. But in fact, “to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts.” (2 Cor. 3:15) That is because any word that comes to us as a doctrine, as a commandment, as philosophy, “according to human tradition” (Col. 2:8), is reflected light. It comes externally. It is not “according to Christ” (Col. 2:8), which operates internally. “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” (Col. 2:8) “But whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” (2 Cor. 3:16) We cannot just know doctrines; we have to experience the Lord. We must come under the light of the Lord directly within our spirit. “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just us from [the] Lord, [the] Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)

When we receive the word today, realize we have to receive it directly from God. We have to experience ourselves the revelation directly from God. So we have to know the word. Receiving the word from a preacher or from a commentary that we read gives us only an understanding. Understanding the doctrine of the word without the Spirit is emptiness. But to be truly transformational so that our lives and our beings are changed we need to receive the word from God himself. That is why “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” (Heb. 1:1-2) God speaking to us is directly through the Son. The Son is the embodiment of all that God is. That is why “The Word became flesh.” (John 1:14) The Word is the ‘logos’ (Gr.) we have today in the Bible. It transmits the person of Christ into us. That is why people in the past considered the Bible holy, holding it up as something sacred. The ink on the paper is not holy, but the thoughts it conveys through the Spirit is. That is why, “The Word of God is living and operative.” (Heb. 4:12) It conveys to men who God is, not just as an understanding, but when combined with the Spirit, it brings into our inner being the realization of the Father and the Son. That is why “All Scripture is God-breathed.” (2 Tim. 3:16) When we read it, Christ comes into our being to be the reality of what is written as the Word. It is how the Father and the Son makes his home in our hearts. “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves me, he will keep my Word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.’” (John 14:23) When he makes an abode within our hearts, he is showing himself to us. “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” (John 14:20-21) To ‘manifest’ means to ‘disclose” (NASB), to ‘show’ (NIV), or to ‘reveal” (HCSB) himself to us. The revelation of Christ within us requires our loving of him. For his light to shine in our hearts requires our love for him. The more we seek him in this pure and honest way, coming into his presence, the more he reveals himself to us, transforming us.

The direct revelation of God to Paul happened on the road to Damascus. While he was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1), when “he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ And he said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And he said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.” (Acts 9:3-8) Saul, who knew the Old Testament and the laws so well, in the light of Christ, was blind. Though he thought he knew the doctrines and the teachings of God, and thought he understood the things of God so well, he was relying on his own understanding, an understanding ‘of the flesh.’ When he met Christ on the road to Damascus, he realized all that he had understood concerning the things of God had been in error. All that he had learned, to do the things of God, to preserve the nation of Israel, to uphold the law, his zeal as a persecutor of the church, his righteousness under the law, he had to “count as loss for the sake of Christ.” (Phi. 3:7) Realize this, brothers, so we would not remain blinded. Have we seen the Lord? Do we “count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord?” (Phi. 3:8) Have we “suffered the loss of all things and count them rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.” (Phi. 3:8-10) When we see Christ himself, it is no longer a doctrine, no matter how right or correct it may be, it is an experience in reality of who Christ is. We all need to see who Christ is personally and directly so we don’t work for a righteousness of our own. No wisdom of men, no doctrinal understanding, no excellent commentaries, no preaching by man will be able to transform you. You need to see Christ directly, not by the reflected light, but look directly on Christ within your spirit. See the Spirit in your spirit. Even wrestle with him (Gen. 32:22-32), fellowship with him (1 John 3:24; 2:27; 2 Cor. 13:13-14), rejoice with his Spirit within your spirit (Luke 1:47; Phi. 3:1-3; 4:4; Psa. 16:9). No one else can do this for you but you yourselves. You need to do this with Christ alone to be transformed. That is why we need to receive the light from God directly. It is transformational. Jacob became Israel. Simon became Peter. Saul became Paul. Realize we will also have a new name. (Rev. 2:17) The divine life in man transforms him from something that is of the flesh, to something that is divine in nature. That is why, “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4)

To demonstrate the difference between reflected light and direct light, lets use an example. In Eph. 3:17, Paul says, “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—“ We could understand that Christ is dwelling in our hearts helping us to be good people and doing the right things through our belief in him. That is reflected light according to doctrine. Now go to a quiet place, free of distractions, and say, “Lord, you are the Christ, the God Almighty who created this universe, the infinite God who emptied himself to become a man, humbling himself to even die on a cross, so my sins could be forgiven. My sins could be forgiven. Today, you live inside of me as the Spirit, being one with me, this hopeless creature, and transferred me into your kingdom. You did this by making a home in my heart so that I would have your nature, something that is divine so that I would be transformed to be the same image as you. You are not changing me only, but all the brothers and sisters you have put me with, making a home in their hearts, and transforming them to be like Christ so you can head up all things unifying us to create the one new man. This is how you will be the all in all.” This is what God might say to you. This is direct light revealed to us by the Spirit.

In his resurrection, Christ as the Spirit is able to come into us. Christ as the Spirit, in a tangible way, is the Word of God. That is why, “The Word became flesh…” (John 1:14). When we receive the Word, realize it is God as Christ who comes into us. “All Scripture is God-breathed,” (2 Tim. 3:16) breathed out by God for us to breath in. “But it is the spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.” (Job 32:8) What we breath in is actually “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph. 6:17) It is what gives us the power “to press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phi. 3:14) Today, “we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.” (Phi. 3:20-21) “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.” (Eph. 1:22) By transforming each one of us, we will behave and function as one, to build up the one Body of Christ.

 

 

The implications of understanding that man received the ‘knowledge’ of good and evil, but not the ability, leads us to treat others differently. Realizing that we “have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Rom. 7:18) leads us to see our brothers and sisters, indeed all of mankind, as under the same condition. That is why the world is in conflict, from our personal relationships to relationships between countries. Although the solution is “to love our enemies as ourselves and pray for those who persecute you,” (Mat. 5:44) this being the ultimate goal, on the way there, in a more practical way, Paul says, “Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Phi. 4:5 – ASV)

In dealing with our own sins, we need to be serious, and confess our sins, and not excuse ourselves before the Lord as it is a very personal internal matter between God and us. However, in dealing with other people’s sins, we need to have forbearance, realizing they also cannot follow their knowledge of good and evil because they do not have the ability. Forbearance is an external matter of how we treat those around us. Just as Christ is showing us forbearance all the time, the Christ in us is the reality of our forbearance to all men. As Christ is lived out of us, we are no longer legalistic with all men. We do not exert our judgement simply based on our knowledge of good and evil. In fact we will think in a similar way as Christ and forgive those around us and help them see Christ. “For God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” (John 3:17) That is forbearance. This forbearance should “be known to all men.” (Phi 4:5 – ASV)

Through forbearance, we are on the pathway to love. To love someone, realize we need to forbear them for their inability to do what is right. That is why 1 Cor. 13:4-7 tells us what love is. Most of what love is requires forbearance. “Love is patient, love is kind,…” (1 Cor. 13:4) Love “is not provoked, does not take into account the wrong suffered” (1 Cor. 13:5) Love “rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all thing, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor. 13:7) Each item of love is just an extension of forbearance. To be patient and kind requires forbearance. To not be provoked requires forbearance. To not take account of the wrong we suffered requires forbearance. To rejoice in the truth, when it finally comes out, requires forbearance. To bear all things, believe all thing, hope all things, and endure all things requires our utmost forbearance. Forbearance is the essence of love. When we forbear, we “love [our] enemies and pray for those who persecute [us].” (Mat. 5:44) Only then can we realize the reality of “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)

Realize that we, ourselves, are not able to do this. Our anger comes when we feel our rights are violated, especially when we know we are right. That is what the tree of the knowledge of good and evil has taught us. In fact, we even make up our own rules and act like gods. So Paul urges us to forbear. We have to remain in the enjoyment of the Lord, not grudgingly, but savouring the sweetness of his grace. “The Lord is at hand.” (Phi. 4:5) ‘At hand’ not only means he is coming soon in time, but he is ever present with us in space. The reality of Christ living inside of us is our forbearance. That is why when someone wrongs us, we can “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your [forbearance, reasonableness or gentle spirit] be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing.” (Phi. 4:5)

Anxiety comes when we think we have done wrong or we have lost control, or when we think others have done wrong, especially, when it affects the people close to us or ourselves. When this happens, realize the Lord is at hand. Realize that Christ is now living in you. When things that promote anxiety happens, realize the Christ in you. When we realize Christ is in us, that everything is “from him and through him and to him” (Rom. 11:36), our thinking is one of thanksgiving and rejoicing. We still request from our Father that everything will be fixed, but we will do it joyfully and with thanksgiving. That is why, “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.” (Phi. 4:6) Notice when we make our request known to God, the prayer and supplication is ‘with’ thanksgiving rather than ‘and’ thanksgiving. Our prayers and supplications for things that concern us are expressed in thankfulness, as we are still rejoicing, realizing the Lord has won the victory already. In this way, we can “be anxious for nothing.” (Phi. 4:6) “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phi. 4:7)

“The peace of God” is that sense that Christians all had when they realize that their sins were forgiven and they are somehow right with God when we first believed. Somehow our conscience became cleared before God when we first believed and we knew his sacrifice on the cross saved us. This is because, by the shedding of his blood, Christ has redeemed us and we now have peace with God, under a clear conscience. This is the peace offering in the Old Testament. “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb. 9:13-14) Our conscience is cleansed not by our abilities, which are only dead works because it is through the flesh, but by the blood of Christ, because it is through the eternal Spirit. That is how the Spirit establishes peace for us with God. We should seek and live in this peace all the time as the tangible reality within our spirit. It is how the second covenant, where “I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts” (Heb. 8:10), will be fulfilled. The peace of God in our spirits will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. That is how we ‘know Him.’ (Heb. 8:11) We need to “Let the peace of Christ rule in [our] hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” (Col. 3:15) ‘Rule’ in our hearts means to ‘arbitrate’ (Col. 3:15 – Recovery Version), with a sense of ‘let rule’ (brabeueto – Greek). Paul is saying, “The peace of Christ, let rule in your hearts,” to give the sweet enjoyment, the peace of fellowship with Christ in our hearts, ‘let rule’ in us. This is how the Spirit communicates with us. The peace of Christ is his fellowship and speaking within our hearts. Let the peace of Christ within be the arbitrator in all our decision makings so that we would “be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—” (Phi. 3:9) Our righteousness is not legalistic based on our judgements according to the law, but it is in Christ, based on grace, depending on faith in him.

This is how the Body is built together into one new man. “By abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two [Jews and Gentiles] into one new man, making peace.” (Eph. 2:15) We have to let the peace of God have the final say in all our decision makings. That is how we abolish all the ordinances we have established between our ‘churches.’ I wonder what the Lord would have said when we formed the great schism in our churches over the theology of Christ. Would he value the issue as we do? Realize we have simply exercised our knowledge of good and evil and headed up all things in us.. This is the same in our daily lives. Wou;d he value what we are fighting for? We need to finally focus on Christ and let Christ alone be our leader. “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is Christ.” (Mat. 23:10) When we let the peace of God rule in our hearts and minds, there will be no enmity, just unity. The peace of God among the brothers and sisters of the Lord, which surpasses all understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus and will give us the forbearance to build the one Body of Christ. “Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.” (1 Cor. 10:17) “There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling.” (Eph. 4:4) We will finally have the unity that God wants, that is his will (Eph. 1:9-10), to bring in the New Jerusalem, the foundation (‘jeru’) of peace (‘salem’). In this peace of God, we will enjoy him without anxiety. We can finally let our judgements based on our knowledge of good and evil be at peace without anxiety, and let the peace of God be the arbitrator of our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Instead of making decisions, judging them with our knowledge of good and evil, we let the peace of God arbitrate within our hearts and minds. When we live with the peace of God within our hearts and minds, we are following our conscience in our living. This restores us to a dependency on eating the tree of life rather than depending on our own knowledge of good and evil. We are dependent on the living Spirit within us to enlighten us rather than our own knowledge and judgement. That is how “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Phi. 4:7) Notice this is to ‘guard’ our hearts and minds rather than to ‘guide’ our hearts and minds. Realize, as believers, we are already “in Christ Jesus,” we do not need his peace to guide us there; we need his peace to guard us there. The peace of God keeps us in that sweet fellowship in Christ so we maybe “found in him.” (Phi. 3:9) What a blessing this is. The divine life that we were born into when we believed has placed us in Christ Jesus. In this life, we have a discerning Spirit who tells us what is of God. “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (John 1:4) This is how the divine life, the Spirit, operates in men to give them the light of life. This is how our souls are “enlightened by the light of life.” (Job 33:30) The “peace of God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1) becomes our enjoyment as we eat of him as life to us. “And you shall sacrifice peace offerings and eat there, and rejoice before the Lord your God.” (Deu. 27:7) In the peace of God, we have the rest and the enjoyment of who he is, “For from his fulness we have all received.” (John 1:16) We just need to remain in his fullness, enjoying all that he is. So “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say; rejoice!” (Phi. 4:4)

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me [Paul], practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.” (Phi. 4:8-9)

Our entire reality is composed of two realms. One we can see, and one we cannot. One that is tangible, and one that is not. One is in this visible universe, and one that is hidden, invisible to our senses, in a dimension outside of space and time, a 5^th dimension, if you may. [It is in a dimension that the physicists studying the fundament particles of this universe accommodates for in their theory of the universe. The mathematics of the M-theory in string theory appears to work for an 11 dimensional universe.] The Bible defines this as earth, the visible realm, and heaven, the invisible realm. The earthly realm we interact with by using our senses, the heavenly realm we interact with by using our spirit. One is physical; the other is spiritual. The interactions by man in the earthly realm are ‘fleshly’ resulting in ‘worldly’ outcomes. The interactions by man in the heavenly realm are ‘spiritual’ resulting in outcomes that reflect the divine. This is because man has fallen and can no longer take in the divine nature of God. So in the flesh we are of the human nature, in the spirit we relate to the divine nature of God. Christ came to bridge these two realms. “And He said to him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending of the Son of Man.” (John 1:51)

Christ is the bridge between the two realms of heaven and earth. As we live on this earth, the issue of our ‘fleshly’ dealings apart from the divine life is the world. When we dwell in the world, we have afflictions. When we dwell in Christ, the bridge between heaven and earth, we have peace. That is why Jesus said to his disciples, ‘These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We were separated from the divine when we gained the knowledge of good and evil and thought we could rule ourselves. But we could not do so in the flesh. The Old Testament shows us many examples of how man fails to keep the law. As Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments, the children of Israel were breaking them at the base of mount Sinai. This is just an example of how difficult it was to keep the law. To be truly righteous, man needs a divine element. That is why Christ had to be born of a virgin. His Father had to be God so he would have the divine nature. That is why He could follow all the laws and be without sin. We need this divine nature so we could follow the law. Realize the reality of righteousness is divine. To be righteous, we need to be divine. To choose heaven again, there needs to be a fulfilment of the righteous requirements of the law. (Rom. 8:4) So we need an intermediary. “I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” (John 1:51) That intermediary is Christ. We choose him to enter into the realm of the divine, the heavenly realm. From God’s standpoint, Christ is also the intermediary who has met all the righteous requirements of the law in us (Rom. 8:4) so God can reach man. When we surrender ourselves to him, the divine life, with its divine nature, will live out of us. In this realm, Christ gives us the life and nature of the divine, giving us the ability to follow our conscience, to follow our knowledge of good and evil. Realize, today, He lives out of us to give us the ability. Realize “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Eph. 6:12) He came to arm us fully (Eph. 6:10-20), arming us with himself as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) to give us the ability to express the nature of the divine God. “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” (Phil. 4:13) He has given us himself, “For from his fullness we have all received” (John 1:16), so we would have the ability when he is expressed out of us. That is why he came.

If whatever we do independent of God is considered sin, how do we avoid sin? (see blog “What is the nature of sin?”) How should we live?

Firstly, realize today everything is locked up under sin. “But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.” (Gal. 3:22 – NIV) The word in Greek for “locked up” has been variously translated as “imprisoned” (ESV), “captured” (ISV), “shut up” (NASB), or “concluded” (KJV) indicating that everything we do, apart from God, is of sin. When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he gained only the ‘knowledge’ of good and evil and not the ‘ability’ of doing the good. “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Rom. 7:18) When we say we have the ability in the flesh, realize that is the very nature of sin. Knowing good and evil is in the realm of God. It is a divine attribute, not a fleshly attribute. When man took from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he became like God. “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.’” (Gen. 3:22) Claiming we have the ability is saying we are like God, we can use our own abilities to live a righteous life, we are independent of God and can do things ourselves. So we begin to develop our own sets of what is good and what is evil resulting in human conflicts. We do what we want. That is what Satan did. He wanted to be like God and independent of him. Satan said in his heart (Isa. 14:13), “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” (Isa. 14:13-14) When we say in our hearts that we have the ability to do what is right in our flesh, that is Satanic, that is sin. What we express from our own fleshly nature, apart from the divine nature, is of sin. Today, this is what the world teaches us to do. Our individualism, based on our own opinions, is highly valued. In fact, it has become our standard of morality that, as long as we don’t harm others, whatever we do is ‘moral’. We now hold in great value our own determinations, our own judgments, of what is good and evil. Our government is no longer of God, but of ourselves. We now say we have the ability to follow our knowledge of good and evil. That is why the “Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin” (Gal. 3:22 – NIV). “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) So how do Christians separate themselves from sin? How are we going to be rescued out of the present evil age?

The only way is by believing in Christ. “The Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God the Father.” (Gal. 1:3-4) By believing in him, He has not only accomplished redemption for our sin(s), but the Lord Jesus Christ comes into our being as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) to give us the ability. He brings the very divine nature that not only has the ability to do what is right, but is the nature of righteousness, into us. The divine being was made sin, who knew no sin, so that when he lives his life out of us, who are of the flesh, his divine nature is expressed, giving us that ability to do the right. That is why, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Our expression of him becomes the evidence of the righteousness of God.

This is the highest calling. This is the highest purpose of man. We are the expression of the divine nature. We are to be transformed into the image of God. We are here to manifest and show to this world the invisible God. That is why we were created.

Today we have “reckon” (KJV) or “consider [ourselves] dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 6:11) To “reckon” ourselves is purely a passive activity. Just consider yourselves dead to sin. Christ has died on the cross already. He has defeated sin and made it powerless and of no effect. So when we are in Christ, consider ourselves to be the same – dead to sin. The divine nature within us, Christ living within, provides this reality. It transforms us. “Consider [ourselves]…alive to God.” (Rom.6:11) It transfers us to the realm of the divine. Christ has brought us to God. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison.” (1 Pet. 3:18-19) We, who have been imprisoned by sin, have through Christ, been put to death in the flesh and made alive in our spirits by his Spirit who is now living within us. We have been transferred into the kingdom of the Son – into the reality of what the Son has done – putting to death in the flesh and making alive in the spirit. “For he rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.” (Col. 1:3) In this kingdom, God has finally found a dwelling place. It is in us. That is why we are the temples of God (1 Cor. 6:19), with Christ being the first temple (John 2:3). “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.’” (Rev. 21:3-4) Our inability to do what is right, resulting in the punishment of death, is finally over. “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev. 21:5) We are finally alive in the Spirit. God has finally established his “tabernacle… among men” (Rev 21:3 – NASB; John 1:14 – YLT, Recovery Version) – his dwelling within men. “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23) God is making his home in us.

When God makes his home in us, we no longer live by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil — we live by the tree of life. We now live by Christ who is dwelling inside of us. We gain the ability to follow our conscience by realizing the Christ that is in us. Our decision making is no longer independent of God, as we maintain, not only our conscience, but the peace of God within us. Maintaining this peace keeps open the communication between God and us, keeping us in constant fellowship with him, so that every moment by moment, the God of peace is guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This is how we “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phi. 2:12-13) When we let God make the decisions with us, we will finally have holiness. Holiness is an intrinsic state of our being that comes from God. It is thinking like God. When this happens we will behave like Christ. We forgive and forbear each other, so that our conflicts and differences are no longer important to us. Instead we solve our problems based on the wisdom of Christ. We are happy with what we have, and are contented in whatever situation we find ourselves in. (Phi. 4:11-13) We will try our best with the dear ones God has placed us with so they may be saved from themselves and from this world that is full of afflictions. This is how his church is being built. This is building the Body of Christ. We allow Christ to be the lead to head up all things in himself, unifying heaven and earth. That fulfills God’s original purpose for creating man. “Making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to head up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (Eph. 1:9-10) So in the fullness of time, Christ is all and in all. That is “Why?”

When Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he became aware of something that was in the realm of God. “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:22). Man knew what was good and what was evil. He gained a conscience. He had the ‘knowledge’ of what was good and what was evil, but did not have the ‘ability’ to carry it out. “For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Rom. 7:18; see blog “Why do we have a conscience and why can we not keep it?”) When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, sin entered into the world. What is sin then?

The nature of sin is thinking that we have the ability to carry out our knowledge of good and evil. It is a nature because it is a spontaneous tendency we have in thinking we know what is right from what is wrong. When we think we know what is right, we no longer depend on God. We exert and exercise our own will. We no longer empty ourselves, as Christ did, (Phi. 2:7) so God could live in and through us. We are made for God to live through us — made in his image. (2 Cor. 3:18) We are the temples of God, (2 Cor. 6:16) the house of God where we are the many abodes. (John 14:2) When we say we can do it, it is the very moment we commit sins. That is why “sin came into the world through one man,” (Rom. 5:12) – at the very moment that Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his eyes were opened, he could see right from wrong, something in the realm of God, “becoming like one of us” (Gen. 3:22) — and he thought he could judge now and do what was right. But he could not. He had no ability in his flesh. The punishment for sin is death. That is why, “Just as sin came into the world through on man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12) Death is the lost of life, the divine live because something that is divine cannot live in something that has sinned. That is how we lost the eternal life of God. So we were expelled from the garden of Eden, “lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever —“ (Gen. 3:22).

Why is thinking that we have the ability to carry out our knowledge of good and evil sin? Firstly, we don’t have the ability. To think so is foolishness, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) “For I have the desire what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.” (Rom. 7:18) Secondly, we lack the power to do good so we need the power of the Spirit. The power to do good is divine, it is not human, of the flesh. That is why “we must serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code,” (Rom. 7:6) “for we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive.” (Rom. 7:6) Living as human beings, we all tried to follow the written code, which was impossible for us to do, because “while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” (Rom. 7:5) Being told what is good and evil only arouses our evil passions. That is why the deceiver Satan has deceived us all, (Rev. 12:9; 20:3) because we all think that we can follow our own abilities to do what is good and kept away from what is evil. Thirdly we create our own set of goods and evils, making our own determinations of what is good and what is evil. This is the corrupted thinking within men. We all begin to have our own set of rules that others will violate, causing division and animosity so we become enemies and no longer love each other. That is why a code of moral ethics seems so had to define. Finally, we no longer need God and have put ourselves on the thrones in our lives, defining our own rules and abiding by our own wills to do what is good or evil. This becomes our sin.

That is why “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase.” (Rom. 5:20) When we have the law, we try to fulfill its righteous requirements ourselves, so that makes the transgression increased. Not only are we not able to fulfill the law, we think we can. That is why men failed in following the first covenant because the method was incorrect. That is why Jesus was so much against the religious people at that time. They were trying to follow the laws of God, thinking they could do it – when they can’t. They did not have the ability. When religion sets up rules for men to follow and not rely on God, realize that is sin. It says, “We can do it ourselves, we can follow the righteous requirements of God ourselves.” When we teach people how to behave, or even worse, when we ritualize a set of practices and tell people if they do this, they will be saved, we have lost the reality of Christ. We are saying we have the ability and no longer need Christ. “I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for nothing.” (Gal. 2:21) His death would have no purpose. That is what religion tells us. It tells people if you do such and such, you will gain favour with God or even worse, if you practice in such a way, you will be saved. People who perform the practice without the reality of Christ as the life-giving Spirit, is doing so according to their own abilities. This becomes sin.

What exactly is sin? It is when we say, “I can do all things through [me] who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13) rather than “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” That is sin. When Adam ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he was able to discern what was good from evil. “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Gen. 3:5) Sin is that tendency or nature within us that says we know what is good from what is evil. We know how to be good. We have the ability to follow our conscience. We think we can —when we can’t. We sit ourselves on the throne within us and judge what is good and what is evil. We establish new rules of what we feel is good or evil. This is what causes chaos in our lives, in our interactions with others, in society as a whole, and even among nations. We have usurped the supremacy of God. That is sin.

Just like Satan, the archangel – “the anointed Cherub,” (Eze. 28:14) who wanted to be higher than God, causing the initial rebellion. He usurped the supremacy of God. When we exert our own wills, thinking we can do all things through ourselves, realize our thinking is just like Satan. We think we have the ability, but we do not. We think that we can judge, but we cannot. We think we can live independent of God, but we need to rely on him day by day, moment by moment. The only person who submitted his own will to God’s will in an absolute, complete and total way was Christ. That is why Jesus’s Father needed to be God and not of a man. A human cannot do this because he cannot submit his will totally to God. He is fallen and of the flesh so he has no ability. “The willing (our knowledge of good) is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” (Rom. 7:18 – NASB) A human cannot be without sin. Although all judgment was given to Jesus, (John 5:22) he did not come to judge, but to save us. (John 3:17) He did not practice exerting his own will in judgement. He did not practice or exercise his own will, but the will of the Father above. Even in death, he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mat. 26:39) That is how Christ defeated sin when he went to the cross for us. He had submitted his will totally to the Father above, even in going to the cross. That is why he is our burnt offering – he offered up every part of his being, throughout his living and all the way up to the cross, to the Father. That is why we have to identify ourselves with Christ as the burnt offering by laying our hands on him. (Lev. 1:4)

Sin therefore is very deceptive. Whenever we say we are doing something for God, realize it may be the sin within us. It dwells within so we are the children of the evil one. (1 John 3:10) Only in Christ are we freed from sin. That is why Christ had to come to live in man to be his expression. For whatever we do, whether it is right or wrong, if we do it within ourselves, is sin. We have to say within ourselves, “apart from (you I] can do nothing.” (John 15:5). Realize this within yourselves, so we don’t commit sins. Realize the sins that we commit are simply actions that are from our own desires, from our own wills, and not according to the will of God. Isn’t that how we define sins?

To clarify, because we are unable to carry out what we know as good and evil, we commit sins. When we think that we have the ability to — relying on ourselves — that is the nature of sin. When we are not dependent on God for our ability, that is sin. That is why, “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23)

When Christians believe, they have received Christ as the Spirit into their beings. Because the Spirit is eternal, as a consequence, Christians have eternal life and will live forever. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) When we believe him, we receive him into our spirits as the Spirit, (John 1:12) who is eternal, so we live forever. That is why “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6) From a very human perspective, the ‘reward’ of eternal life seems to be an ultimate motivation for believing in God. At the very extreme, some people think we can live our lives independent of God, exercising our own will, and believe when we are on our death beds to gain the reward – eternal life — and enter through the pearly gates into the ‘mansion in the sky’. This, however, is a concept that is flawed.

When we believe in God, it is not like believing that something is true, it is receiving something into us. That is why, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name,” (John 1:12) is separated by a comma – they both are the same things. This is crucial for understanding what believe is. When we believe, we receive Christ. That is why, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that every one who believes into (eis) Him would not perish, but would have eternal life.” (John 3:16 – Recovery Version) The word eis means into according to Strong’s Concordance and is translated into in multiple passages.. (Here is a list of just a few starting at Matthews — Mat. 2:11,12,13,14,20,21,22; 3:10,12; 4:1,5,8,12,18,24; and so on.) When we believe into God, realize we are not doing something externally, but something is happening internally. It changes us intrinsically. That is why, “I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and love them, even as You have loved Me.” (John 17:23) We are being perfected when Christ lives in us. That is what spiritual growth is. It is to perfect us today.

The purpose of our assimilating God, of our knowing him (Phi. 3:10; Heb. 8:11), of our eating of the bread of life (John 6:35), of our transformation into his image (2 Cor. 3:18), of our eventual perfection (John 17:23) is not to just make us holy, it is so God could be expressed through us. He is making a new creation that is divine and human. In divinity, he is invisible; in humanity, he is visible (Col. 1:15-17). Christ is both. That is why, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col. 1:16-17) In unifying heaven and earth according to the purpose of his will, (Eph. 1:9-10) he is being expressed through us. He is the heavenly element. We are the earthly element. He is transforming us inwardly into his image not just to make us better people, he is transforming us inwardly so we could express who he is. This happens to us individually and collectively. Individually, the goal of perfecting us is so we are expressing him. Collectively, the goal of perfecting us is to create the one new man, “that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,” (Eph. 2:15) who expresses Christ. Christ is expressed in a corporate fullness called the church, which is his Body, with him as the Head, expressing his will through the Body, putting all things under his feet. (Eph. 1:22-23) That is why we submit our wills to him. That is why we need to be transformed. Realize we are transformed not to just become holy and righteous, we are being transformed to his image so he could reach the “ends of the earth” (Acts 1:9) to unite heaven and earth. This begins first with those around us. Each member of his body affects those whom God has placed him or her with. That is how God is expressed today for his multiplication. That is why our day-to-day life matters.

Realize we are being transformed into his image – the image of a man whose will is fully for God. When he was on this earth, he lived a human life that was fully for God. As the man, Jesus’s human life was perfect. In his human living, he was “perfect, as [his] heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mat. 5: 48) His love for man was absolute, that he would die for us. He truly ‘loved us to death,’ as the saying goes. Although he was limited by time and space when he was living on this earth, he expressed the perfect humanity. His Spirit expressed “the fruit of the Spirit.” (Gal. 5:22) He expressed “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control,” (Gal. 5:22-23) in a perfect and complete way. Today, when Christ is manifested from us, it should be the same. We are not there yet, that is why we need to grow in Christ. Growing in Christ is not simply for overcoming sin, for perfecting us, for making us holy and acceptable to God, it is for all those whom God has placed us with. It is for all his members to be transformed to express him throughout the generation so God is no longer limited by time or space. That is why, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father,” (John 14:12) the work is left to Him working through us. Christian’s who have believed into Christ become God’s multiplication as the sons of God.

As the sons of God, we are to be transformed into his very likeness. Christ was “the image of the invisible God,“ (Col. 1:15) a God who was only described in words. This God took on substance in his creation and became a real person in the form of Jesus. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14) The very being of God, his nature, his attributes, his thoughts and his will, became flesh and took on a form in Jesus. By dying on the cross, as Christ, he multiplied himself to live within men so they could contain his life and express his reality. To make this precious to him, he let men have free will to choose him, as a bride chooses her bridegroom. He continues to cultivate his relationship with his bride until she and him, he and her, are one. “But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” (1 Cor. 6:17) At that juncture, “’when the Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure’ – for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints,” (Rev 19:7-8) the Bride would be transformed into his image. The Bride is the church, and the matured ones have made themselves ready, having been clothed in fine linen, now doing the deeds of the Lord. These ones are the blessed ones “’who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me. ‘These are the true words of God.’” (Rev. 19:9) We become the expression of the very being of God, his nature, his attributes, his thoughts and his will so “These are the true words of God.” Christians, who have matured in Christ, express the very being of God and so are the true words of God just as Christ was the Word made flesh, uniting heaven and earth. As such, they “have been crucified with Christ” (Gal. 2:20) and have “presented their bodies as a living sacrifice,” (Rom. 12:1) so they “came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:4-6) During this thousand years, they will simply enjoy the Bridegroom in the marriage feast of the Lamb. Because their hearts seek only the Bridegroom, they will be rewarded with Him in the marriage feast of the Lamb. They will “know him,” (Phi. 3:10) and be known by him, (Mat. 25:12) having been prudent to ensure they have sufficient oil in their lamps to meet the Bridegroom. (Mat. 25:2-3) They have “put on Christ,” (Gal. 3:27) “put[ing] on the Lord Jesus Christ,” (Rom.13:14) and have dressed themselves in fine linen, (Rev. 19:8) wearing wedding clothes when the “king invites them to the wedding feast of his son.” (Mat. 22:2) Christians who are admitted to the first resurrection will spend the millennium enjoying Christ as a bride enjoys her Bridegroom. Only those who have known how to enjoy the Bridegroom will cherish this as they have established a relationship with him. This enjoyment is actually the expression of the very God we worship…now expressed in us. Christians who have not known him will be left in outer darkness during this period. That is why the bridegroom says to the five virgins with insufficient oil in their lamps, “I do not know you.” (Mat. 25:12) This is the same for those who have “no wedding garment,” (Mat. 22:11) as they are unprepared for the wedding feast. They will be casted into outer darkness, a place void of Christ as light to them. They are void of the reality of what God is expressed through them. There will be great regret and anxiety and sorrow…a “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mat. 22:13) at that time. That is why we need to grow in Christ.

God’s glory was hidden in Jesus when he came as a man. “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father), full of grace and reality.” (John 1:14 – Recovery Version) His glory was expressed in the tabernacle of his body. Realize “In them He has placed a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber.” (Psa. 19:4-5) The Lord is living in us, the tents, as “the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5) This ‘sun’ shines forth, “And there is nothing hidden from its heat.” (Psa. 19:6) “And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13) In maturity, we will realize “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether.” (Psa. 19:7-9) “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold” (Psa. 19:10) because they will withstand his test of fire. (1 Cor. 3:12-15) “Moreover, by them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.” (Psa. 19:11) “If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive great reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.” (1 Cor. 3:14-15) Realize that we, who are his servants, have been warned to grow in Him. Realize though we have been saved, we might just squeak by, ‘as through fire,’ if we are not careful to surrender all to Him. Realize the great reward is Christ himself expressed in man.

The New Jerusalem is not a place we go to, it is what we become. As Christ is pictured as the foundation on which we build, the New Jerusalem is the result of this building. That is why only items of preciousness remain that has been tested by fire. In Revelations, Christ, as the one sitting on the throne, “And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper,” (Rev. 4:3) had the appearance of jasper; we, as the living stones, (1 Pet. 2:5) will have been “transformed into the same image” (2 Cor. 3:18), to be like jasper. That is why when the angel says, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb,” (Rev. 21:9) John is carried away in Spirit and shown the holy city Jerusalem. “And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of Heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” (Rev. 21:10-11) The living stones in this holy city is like jasper, exuding the appearance of Christ. “The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” (Rev. 21:16) Christ is the foundation on which the saints are built, (1 Cor. 3:11-12; Eph. 2:20; Mat. 7:24-27). So “The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper,” (Rev. 21:18-19) the foundation of Christ, and the transformed saints, the different members of the Body with its various functions, form the other precious stones. (Rev. 21:19-20) Jasper seems to be the nature of the entire wall, “The wall was built of jasper,” (Rev. 21:16) yet the saints are different precious stones. Christ not only forms the foundation, but shines forth from each of the saints producing works that are pure, with nothing hidden, that will withstand God’s test of fire, “while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.” (Rev. 21:16) So when the Bible talks about the “twelve gates were twelve pearls,” (Rev. 21:21) realize the gates are not to keep the ‘unqualified’ man out. In fact, the “gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there,” (Rev. 21:25) so the gates will remain open all the time. The pearl on each gate signify how Christ coats the saints so they could enter into the New Jerusalem. Just like a grain of sand is a suffering to an oyster, we are a suffering to Christ, but over time Christ coats us with Himself. We become like him, coated with Christ, putting him on layer by layer so we will be dressed in fine linen, until slowly a pearl is formed within us, as his Spirit grows in us to become the treasure hidden in our earthen vessels. By realizing Christ, the invisible Spirit will become visible in us. This is Christ in us, the hope of glory. (Col. 1:27) This is how we gain ‘entrance’ to form the holy city of God. Realize this within your spirit. The misconception of the “heavenly mansions” has been explained previously (see the blog “Why?”). We are the abiding places of God today. So the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is not a place we go to, but a place we become. That is why we need to grow in Christ.

Today, although we have the divine life in us, we are not fully transformed. We continue to struggle with God in our spirits. We do not submit completely to his will. This is pictured in the Old Testament when Jacob wrestled with God. The three figures in the Old Testament — Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – were a type of the Father, Son and Spirit. Abraham represented God, the father of a nation producing the people of God who were all supposed to be for God. By the redemptive work of Christ, God our Father, has produced “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession,” (1 Pet. 2:9) “who were born, not of blood nor the will of the flesh nor of the will of men, but of God.” (John 1:13) Isaac represented the Son, Jesus, as he was born unnaturally, from a barren woman, Sarah beyond her age of fertility. In fact, the Bible records the conception as, “The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.” (Gen. 21:1-2) The angel of the Lord reminds us of this, when “Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God.’” (Luke 1:34-35) Isaac was to be sacrificed by his father and, at the last minute, a lamb was used as a substitute. Christ became the lamb that was sacrificed by the Father for us. Jacob represents the Spirit. The Spirit today is the way we communicate with God. [That is why in the passage where the trinity is mentioned, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all,” (2 Cor. 13:14) the main attribute of the Father is love, of the Son is grace, and of the Spirit is fellowship.] It transmits to us as the Spirit of truth (reality) the realities of God. That is why Jacob had the dream of the heavenly ladder, forming a communication between heaven and earth, with the angels ascending and descending on the Son of Man. (Gen. 28:12-15; John 1:51) That is why Jacob said, “‘This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.’ So early in the morning Jacob took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it.” (Gen. 28:17-18) The Spirit today, poured out on the living stones, will be how the church, eventually becoming the holy city of God, will be built, “set up for a pillar.” That is why he said, “This stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house.” (Gen. 28:22) As with Jacob, realize “I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” (Gen. 28:15) It is, however, in our spirit that we continue to wrestle with God, as Jacob wrestled with God, “face to face.” (Gen. 32:30) In our wrestling, realize he is transforming us, changing us into a new creation (Gal. 6:15; 2 Cor. 5:17; Rev. 3:14) so we have a new name (Rev. 3:12), just as Jacob’s name was changed to Israel (Gen. 32:28). Often he touches us to show us our disability so we would rely on him. With Jacob, God touched his hip so he became lame, changing him so he would be dependent on God to walk for the rest of his life. It is in the spirit that we become aware of him who is in us. “Do you not realize this in yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” (2 Cor. 5:13) Each day, as we feed on Him, we come to know Him, depend on Him, and realize Him more and more…until the angel can finally says to us, “These are the true words of God,” (Rev.19:9) That is why we need to grow to maturity in Christ.

 

 

 

Christ is transforming us today, through the Spirit dwelling in us, into his own image. He gains his expression through us when we realize this. Realizing this is to “live by faith, and not by sight.” It is very hard to do. We need to surrender our wills to his will. We need to empty ourselves and humble ourselves, being obedient to the cross following Jesus’ example. We need to “put no confidence in the flesh.” Why do we need to do this? Because only then can God work through us. God will not force us because he gave us free will. (See the blog, “Are we predestinated or do we have free will?”) When we submit ourselves to him, surrendering our wills to him, our humanity with its frailties will be swallow up by his divine life. As we grow older in Christ, we begin to realize how poor we really are and how far we from his glory. We become even more thankful for his marvellous plan. God wants to express hus divinity through our humanity, so the invisible God is made visible in us. That is the preciousness of Christians today. God’s will, God desires are expressed in Christians today. “For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” (Phi. 2:13) So Christ is the head and Christians are his Body. God’s will becomes our will so he works through us. His expression becomes our expression, so we become one with God. That is why humans will judge angels. (1 Cor. 6:3) That is why we are the sons of God. (John 1:12) That is why, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat. 5:3)

Given this reality, how are we to meet? What should we be doing when we assemble together? As believers who are born of God, (John 1:12) we are all sons of God. To be sons of God, it means we all have received the Spirit, the divine and eternal life of God. (John 3:16) This Spirit within us is living and active, not dead like the law, leading and guiding us in our lives today. “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (Rom. 8:14) As such, “when [we] come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.” (1 Cor. 14:26) Every member should be led by the Spirit to speak. “For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged.” (1 Cor. 14:21) “It is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.” (1 Cor. 12:6-11) When we assemble together, it is the Spirit that should be empowering each one of us. It is God who should be working in each one of us, both to will and to do for his good pleasure.

I meet with a raggedy bunch of men whose primary purpose is to seek the truth, a “remnant…[who] seek the Lord.” (Acts 15:17) We all get together on a Wednesday evening, not because we have to, but because we want to. Each man has not “left [their] first love” (Rev. 2:4) for Christ, but “nourishes and cherishes” (Eph. 5:29) him. Each man desires to “know him”, (Phi. 3:10) earnestly “trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.” (Eph. 5:10) When we come together, each one has a lesson, a revelation from the Lord, (1 Cor. 14:26) so we can all speak, rather than listen to someone talk. We don’t “hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans,” (Rev. 2:15) so there is no leaders, no one ‘over the laity.’ (See blog “What does God not want of us?”) We have no ‘priesthood’ and no ‘laity,’ no one to ‘handle God’s affairs for us,’ but are all sons of God, each one of us desiring to form a deeper relationship with our Father. So we try our best to learn and to encourage one another (1 Cor. 14:21) so we could come to know him. We are organized and have an outline, but the Spirit is free to go where it wills, leading us as “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8) We are not afraid of the hard questions in the Bible. In fact, we enjoy solving its mysteries (1 Cor. 4:1) as they are revealed to us by the Spirit. (Eph. 3:3) We have no leader, but Christ is the head who is in us, willing and working for his good pleasure (Phi. 2:13) through each one of us, the members of his body. (Col. 1:18) Although we come from different denominations, there is no division among us. We are one body and one Spirit (Eph. 4:4; 1 Cor.10:17) before him and do not let our differences in practice get in the way. In fact, our differences are not important, only our oneness. We have formed a bond to care for each other and for his people, so in “everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving [we] let [our] requests be made known to God,” (Phi. 4:6) and practically help each other out. Although it is difficult to do, we love the unlovable because of the Spirit within – we pray and truly encourage each other to love those who have slighted us. We are surrendering our wills to his will, so he can work in us for his good pleasure. (Phi. 2:13) Why would this group of grown men do this? “Because of the great love with which he loved us…[God has] made us alive together with Christ.” (Eph. 2:5) The love of God is causing a hunger in us to love him back and to love one another thus fulfilling his great and new commandments. (Mark 12:30-31; John13:34) “For love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7) Perhaps this is the way of function when Christians assemble that God desires.

When we develop routines and ways of practice, we must be careful not to hold them as primarily important or to just function automatically. We need to guard against our “confidence in the flesh.” (Phi. 3:3) We need to “live by Spirit.” (Gal.5:25) Only in this way can God work in us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Phil. 2:13) Then our love for him will stay fresh and new, (Rev. 2:4) guarding us from being lukewarm. (Rev. 3:16) We must always realize that “apart from him, [we] can do nothing,” (John 15:5) and guard against thinking “[We are] rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” (Rev. 3:17) “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Gal.5:25) “For to me to live is Christ.” (Phi. 1:21)

On the Lord’s day, I meet with my local gathering of Christians who see this reality. There is no longer one speaker, but all God’s children speak. We come and spontaneously praise Him and sing to Him. Anyone can pick a hymn, anyone can pray, anyone can give praises to Him. Then after realizing our oneness with God, anyone can prophesies. Anyone can share about the reality of their walk with the Spirit during the past week. This is Christ expressed in each one of us. This is the establishment of His kingdom.

…This is bringing heaven to earth…

Understanding that Christ is living in man is not the same as realizing he is in us. One is factual knowledge, the other is a subjective experience in reality. One is based on our human intellect, the other is formed by the Spirit of God. One is a piece of knowledge, the other is a relationship with God. The Spirit of reality is living and active (Heb. 4:12) today causing Christians to realize that Christ is in them. (2 Cor. 13:5) As we realized that God is living inside of us, a relationship will begin to develop between God and us. We begin to enjoy his presence. “So that they may have my joy made full in themselves.” (John 17:13) Although he is holy, our relationship with God is no longer in fear, but we begin to find enjoyment in his presence, we begin to love him. Only the Spirit of reality can make the love for God real to us. Love cannot be taught, it can only be realized. Of all the people of the opposite sex, why did we fall in love with our spouse? We somehow knew this person was special and will gain meaning and predominance in our lives. Man cannot teach man to fall in love with God. It can only be realized as a truth within. The love for God is only realized as a truth in us by the Spirit indwelling us. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth [reality], whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:15-17) By dwelling in us as a Helper, the Spirit makes real the love for God in us. This love will affect every aspect of our being. We are like “a letter of Christ…written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (2 Cor. 3:3) God’s attributes and nature are written, not on tablets of stone, but on our hearts as a response to him in love, made real to us by the Spirit of the living God. God is inscribing himself into our beings. That is why in the second covenant, “And they shall not teach, each one his neighbour and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.” (Heb. 8:11) To know the Lord is simply to realize Christ, loving him with all our heart, realizing all his aspects and attributes – his very nature, living within our spirit. Realizing Christ is living in our spirit will bring us constantly into the enjoyment of his presence as we love him. As we love him, we would spend more and more of our time in his presence, “beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord” (2 Cor. 3:18) so we are “transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from [the] Lord, [the] Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18) The Greek text simply uses the words, the “Lord Spirit,” to denote that the Lord Jesus is no longer outside of us as an understanding, but a reality inside of us as the Lord Spirit. He no longer “dwells with you“ (John 14:17) like Jesus with his disciples; but through the process of death and resurrection, Christ now lives in us, “and will be in you,” (John 14:17) giving us God’s life as “the life-giving Spirit,” (1 Cor. 15:45) writing himself into our human hearts as the “Spirit of the living God,” (2 Cor. 3:3) transforming us into the same image like himself, just as from the Lord Spirit. (2 Cor. 3:18) Like Christ, who is the son of God, we humans have become the sons of God, made real to us by the Spirit, so we love our Father. “You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [sonship], by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (Rom. 8:15-16) This relationship of love between a son for his Father is made real by the Spirit in our spirit. This love is natural, spontaneous, vibrant and real. This love softens our hearts of stone, (Eze. 11:19; 36:26) so we love him. We love him. We love him with all our hearts, all our souls and all our minds. (Mat. 22:37) The intimacy of our relationship with God in what God wants. “Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of his possession? He does not retain his anger forever, because He delights in unchanging love.” (Micah 7:18) Our God delights in unchanging love realized in us by the Spirit. The love between God and man is one of the elements that will withstand the test by fire, (1 Cor. 3:11-15) lasting into eternity. “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psa. 136:26)

This love extends to all Christians as we realize Christ lives in them. (1 Cor. 6:19) They might do all the wrong things still, but we love them because God lives in them. Those who have received Christ are our brothers, (John 1:12-13; Rom. 8:29) holding a special place of intimacy with us. (2 Thes. 1:3) “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom you have given me; for they are yours.” (John 17:9) Being finite, we only love each other in a limited way, but realize Christ, living through us, loves each of us in a limitless way. (Eph. 2:4-7) He makes us one with his love. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and love them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22-23) The testimony to a world that does not know God is our perfect oneness in Christ living within us. It is not in our policies and agreements. “I made known to them your name, and will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26) Christ is continuing to ‘make known,’ to realize in us, that the Father is living in us so that the same love with which the Father loved Christ may be in us. We love our brothers as Christ loved them. This love is the expression of Christ in us – the “I in them.” (John 17:26) When we love our brothers, realize it is Christ loving them through us. Each member, young or old, holds unique value as they are the sons of God. The infinite God holds each member so special and unique to himself that each member to our Father is like our children to us. The realization that Christ lives in us, (2 Cor. 13:5) loving the brothers through us, breaks all the barriers we have set up between each other in the churches today. It unifies us into one Body through the one Spirit. (Eph. 4:4) It extends to all of mankind, as the Spirit realizes in us, all mankind are “earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7) capable of containing Christ, to become a part of his Body. We finally love our neighbours as ourselves in reality. (Mat. 22:39)

The ability to live righteously following our conscience becomes a consequence of our love for God through Christ living in us. That is why Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Mat. 5:17) We did not have the ability to live righteously, so God came to live in us, transforming us by living his life out of us, so we are able to keep the Law and fulfill what the Prophets said about him. (Luke 24:27) When Christ lives through us, we, ourselves, are no longer important, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” (John 3:30) but the love for those around us becomes most important, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17) Because we are finite, we cannot affect everyone’s lives. We can only affect the lives of people around us, loving them and providing them with the secret of how to follow their consciences by enjoying and loving the Christ living in them. Christ living out of us will show the people around us, whom we love, how to fill their gloves with the hand — how to fill the God-shaped void within their images of God — how to realize the Christ within their beings, fulfilling their purpose so they find contentment. When Jesus was living in human form on this earth, he was limited by space and time as a solitary man. Through his death and resurrection, he has released his life-giving Spirit, now living in all those who believe him. That is why he said to us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14) In resurrection, Christ is no longer limited by space or time. He is able to do greater works through all the Christians over many generations. We need to do our part by letting him work through us, realizing the Spirit within.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Rom. 12:1) “That according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breath and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:16-19) “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:38-39)