Thursday, June 25, 2009

UNWAVERING FAITH

Rom 4:19 19-22 With undaunted faith he looked at the facts - his own impotence (he was practically a hundred years old at the time) and his wife Sarah's apparent barrenness. Yet he refused to allow any distrust of a definite pronouncement of God to make him waver. He drew strength from his faith, and while giving the glory to God, remained absolutely convinced that God was able to implement his own promise. This was the "faith" which 'was accounted to him for righteousness'. (Phillips)

Now let's be honest. If we were writing Abraham's history according to the flesh, we would not have said what Paul did under inspiration. Here are the "facts" Paul chose not to disclose:

Gen 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to him who is one hundred years old? Will Sarah, who is ninety years old, give birth?” Abraham said to God, "Oh, that Ishmael might live before you!"

How could Paul say that Abraham NEVER wavered in faith, and remained ABSOLUTELY convinced of what God had said, when we see Abraham questioning God here, albeit respectfully? Because God doesn't look at what appears to be as we do. He miraculously, as a foreshadowing, worked in Abraham to believe as he did. The fact that he struggled some to believe it in no way denied the reality of his unwavering belief. He did not take away Abraham's humanness, but rather used it for his glory. There is a big difference between what Abraham expressed and the doubting that James said amounted to double-mindedness. Be encouraged today even in times when we wonder how, and if, knowing that in God's eyes, they are not expressions of doubt, but a pushing through of the reality from a heart that yearns it to be so. That yearning IS the reality.

Ron

Saturday, June 13, 2009

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BURNT OFFERING

The burnt offering is among the most meaningful of all the sacrifices found in scripture. I have elaborated already to some extent concerning the sin and trespass offering. Now I would like to touch on the burnt offering, so let's see what we can discover as we consider this together.

First of all, I would like to touch on the very word "burnt" offering. While it is true that this particular offering is burned by fire, the word for "burnt" actually describes an action resulting from the burning, not the burning itself. The word means "ascent", and is describing the smoke that rises or ascends from the offering, along with, as we will see, the sweet odor as well, to the nose of God. Therefore I would translate it as an ascent offering. This is an offering that is always spoken of as pleasing to the Lord. So let's go to the first instance of this type of offering that is specifically mentioned. Although I believe that Abel offered this type of offering, the first mention of it specifically as a burnt, or ascent offering, is found in Genesis 8, so let's pick up the account there:

Gen 8:20-1 Noah built an altar to Yahweh, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. Yahweh smelled the pleasant aroma.

We can see that, before the law was given to Moses, this type of offering was already understood and practiced by those who loved God. A couple of quick points to note here.

1. They consisted of only clean animals.

2. The result was, as mentioned above, that a pleasant aroma went up to God.

That this took place before the law, and that it was pleasing to God is important to keep in mind, as we will see later in the study. Let's now go to the next instance, one that is familiar to most:

Gen 22:2 He said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and go into the land of Moriah. Offer him there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will tell you of.”

In this instance we see that Abraham was to offer up Isaac, his only son, as an ascent offering. This foreshadowed the offering up of God's own Son, Jesus. Remember that, while most consider the sacrifice of Jesus only in relation to sin, which he certainly did, he was also an ascent offering as well, which was done for totally different reasons than sin offerings.

Now as to the specifics of this offering, we find that written about in the book of Leviticus. First we will look at the following:

Lev 1:1-9 Yahweh called to Moses, and spoke to him out of the Tent of Meeting, saying, “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When anyone of you offers an offering to Yahweh, you shall offer your offering of the livestock, from the herd and from the flock. “‘If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall offer it at the door of the Tent of Meeting, that he may be accepted before Yahweh. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. He shall kill the bull before Yahweh. Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood and sprinkle the blood around on the altar that is at the door of the Tent of Meeting. He shall flay the burnt offering, and cut it into pieces. The sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar, and lay wood in order on the fire; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall lay the pieces, the head, and the fat in order on the wood that is on the fire which is on the altar; but its innards and its legs he shall wash with water. The priest shall burn the whole on the altar, for a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Yahweh.

There is a lot here, so let's highlight a few poignant things to consider:

1. It must be without blemish.
Jesus was one who had never sinned, and was without blemish.

2. It was to make atonement.
Jesus is our peace (Eph 2:14)

3. The blood was splashed on the altar.
The life is in the blood, and it is Jesus' blood that cleanses. To present the blood in that way was to present his life.

4. The skin was removed.
This was to be an aroma pleasing to the Lord. Burning flesh and hair on it is a horrible smell, and
I am not sure about this, but perhaps this signified that what Jesus was outwardly in the flesh was not to be part of the sacrifice, since it was sinful flesh, which he had put off when he was raised from death, putting on immortality in a glorified body.

5. The body was cut into pieces.
The body of Christ are many-membered, consisting of each of us who make it up.

6. The pieces, the head, and the fat were laid on the fire.
The body of Christ is one, every part put on the fire as acceptable to God.

7. The inner parts and legs washed with water.
The inner parts speak of the inner man, which has been washed with the water of the word. I am not sure what significance the legs have, however, I suspect it may have something to do with the washing of the feet that Jesus did with the disciples, which example he set for us to do for each other.

8. Was a pleasant aroma to God.
This is the significance of this sacrifice. God was perfectly and completely pleased with the life of his son being offered.

Here is further instruction concerning this offering. Let's pick up some insights from it:

Lev 6:8-13 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, ‘This is the law of the burnt offering: the burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning; and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. The priest shall put on his linen garment, and he shall put on his linen breeches upon his body; and he shall remove the ashes from where the fire has consumed the burnt offering on the altar, and he shall put them beside the altar. He shall take off his garments, and put on other garments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not go out; and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning: and he shall lay the burnt offering in order upon it, and shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. Fire shall be kept burning on the altar continually; it shall not go out.

1. Must be burned all night until morning.
When Jesus was on earth, he was the light of the world. He spoke of that time as the day:

Joh 9:4 I must work the works of him who sent me, while it is day. The night is coming, when no one can work.

The night came when he went back to his father, giving up his spirit. This was typified by darkness covering the land. That 3 hour period of darkness was when Jesus burned as an offering totally and completely acceptable to God.

Rom 13:11,12 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed. The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the works of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.

When he left, the world continued in the darkness of night spiritually. While believers were in the light, and of the day, as Paul said here,

1Th 5:5 You are all children of light, and children of the day. We don’t belong to the night, nor to darkness...

We still live in a darkened world, although not belonging to it.

2. This fire was to be kept burning at all times, day and night.
This is unlike other sacrifices which were done at specific times and for specific occasions. This sacrifice was a constant daily reminder of peace and satisfaction.

at this point I am working on incorporating the rest of these scriptures into this teaching. To be continued...

Lev 3:1-5 And if his offering is a sacrifice of peace offering, if he is offering it from the herd, whether male or female, without blemish, he shall bring it near before the face of Jehovah. And he shall lay his hand on the head of his offering and slaughter it at the opening of the tabernacle of the congregation. And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall sprinkle the blood on the altar all around. And he shall bring near from the sacrifice of the peace offering a fire offering to Jehovah, the fat which covers the inward parts, and all the fat on the inward parts, and the two kidneys, and the fat on them, on the loins, and the fatty lobe by the liver beside the kidneys, he shall remove. And the sons of Aaron shall burn it as incense on the altar, on the burnt offering on the wood on the fire, a fire offering of a soothing fragrance to Jehovah.

Here we see 2 things presented, blood sprinkled and fat burned. These represent life and the best or choicest parts inside.

This sacrifice is mentioned by Paul when he wrote of how Christ presented himself to God for us:

Eph 5:2 and walk in love, even as Christ also loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for an odor of a sweet smell.

The fact that God was totally satisfied and pleased with his son means that he is with us as well, for we are his body.

We know that the sacrifice for sin was done once for all time. However, what about this sacrifice? The fact that the fire was never to be put out tells us that this is a sacrifice that is ongoing in its fulfillment today with us. Paul again mentions this sacrifice, this time however with reference to the material help given to him by those in Thessalonica:

Php 4:16-18 Because truly in Thessalonica you sent to my need, both once and twice. Not that I seek a gift, but I seek the fruit multiplying to your account. But I have all things and more than enough; I have been filled, receiving from Epaphroditus the things from you, an odor of sweet smell, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God.

Notice that those things were considered as a sacrifice in God's eyes.

2Co 2:14-16 But thanks be to God, the One always leading us in triumph in Christ, and the One revealing through us the odor of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a sweet smell to God because of Christ in those being saved, and in those being lost; to the one, an odor of death unto death, and to the other, an odor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?

Even though we live in bodies of flesh, in which dwells sin, and outwardly decays, inwardly we are indeed a sweet smell to God. That odor is being revealed through us in knowledge of him, which is not speaking about facts of head knowledge, but experience. In other words, as we experience the life of God in and through us, he, the consuming fire, burns within us continually and that odor is ever revealed and God is constantly reminded of his total and utter satisfaction in you and me.

Ron

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

TRYING TO HELP A FRIEND AGAINST PORN

I wanted to share an answer from my experience to a question asked about how to help a brother who is trapped in pornography. He describes that the brother sends him a report to help him monitor his website usage, hoping that will help him conquer this, which the brother who wrote the question doubts will help:

I want to just share a little of my own experience concerning this. First of all, I am glad you recognize that "accountability" to you in the form of reporting his web usage will not help. For myself, when I tried that years ago, I merely found other avenues to get my "illusion fix." Two things come to mind as I consider my struggles over this:

1) My wrong perception about that which was created by God as good, and pure.

2) My attempts to conquer this sin amounted to a denial of the fact that it has been conquered in Christ already. The more I tried, the more I failed. And for that, I now thank God. I know and trust that every time your friend, whom you care for so much, "struggles" against this, he too is buying into that wrong perception, creating an illusion of something he thinks will satisfy him. I can tell you from experience, it sure as hell doesn't. And I know also that he will continue to fail, which is exactly what needs to occur in his life. It is only in his human attempts failing, as they were in mine, that God teaches us NOT to put confidence in the flesh.

Now you may think fighting against things we see as wrong has nothing to do with fleshly efforts, but it is exactly that. Consider that Paul dealt with the same thing with regard to lust, whatever form it took for him. He found that the more he wanted to avoid it, the more it became manifest in his life. Simply put, law does what law is designed to do, make sin abound, then condemn us for breaking it. Paul also was buying into the illusion that lust presented him, which was that whatever he was lusting after became evil, by his trying to avoid lusting after it, instead of pure, which all things are to us. He also was found himself trapped in the illusion that he would find satisfaction, or have some emptiness filled, by the thing he lusted for.

For Paul, and for me, and for your friend, the answer is simply Jesus Christ. He has set us free. He has so filled us that we are lacking in nothing, and in need of nothing to fill any emptiness. He has brought things that were once considered evil, such as a woman's body, in this case, and shown us that it is pure. For me, I thank God I failed in my attempts, but got to the point where I could look at a woman and appreciate her beauty, to see her for who she truly is.

Where I work, there is a nudist colony we service, and everyone at work makes all the normal jokes about it, and pretty much hate going in there. When I first started having my times of going in there, as one of Jehovah's Witnesses at the time, and even for a while after I left them, I too had a very difficult time going in there, because all I could see was through the old eyes of "what if I lust?" "What if I try turning my head and it becomes so obvious that it proves to be embarrassing to me?" Do you see the illusion I was under? Is the body really a thing of shame, a source of impurity? Of course not, but I had been duped into thinking of it that way.

Let the reality, and I mean reality, of what Christ has accomplished and where this friend of yours stands now, smash through those false perceptions he is continually tripping over. God will continue working this out in him, he can truly be trusted, in spite of how things looks outwardly.

Interestingly, I have had opportunity to speak to some in that nudist colony, and when asked about their choice of living this way, they basically say the same thing: The human body is a thing of beauty, and they are not ashamed of it. And of course, we know there are, what we would term, "primitive" peoples, that have no problem living that way as well. And interestingly, it seems the more rigid the rules become, the easier it is to "break" them. I think of the Muslims, who make their women dress from head to toe. You would think lust would be pretty much a non-issue there, but consider this quote from this website where a fashion show in Iran is spoken about:

Women are to be covered from head to toe, not to protect themselves, but to protect the men from being caused to lust over a sinewy ankle or exposed elbow.

Now, while we here might laugh at such a "ridiculous" idea, lusting over an elbow, consider the illusion being produced here, one that says you are missing something, and if you could just see that something, you could feel satisfaction. Of course, the more that would be shown, would only make it so that one would want to see that something that isn't shown, to again feed that illusion of emptiness and need of being filled with what cannot fill.

Christ, and his reality, my brother, is the only deliverance.

Ron

I later added some further thoughts that I hope will help to understand that it truly must be of him, and not out of us:

I came to accept the truth that even in the act of looking at porn and then masterbating to enjoy the release, I was just as much the righteousness of God, and holy, and perfect, as I was before the act. I did not suddenly stop looking, but I came to see that I did not need it to be fulfilled, that I was already. The appeal was no longer there. My view of women changed as well, for I began to see them in the same way I saw myself. Like any other revelation, I cannot say it was something I did of myself, but something God brought about in me. I just know that the more I tried to force myself to stop, thinking somehow it was affecting God's view of me, the more I felt condemned because not only was I not stopping, I was in fact wanting it all the more. I also found that the little periods of time I thought I had it conquered were times I inwardly took pride in myself for what I thought I finally accomplished. Thankfully I eventually failed again, and can now truly say it was not of me. I have absolutely nothing to boast of now in myself except he who is our life, Christ alone.

All you can share, in my opinion, is the reality of who he is in Christ, and who Christ is in him. In what he is going through, our Father is busy at work in him, revealing something far more meaningful than merely the symptom of the evils of porn addiction. He is busy revealing himself in your friend.

Php 3:15-16 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, think this way. If in anything you think otherwise, God will also reveal that to you. Nevertheless, to the extent that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule. Let us be of the same mind.

Paul's advice is so sound. It is up to God to reveal, and until he does all we can do is walk in what we know. We do not have to feel condemned for what we don't. We can trust that whatever state we find ourselves in, and whatever struggles accompany that, he is using it to teach us not to put confidence in the flesh, and he is also slowly refining and revealing something all will see, a corporate glorious Christ.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

THE LAST SHALL BE FIRST

Mat 20:16 So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Mat 19:30 But many will be last who are first; and first who are last.

Luk 13:30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last.”

Mar 9:35 He sat down, and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”

According to Jesus, we see a totally reversal of how the world thinks. In the world, it is only those who strive to be first that end up first. That is how life in general operates, in sports, at work, etc. Of course, Jesus, in saying this, was showing how the wisdom of God is foolishness with man. It cannot be comprehended by the natural mind.

So now that we know the secret to being first, the question becomes, how do we put ourselves in last place in order that we may end up first?

What would your answer be? Would it be to let others be ahead of you always, no matter where you are? Maybe you are in line at a fast food restaurant, so you make sure you are the last one in line. But then dang it, someone comes in and gets behind you, so you now have to let them go ahead. After a while of this happening, you realize that you are never going to eat, so hopefully you give up.

Now yes, I made a funny. At least it was funny to me. :) We know that eating at a fast food restaurant is not what Jesus had in mind when he said that we have to strive to be last. But then again, did he even say we have to strive at all?

Consider those verses again. Much of what is taught concerning them has turned simple reality into a system of works for rewards. Yes, Jesus was simply stating reality, for those who were last were last, not because of any effort on their part, but simply because of their state in life. On the other hand, concerning those who were first, that Jesus spoke about, according to Mark's account, there are those who seek and try to be first. That is again, the way of how this world operates.

So if Jesus was not giving a principle for his disciples to work on, in trying to be last, what was he saying then? He was basically saying that there would be those who would seek to be first, and that they would end up last. In contrast, he also said that there would be those who would be last, with no mention of seeking at all, who would end up being first. This I believe played out in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

Consider who he was speaking to. Here is one example, found in Luke:

Luk 13:24-30 Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God. And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.

Compare this with this account, where Jesus speaks of the faith of a gentile Centurian asking for healing for his servant.

Mat 8:10-12 When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to those who followed, “Most certainly I tell you, I haven’t found so great a faith, not even in Israel. I tell you that many will come from the east and the west, and will sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The children of the kingdom he speaks of here are the natural Jews. Those from the east, west, north, and south are those who are not. The Jews, in particular, the religious leaders, sought to be first, and gave a very good appearance of it to everyone. The Jews as a whole sought after righteousness, a measuring stick to pronounce them first among the nations, and better than them.

Yet there were others who did not seek after righteousness, others who were simply "last" in the world's view, not only gentiles, but prostitutes, tax collectors, and those labeled as "sinners."

Mat 21:31 Jesus said to them, “Most certainly I tell you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering into the Kingdom of God before you.

Paul also wrote about this very thing when he said:

Rom 11:7 What then? That which Israel seeks for, that he didn’t obtain, but the chosen ones obtained it, and the rest were hardened.

and again:

Rom 9:30-31 What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who didn’t follow after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith; but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, didn’t arrive at the law of righteousness.

Here is the good news. All those who sought after being first, as a nation and as those in positions in authority, did not receive what they sought after. Behind the scenes, God put everyone in him and killed the distinction between first and last. How so? The last has been done away with in Christ! In the new creation, there is only Christ, who is first in all things. Everyone in him is equally in the same place. Not by effort, but by God's doing in Christ. This illustration Jesus gave demonstrates this reality so vividly to me.

Mat 20:1-16 “For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace. To them he said, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise. About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, ‘Why do you stand here all day idle?’

“They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.’ When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.’

“When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius. When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household, saying, ‘These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!’

“But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me for a denarius? Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you. Isn’t it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?’ So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

The gist of this illustration is that even though these workers all worked for different lengths of time, each received the same agreed upon wage. Those who worked the longest compared themselves to the ones who worked less and expected to be given more, in other words, to be treated as first.

Now, I want you to think about this. We know that Jesus did end things by saying that the last would be first and the first last. However, look again at the illustration. Who actually was truly last? In reality, no one was, because they all received the same wage! Their perception was that they were last, by expecting to receive something they did not get. In reality, everyone was treated the same, given the same earnings. In Christ, it is the same. We all receive Him. He is that denarius, for he is enough for today, and every day that is today. Those old days of comparisons and strivings to try to make yourself last (as if that could happen) or for others, trying to be first, are over. We can thankfully give it up. Rest in him who is the First and the Last. He is truly all in all.

Ron

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

GOD CLOTHED THEM, SHAME DEALT WITH

Back in June 2008 I wrote an article having to do with nakedness, the physical shadow and spiritual reality of it. I wanted to add a small part to what I shared back then that I have come to understand.

In that article, I spoke of my belief that Adam and Eve were formed originally exactly as God intended them; that they were not naked physically. What they came to perceive as nakedness after they ate of the tree as a perception of shame toward God, resulting from a lack of intimacy with God and also the death that they experienced. This is why they attempted to cover themselves.

I have since come to understand that this sense of shame has, at least in some sense, to do with a distorted view of Life. Something Paul said has helped me see this. It is found in his letter to the Corinthian believers:

1Co 12:23,24 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it,-ESV

These unpresentable parts that God gives greater honor to I believe to be the midsection, consisting of the buttocks and reproductive organs of man and woman. I believe this is significant because it is those parts which both cause the greatest shame (when either is exposed in front of others) and yet bring the greatest pleasure and joy (in the sex act and in the birth of a child), in other words, both good and evil come from that part of the body. Consider the fact that in most civilized cultures today, it is only when one's genitalia is exposed that one is considered naked. I think this is from that built in awareness that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve.

What do the reproductive organs represent? Life. Life expressed in two ways. First, from It is from these organs that life is brought into the world. It is also from these organs that a man and his wife experience the greatest expression of life, their oneness of flesh.

Ultimately, nakedness is a distortion in our perception of Life. Before I move on to making the spiritual application to this, let's go to the only place in scripture where God goes into detail about clothing. It was under the law covenant, and it concerned the priesthood. This ties into this whole idea of Life, and also provides another glimpse into the specific area of the body when nakedness is under consideration.

The entire account can be found in Exodus 28. These priests had to wear specific items in order to minister to the Lord. One of the pieces he speaks of is linen undergarments.

Exo 28:42 You shall make for them linen undergarments to cover their naked flesh. They shall reach from the hips to the thighs;

Notice that it was designed to cover from the hips to the thighs, which is the area of the reproductive organs and the buttocks. Notice also that it is this area that is called "naked flesh."

Remembering that in Christ all these physical things are fulfilled spiritually, when God clothed Adam and Eve with animal skins, he was providing a picture of what he would do through his Son. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 3 and 4:

2Co 5:3,4 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

There is another dimension of nakedness, and of clothing, being written of here by Paul, the fulfillment of all the physical types and shadows found in Genesis and Exodus. To Paul, to be without a body is to be naked, for he speaks of the physical body as a tent, a temporary dwelling. Paul further defines being clothed in the real and true sense as being swallowed up by life. God is life, and his life is found in his Son, in whom we are and we in him.

The area of nakedness, consisting of those parts concerning Life and connectedness on the one hand, and shame and disconnectedness on the other, that Adam and Eve experienced, was primarily a spiritual issue, one that Christ came to remedy. In his death he became the Life of the new creation, which swallows up all that is temporary. In his death he also became connected with man, united in a way that was permanent. Those are the "good" aspects of the naked flesh given more honor by God.

He also dealt with the negative aspect, and all that came out of it-namely, shame. Remember that shame was the first emotion that Adam and Eve experienced when their eyes were opened, which is why they unsuccessfully tried to cover their shame and ended up hiding from their Creator. We have all heard of how Jesus dealt with our sin on the cross, but did you know that he also dealt with our shame there also?

When Jesus died on the cross, he was exactly as Adam and Eve were, totally naked. Historically this is how crucifixions took place, to provide the most humiliating death. Even though the Church has typically depicted Jesus as wearing a loin cloth he did not. John's account tells us that When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, (Joh 19:23)

So our Lord hung there, for everyone to see, totally in a state of shame from their perception. However, Jesus did not succumb to it, but instead he conquered it. We read about this in Heb 12:2

Heb 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

The shame he despised I do not believe was that of the cross, but of himself. The definite article can be used to indicate possession, which is what I believe is the case here. Jesus endured the cross, despising HIS shame, the shame of being naked. I believe this is significant, in that he, by despising, or disregarding, shame, put an end to the shame that Adam brought into the world. This shame, brought about by the consciousness of sin, is no more! Because of this, the saying is true:

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. (Tit 1:15)

We are the pure, knowing that all things are pure to us, because we have no more consciousness of sin. This does not mean we ignore it, but we recognize we have been removed from it, and it from us. This is why Paul could honestly say such things as:

Act 23:1 Paul, looking steadfastly at the council, said, “Brothers, I have lived before God in all good conscience until this day.”

Act 24:16 Herein I also practice always having a conscience void of offense toward God and men.

2Ti 1:3 I thank God, whom I serve as my forefathers did, with a pure conscience. How unceasing is my memory of you in my petitions, night and day

Heb 13:18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.

1Co 4:4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself. Yet I am not justified by this, but he who examines me is the Lord.

And you know what? We have been brought into the same as Paul, where we too can with confidence say the same.

In summary, God has given created us with the ability to express life and union. Through sin, that which was Life and union was perceived as shame and separation. Through Christ, the sin and separation were dealt with, and he himself became the Life and union of God and man, so that we can enjoy what God had in mind all along, he being our Life and God being all and in all through our being in God (which always was) and now, through God being in man.

Ron

TABERNACLE OF DAVID

The 40 year period of the tabernacle of David is a beautiful picture of the 40 year period from 30 to 70 AD. Consider this please:

During that 40 year period there were two tabernacles existing at the same time, the tabernacle of Moses in Gibeon, and the tabernacle of David in Zion.

The tabernacle of Moses had the priests there performing their usual rituals of sacrifices and such, but the presence of God was not there, since the ark was not there. This pictures the temple during the 40 years of 30 to 70, where the presence of God was no longer there yet they were still sacrificing and performing all the duties of the temple.

Over in Jerusalem, on Mt. Zion, we have the tabernacle of David, a simple tent structure, inside of which is God's presence. There was only one sacrifice mentioned here, which took place during its inauguration when the ark was placed inside. This pictures the one and only sacrifice needed of our Lord Jesus Christ.

There was also praise and worship, life filled with joy exhibited here, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Also, amazingly, there was no dividing curtain separating the people from the presence of God. They were in his presence, seeing him unabated. This pictures beautifully the first century believers being in the presence of God, apart from consciousness of sin, beholding the Lord face to face.

This 40 year period of the tabernacle of David pictures beautifully the 40 year period of the 1st century Church, in whom was found the promise fulfilled, the tabernacle of David was indeed rebuilt. This fulfillment is mentioned by James when he said:

Act 15:14-17 Simeon has reported how God first visited the nations, to take out of them a people for his name. This agrees with the words of the prophets. As it is written, ‘After these things I will return. I will again build the tabernacle of David, which has fallen. I will again build its ruins.
I will set it up, That the rest of men may seek after the Lord;
All the Gentiles who are called by my name,
Says the Lord, who does all these things.

What a wonderful picture we see expressed in what occurred during that 40 years of David's time, things speaking for us today of pure joy and openness.

Ron

Monday, June 1, 2009

HOW DO WE GROW?

People talk quite a bit about growing as a believer, yet we find that they betray the very nature of growth by what they say about it. I have read articles that dealt with:

Secrets of Christian growth
Steps to growing as a Christian
Keys to Christian growth

When you look into what the articles say, you will find that even though they use lots of scripture, the book ends up not describing growth at all. Please consider this following simple principle:

Growth is something that happens to you, not something you make happen.

There can be a lot of great things written in those books and articles, but the underlying misconception in every one of them is that growth becomes something YOU make happen, that it is dependent on you. It actually, although making use of "spiritual" things, becomes an activity of the flesh.

Another thing that most of these articles betrays is another principle of growth:

Growth is the revelation of what is already there, not the producing of what is not there.

To use this illustration, growth ends up being defined more as to the making of a car. You get a series of parts, each separate from the other, each incomplete in itself, and add part to part to make a car. When you examine closely much of what is written about growing as a believer, it is in reality more describing the putting together all of these things you are not doing, or not doing enough, adding these things to you so that you end up "growing" in the process, becoming something and someone you were not before. That is NOT growth.

The growth of a believer is spoken of in a couple of ways:

1) as a tree

2) as a birth

Another analogy used, while not directly considered growth, is appropriate here:

3) as pottery

Let's first consider a tree. It comes from a seed. Now, when you look at a seed, where are the branches of the tree? What about the trunk? Or the roots? Leaves? In looking at the seed, none of these things APPEAR to be there, do they? So where are they? THEY ARE IN THE SEED. Every branch, root, leaf, and part of the trunk is contained in the seed in dna form. The seed is COMPLETE in itself. Nothing needs to be added to it. By this I am not referring to the need for soil, water, and sunlight. Those are needed, but they do not add to the already complete seed. Soil, water, and sunlight provide the environment by which the completed seed becomes revealed as a full-fledged tree. In the case of a seed, it must be planted in the soil, then water and sunlight must be provided. The outer casing containing the life within the seed then dies and decays, and the life proceeds out of the casing, slowly but surely being revealed more and more as the tree it already was in seed form.

In the same way, our life, the life of Christ himself, is complete, yet not fully revealed to us and the world. John spoke of it as "not yet revealed what we shall be." Like the seed however, we are complete in him, and out of that completeness, what we call growth occurs. Now, let's look at one perspective of growth from the standpoint of a plant and the one taking care of it.

Who plants the seed, waters it, makes sure it gets enough sun, moving it if they have to? Not the plant, but the planter. We are the plant, God is the planter. We are planted in Christ "rooted and built up in him." Paul said that God uses his people to plant the seed and water it, "I planted and Apollos watered," but there is only one who is responsible for making it grow, "but God made it grow."

Showing the difference between something WE have to do and something DONE through us is the contrast Paul wrote about concerning the difference between WORKS of flesh, and FRUIT of spirit. The contrast goes all the way back to the garden, where Adam and Eve, while living in the garden, could enjoy the FRUIT of the trees. When they sinned and were removed from the garden, now they had to eat by toiling in hard work for it. (Compare Ge 2:16 with 3:17)

Gen 2:16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat;

Gen 3:17...In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

In the example of birth, we have something more familiar to the human condition. But again, the similarities are there. Once the egg and sperm unite to conceive life, every part of us is already fully contained within the dna. Growth, once again, becomes the natural process that reveals what is already completed in dna form.

As the child grows, it must eat and drink and sleep, the 3 essentials for human life. They provide the environment for growth to occur. However, growth still happens as long as the body is alive, apart from those things.

1Pe 2:2 as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,

The most common interpretation of this is that Peter is encouraging these new believers to read their scriptures so they can grow. However, not only did most believers not even own a copy of the scriptures like we do today, but he is not talking about the scriptures at all. If he were, he would have used that term, such as he does in chapter 2 verse 16:

1Pe 2:6 Because it is contained in Scripture,

The Word he is speaking of here is not the written word, but the Word of God, the Lord Jesus himself.

The very next verse confirms this when it says:

1Pe 2:3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious:

Tasted who? The Lord. He is the Word they were to long for. He is describing that natural longing an infant has for its mothers milk. In this analogy, God is the one who provides nourishment for his children. This is why he is actually referred to in the Old Covenant writings, not as God Almighty, but very literally as God the Breasted One, or in the more venacular, God the Nourisher. What is the milk that nourishes? His word, what comes out of his mouth, now in the person of Jesus, who happens to be our life, our bread, our drink, our sustenance. We do not have to work at making ourselves grow spiritually, anymore than we would physically. It occurs naturally as we live, just as a tree grows and bears fruit naturally as it lives.

The last example used is that of a piece of pottery. While it does not grow in the sense of living things, there is a commonality with it an the other examples I just mentioned. When a potter takes a lump of clay and puts it on the wheel to work it, all of what will make up the finished product is already there on that wheel. Nothing needs to be added. All that will be done is the potter will shape the piece of clay to his liking. Again, we can see that the pottery does not do the work, it is the job of the potter to make what he wants. The pottery just gets molded. He may take off a bit here and there if he doesn't need it, but you do not see him adding extra pieces to make the finished product.

Do not think of yourself as something incomplete, needing this and that, begging for more of something you find lacking in your life. There are no shortcuts to trying to make growth happen any quicker or more than God will be working in your life already. Growth is, in every case, whether it be the tree, or the infant, or the pot, his responsibility, one that he is very good at. We can trust him to finish the work he has started in us. We can also trust him that we have every single thing we need now, even if we do not yet see it. It will appear in his timing.

Ron