Life began very simply. God,
as a potter shaped a vessel of clay, "formed man of the dust of the
ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man
became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7). The vessel of flesh and blood,
inanimate in itself, became a breathing creature when quickened by the
breath of life, the Spirit of God. The lifeless structure of the body
became a living, breathing entity because it had encountered the essence
of all life, God. The flesh of created man and the Spirit of Creator God
set together in perfect union.
Newly formed man lived his life in simplicity. As a child experiences
life in the warmth and safety of his earthly father, the first of
mankind experienced their lives as the object of the love of God.
Experiencing the fullest possible expression of life for man, the
original pair lived the days of their lives in the providential care of
God Himself. God provided all that was needed to experience the glory of
paradise.
It would not be long, however, until all would not be well in paradise.
Man desired not to live in the simplicity of the innocence of a child
enjoying the continually expression of God’s love. Using the God given
freedom of his intellect, he began to think that it would be better for
him to be God himself. Using "God-like" decisions, he would
attempt to direct the course of his own life. With the now perceived
ability of the freedom of choice, man would attempt to control his own
experiences in the living of life.
Paradise was soon to be no more. Man would come to trust no one.
Corruption in all forms of relationships became the way of life.
Refusing to be no longer open and honest, man began to hide his true
feelings. Others were blamed for the difficulties of his life that was
escalating out of control. No matter how much effort he put into the
experiences of living, life seemed never to achieve the peace, the joy,
or the justice he so desired. It was as if life was cursed.
Once overtaken by the temptation to experience life in the power of the
sensory network (the seeing, the hearing, the tasting, the smelling, and
the touching), to be as God, the whole issue of good and evil becomes
perverted. Good and evil became viewed only in the light of the thing,
the place, or the person that could produce an emotional experience. In
other words, it became the object to which man turned his sensory
network for excitement that determined good or evil.
Now, evil would be evil when it was perceived by the recipient that the
thing, the place, or the person that produced the emotional experience
was evil. Thus, the pleasures of the world became evil. Even though they
could produce an enjoyable experience, they must be resisted because
they were perceived by the person to be evil. Evil was erroneously
defined by the object of man’s perception.
Likewise, good would be good when the thing, the place, or the person
was accepted as being good. Thus, living in the power of the sensory
network enjoyable experiences were to be acceptable when the object of
the senses were determined to be good by the person. Again, good was
perceived to be good by erroneously defining what produced the enjoyable
experience as being good.
The issue of life is not whether one should or should not experience
joyful, emotional encounters. All of life for man should be good,
emotionally good in everything that he experiences. Living should be a
life of joy, a life of peace, and a life of perpetual justice.
Man was created to be a living soul and how he was to experience that
life was as a physical breathing creature in his senses. Man was created
as a flesh and blood body with a fully functional sensory network. Life
was to be good.
Everything created is good and is to be cherished by man. Moreover, it
will be enjoyed by man unless he turns to his own perception to attempt
to direct the course of his life. Turning to his own mind to endeavor to
choose the experiences man desires in living life is the sole essence of
evil that is in the world (John 9:39-41). It is only after man has
turned to his perception that he can make life happen by the sensory
network that the issue of good and evil becomes perverted.
It is the use of the sensing network itself that is the problem. The
perverted struggle of good and evil only becomes a problem when the
intricacies of the mind itself through the sensory network begins to
perceive that it can produce the essence of life by its activity. This
perverted struggle of good and evil is the fruit of the forbidden
"tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 2:16-3:24).
It was the consumption of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil that brought Jesus Christ into the physical world. He said,
For judgment I am come into this world,
that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be
made blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these
words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If
ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see;
therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:39-41).
Jesus came to undo the alleged seeing of
man. He connected sin not with the doing of evil or the failure to do
good but with seeing. It is only when the alleged seeing of man
has occurred that good and evil then becomes the issue.
It is not the cessation of evil and the performance of good that brings
deliverance to man. Once again, the attempt to do good as opposed to
doing evil is eating the fruit of the "tree of the knowledge of
good and evil." Salvation comes to man only when the pretended seeing
of man is brought to its end.
When this deliverance occurs, man is restored to a state of innocence
(freedom from guile or cunning: simplicity). The grace of God flows in
his life producing the fullest possible manifestation of the actual Life
of God in man. Living now of the kingdom of God as opposed to the
kingdom of men, man experiences once again the free flow of the love of
God. He experiences the manifestation of Jesus Christ in all of His
glory.
When Jesus first came into this world to restore man to his state of
innocence, He said, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). It is a
simple statement of Jesus declaring that to experience the kingdom of
God there will have to be a new way of thinking. With repent
meaning, "to think differently or afterwards," Jesus is
stating that the kingdom of God only comes with the renovating of the
mind (Romans 12:3). It is the reason why Jesus said He had come:
"For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not
might see; and that they which see might be made blind."
Jesus further added, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). With born
again literally meaning "having the nature that is from
above," Jesus is again stating that the kingdom of God cannot be
experienced by the nature that is of the earth. He clarified, when He
stated, "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God" (John 3:5). Entrance into and
remaining in the kingdom of God is only when man is turned from his
earthly thinking (born of water - - a reference to John’s
preaching of the baptism of repentance) to the heavenly thinking (born
of the Spirit - - a reference to Jesus’ preaching of the baptism
of the Holy Spirit). Or, as Jesus had stated previously, "The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye [baptism of
repentance], and believe the gospel [baptism of the Spirit]" (Mark
1:15). With the coming of Jesus there is a better way to experience life
-- living in the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God, with man walking in the simplicity of his mind
allowing the free flow of the grace of God, is the essence of the
message of Jesus Christ. Not only was the first recorded words that
Jesus spoke when He began His ministry concerning the kingdom of God
("The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent
ye, and believe the gospel"), He also preached the kingdom of God
wherever He went ("And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom
of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent" [Luke 4:43]).
The historian, Luke, added, "And it came to pass afterward, that he
went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad
tidings of the kingdom of God . . ." (Luke 8:1). Even the last
recorded words of Jesus just before He ascended were "things
pertaining to the kingdom of God" (Acts 1:3).
The fact that the kingdom of God is not of this world’s thinking is
again illustrated by Jesus. During the early days of His ministry, a
Jewish scribe came to Jesus stating, "Master, I will follow thee
whithersoever thou goest." It is a simple statement that this
particular scribe desired to be near Jesus.
To be near Jesus, however, would not require being near a physical
location. The response of Jesus revealed that although the kingdom of
God is experienced in this world it is not of this world. He said to the
scribe, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests;
but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8:19-20).
Jesus is not stating that He would never lay down to sleep. Or, that He
would never dwell in homes. Although He would sleep and experience life
in a dwelling, Jesus is profoundly stating that the essence of life is
not in things of this earthly sphere. His life was of a different realm.
He lived, moved, and had His being in the domain of the kingdom of God.
The time had been fulfilled. Jesus came preaching that the kingdom of
God was at hand. He admonished His disciples to ". . . seek ye
first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things
shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). When He was ask of His
disciple to teach them how to pray, He responded with, "When ye
pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come . . ." (Luke 11:2). Nearing His death, He added,
"Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here,
which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God
come with power" (Mark 9:1). The time had come. The kingdom of God
was and would be experienced with power by those early followers of
Jesus.
Parable after parable was given by Jesus concerning the kingdom of God.
In perhaps the most revealing parables concerning the kingdom, He said,
So is the kingdom of God, as if a man
should cast seed into the ground; And should sleep, and rise night and
day, and the seed should spring and grow up, he knoweth not how. For
the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the
ear, after that the full corn in the ear. But when the fruit is
brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the
harvest is come. (Mark 4:26-29)
Experiencing the kingdom of God is as a
seed that "bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then
the ear, after that the full corn in the ear . . . [then] the
harvest."
Again, in another parable, Jesus said,
Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of
God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain
of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all
the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up,
and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches;
so that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it"
(Mark 4:30-32).
The kingdom of God comes forth as the
planting of a seed.
Jesus preached so much about the kingdom of God that finally the
Pharisees insisted when the kingdom of God should come (Luke 17:20).
When Jesus responded to this demand of the Pharisee, He gave perhaps the
most precise explanation of the kingdom of God in His teachings. He
said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God
is within you" (17:21,22).
In a statement that continuously confounds the thinking of man, Jesus
simply proclaimed that the kingdom of God is not by ocular evidence. He
further stated, again confusing the mind of man, that the kingdom of God
is within man. Although man has continuously attempted to make the
kingdom of God visible with tangible objects that are apparent to the
senses of man (i.e. Acts 1:6), the kingdom of God cannot be observed by
sensory perception. It will never be visible to the eye of man.
Jesus stated that the working of the kingdom of God is like the wind:
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound
thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so
is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8). He made that
statement in reference to experiencing the kingdom of God: "Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of
the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again" (John
3:5-7). Although the results of the kingdom of God are visible, the
kingdom of God, the realm that is from above, can never be seen by the
physical eye.
The teaching of Jesus concerning the kingdom of God did not stop with
the statement that the kingdom is not by observation and that it is
within man. He continued by giving one of the most mystifying elements
of the kingdom of God. He said, "The days will come, when ye shall
desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see
it" (17:22). This statement is not made to the Pharisees but to His
own disciples.
Although all believers have experienced this truth, few have understood
what was occurring in their life when they were experiencing it. What
believer in their Christian walk has not wondered at some time or
another, "Where is the Lord?" In the midst of a struggle, the
sincere cry for help rose from their heart. The believer was
experiencing a moment where Jesus needed to break through to comfort the
heart and bring deliverance from the oppression.
The believer needed to experience one of the "days of the Son of
man," yet, it seemed like it was not occurring or, at least, not
occurring soon enough. As Jesus stated, "ye shall desire to see one
of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it." He is
giving the truth of the parable of the seed. The kingdom of God is like
unto a seed that "bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade,
then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear . . . [then] the
harvest."
He did not made this statement just to tell His disciples that there
will be those kinds of days in their Christian walk. He warned His
disciple that when they do occur that they should not be deceived. For
in those moments, they will become susceptible to those that "shall
say to you, See here; or, see there" (Luke 17:23) or, "Lo
here! or, lo there" (17:22). The believer, in the midst of
persecution and tribulation, struggling to experience what he perceives
to be the good life becomes prey for those offering a "quick
solution" (cessation of the troubling circumstances). Jesus simply
stated, "go not after them, nor follow them" (17:23).
First, the kingdom of God is not "here nor there" for "it
is within you." Secondly, when you experience the kingdom of God in
its full glory, a day of the Son of man coming into your life for
deliverance from the earthly effects of the troubling circumstances, you
will know it: "For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one
part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall
also the Son of man be in his day" (17:24). You will not have to be
told that it is over there or over here for you will be experiencing it.
Later, Paul would also emphasize the same truth. In his letter to the
believers at Colosse, he wrote,
If ye continue in the faith grounded
and settled, and be not moved away [literal means, "to stir to a
place elsewhere," which Paul would later add "by the
charismatic preaching of men"] from the hope of the gospel, which
ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under
heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my
sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the
afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is
the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the
dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word
of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from
generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would
make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
(1:23-27)
Paul, too, stated that the kingdom of God
is within the believer and that it comes forth as a seed that "bringeth
forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the
full corn in the ear . . . [then] the harvest."
After Jesus told His disciples that they would desire to see "one
of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it," he gave
them the mystery of how to experience the kingdom of God. He stated,
"so shall also the Son of man be in his day." Then, He said,
"But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this
generation" (17:25). Before His disciples could experience
"one of the days of the Son of man," the Son of man Himself
must experience the reality of the kingdom of God. He must be taken to
the end of His physical existence in order that He may experience His
spiritual existence.
His "suffer[ing of] many things, and be[ing] rejected of this
generation" was how He would be taken to the end of His physical
existence. Jesus would later say, "The hour is come, that the Son
of man should be glorified" (John 12:23). He knew to experience the
glory of the Father it would require Him being taken to His physical
death by the Father. He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone:
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (John 12:24). He
added, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save
me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour" (John
12:27).
This is the real essence of living by faith. Jesus finding Himself being
brought to the end of His physical life would not pray to be delivered
from what God was doing in His life. He would not attempt to save
himself from these troubling circumstances. He knew (saw things as His
Father saw them -- the essence of faith) to be glorified by the Father
was the end of all things. He simply stated, "He that loveth his
life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep
it unto life eternal" (John 12:25).
Jesus would experiencing His day in order that His disciples could
experience "one of the days of the Son of man" (Luke 17:22).
But before His disciples could be glorified by the Father they too must
be brought to the end of their physical existence. Although experiencing
"one of the days of the Son of man" does not require the
physical death of the believer, it does require the death of anything
physical of which the believer is attempting to experience his life.
The mystery of experiencing the kingdom of God, which "cometh not
with observation . . . for behold, the kingdom of God is within
you" (Luke 17:20,21), is given by Jesus when He stated, "And
as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of
the Son of man." He added, "They did eat, they drank, they
married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe
entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all"
(Luke 17:26,27).
Everything of which man attempts to experience life (eating, drinking,
marriage), must come to an end before the day of deliverance comes. It
is not that the believer who is experiencing the glory of the Lord does
not eat, drink, or marry. It is simply he knows that the physical things
cannot produce life and does not attempt, by the grace of God, to live
in the eating, the drinking, or the marrying of wives (or husbands).
Another example is given to illustrate the mystery of experiencing the
kingdom of God that dwells within. Jesus said, "Likewise also as it
was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they
sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of
Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them
all" (Luke 17:28,29). Again, deliverance came for Lot only when the
eating, the drinking, the buying, the selling, the planting and the
building of the people were destroyed. It is only when that of which man
attempts to experience life is destroyed can man experience the glory of
God, the life of God.
After giving the examples of the days of Noah and Lot, He stated,
"Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is
revealed" (Luke 17:30). For Jesus Christ to be revealed in the life
of the believer, for Him to comes forth in all of His glory out of the
believer’s life, the process of the mystery of the kingdom of God must
be completed. Jesus added, "In that day, he which shall be upon the
housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it
away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.
Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:31-32).
Lot’s wife was told not to look back to Sodom. She did and "she
became a pillar of salt" (Gen. 19:26). Evidently, Lot’s wife was
looking back to her city, her home, and her way of life (probably having
something to do with the production of salt). She became what she
desired. In reality, everyone becomes that of which they look to
experience life. Just as in the case of Lot’s wife whatever is desired
for life cannot produce life. All it can produce is the exact object of
which is being desired. For example, the person that turns to the
consumption of alcoholic beverages for life becomes the alcoholic.
"Remember Lot’s wife" was the warning of Jesus. In one of
the days of the Son of man, when Jesus Christ is to come forth in all of
his glory in the believer, the "stuff" in the house and the
"stuff" in the field must be forgotten. There can be no
mixture of the world of the Spirit and the world of the flesh.
Everything in the physical world as a way of life must be left behind.
As Jesus added, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose
it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it" (Luke
17:33).
The kingdom of God is reserved only for the spiritual. Flesh and blood
cannot enter the realm of God. As Paul would later say, "For the
kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14:17). The kingdom of God is where
the Holy Spirit controls, directs, and produces the glory of God, Jesus
Christ, in the lives of believers.
All who attempts to experience life, which is the manifestation of the
glory of God, by any other means than encountering Jesus Christ will
experience exactly that to which they have turned for life. Paul said,
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of
God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God" (1 Cor. 6:9-10).
Although all men have the opportunity to experience the glory of God,
the revelation of Jesus Christ in their lives, Jesus said, "I tell
you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be
taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be grinding
together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be
in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left" (Luke
17:34-36). With the phrase shall be taken meaning "to
receive near, i.e. associate with oneself" and the phrase the
other left meaning "to send forth" in the original
language, Jesus is simply stating that when the opportunity arises for
all men to experience the glory of God some will and some will not.
Those that will experience the glory of God will be received by the
Father and intimately associated with Jesus Christ. Those that will not
will be sent further away from the manifestation of God’s glory.
Upon hearing Jesus make the last statement, the question was immediately
raised, "Where, Lord?" Where will they be received near? Jesus
answered, "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be
gathered together" (Luke 17: 37). The birds of pray only gather
where death has occurred. When God the Father has so arranged the
circumstances of life to bring about death to the physical existence,
only those who do not attempt "to save [himself] from this
hour" will experience being glorified by the heavenly Father. As
Jesus said, "Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father,
save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour"
(John 12:27).
The time has been fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come and it can be
experienced by every man. Unfortunately, most will not come to the
kingdom of God. As Jesus stated, "And again I say unto you, It is
easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich
man to enter into the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:24). It is not
impossible. But all who believe they can produce life by the perception
of their choices cannot experience the glory of the life of God unless
they allow themselves to be brought to the end of their physical
dependency.
No man will do that unless Jesus Christ has come into his life to
baptize him with the Holy Spirit to take him where he could not and
would not go himself (John 21:18,19). When the struggles of life are all
around, the faith that knows does not falter. It realizes that the
Heavenly Father is at work to bring forth the glory of His Son Jesus
Christ. The end of all physical dependency for life must come to an end
before the glory of the spiritual reality can be experienced. The
fragrance of the flower comes only in the bloom. |
Schedule