Vol 2 Conqurered by JesusConquered by Jesus portrays the need of man. When man was created by God, he was formed out of the dust of the earth. Then, into this lifeless body the breath of life was given.  Consequently, man became a living soul, a breathing creature.

Conquered by Jesus is to understand the essence of man’s being.

When man was created, he consisted of body, breath of life, and soul.  With the breath of life being the Spirit of God (Isa. 42:5; John 1:4,9; Acts 17:25,28; Dan. 5:23; and John 5:26,27), man was a flesh and blood body experiencing the Spirit of God.  He was a fleshly body that had been brought to life by the Spirit of God.

Although man possessed a body and a soul he had no spirit. Simply experiencing the Spirit of God, he was a breathing creature, a spiritual being in a fleshly body. There was not a spirit of man.

When man consumed the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his eyes were opened to a “separate” identity apart from God.  Consequently, a spirit of man was born.  Again, like darkness and death, the spirit of man is not an entity in and of itself.  It is a way of thinking or perception of the fallen mind of man “removed” from experiencing the Spirit of God as the perceived source of life.  It is a rationality that man perceives he controls.

Conquered by Jesus is necessary in all men because man now perceives that he can control life by his mind.

Subsequently, when the spirit of man is awakened within man, he will begin to believe that the experiencing of life is actually the experiences of his mind.  He will now attempt to live by the thrill of his senses (tasting, touching, seeing, hearing, and smelling).  Although God is still the life-source of his existence for there is no life but God, man, in his mind, will now perceive himself as the essence and measure of his life

This awakened spirit of man will always create a belief system that allows man to perceive he can control the destiny of his life.  This perception of control by the mind of man runs the gamut from pure humanism to pure religion.  While humanism boldly states that there is no God and man is the measure of all things, religion is much more deceptive.

Religion will declare that there is a God and that he is the Creator of all things.  However, by proclaiming that life itself is a created entity bestowed upon man, it makes his life, then, an experience which must always be controlled by someone or something.  When religious man perceives that life is a created entity bestowed upon him rather than the actual experiencing of God himself through the Spirit of God, he will attempt to control his life just as the humanist.

Religion and its consequential acts will force man to be Conquered by Jesus to experience the life of God.

Being religious as opposed to being what the religious man perceives to be worldly, all of his choices now center upon what he thinks God wants him to be or to do.  Although his intentions seem noble (actually, they may be noble for the spirit of man), the sad reality of his life is that he, too, has created a faulty belief system.  For his belief system also allows him to perceive that he is in control of his destiny.

The driving force of the religious man is not God.  It is his service to God.  The now active spirit of man has created a religious zealot.  Although dedicated and committed in his service, it is, nevertheless, man’s service.  He has joined hands with the humanist, thinking he controls the direction of his life.

The only cure for man is to be conquered by Jesus.

The only cure from the hell of man’s own life is the coming of the Son of God.  The consuming fire of the Holy Spirit must overwhelm the spirit of man.  God himself must restore his glory in man.

Since the spirit of man, lives only in the perception of the mind of man, the fallen mind is not going to make a decision to end its existence.  It will give up many things and attempt to accomplish many deeds.  It will not give up, however, its control.

With the fallen mind being the problem, the solution then is not going to come by a decision of the mind.  God will have to come into man’s thinking and literally save him from himself and in spite of himself.  Man will have to be conquered by Jesus to experience his salvation, to once again experience the life of God. (142 Pages)