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)

Preface

Like the darkness of the night that has its existence only because light has been removed, death runs rampant upon the face of the earth garnering havoc needlessly. As darkness has no power within itself, death also is powerless. What seems to be the obvious destructive power of death is in reality the manifestation of the removal of life. It is the absence of life, as with light, that is destructive.

For example, Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But, if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him” (John 11:9,10). The power of the night is not the darkness nor the thing that caused the stumbling. It is the absence of light.

Although an object in the night can cause someone to stumble, it does so only if the man does not see it. The object itself is not the ultimate reason why anyone falls. The essence of all stumbling is the absence of light.

Likewise, when the glory of the face of God is removed from man, he will always become beastly (Dan. 5:20,21), animalistic urges dominate his existence. Once the controlling influences of the life of God are absent, the beast that lurks in the shadows of every man comes forth in ever-increasing increments of passion and destruction. As the glory of God fades, the animalistic urges, the beast, become more prominent.

As with the darkness of the night, the beast has no power within itself. What seems to be the destructive power of fleshly, animalistic desires within man is in reality only the manifestation of the removal of the face of God from man. It is the absence of the glory of God that is destructive for man.

Although animalistic desires may cause a man to stumble, they are not the reason for the fall. The problem is the absence of the glory of God, dimming the light of Life in which man walks. The power of life is always the manifestation of the glory of God.

This mystery of life can be illustrated in another way. When man was created by God, he was formed out of the dust of the earth (Gen. 2:7). Then, into this lifeless body the breath of life was given. Consequently, man became a living soul, a breathing creature (literal meaning of the word translated “living soul” in Genesis 2:7).

Thus, it can be said that man, when he was created, consisted of body, soul, and the breath of life. 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.

He was a body of flesh experiencing the Spirit of God which produced the living soul. Although he possessed a body and a soul he had no spirit. There was no spirit of man. Simply experiencing the Spirit of God, he was a breathing creature, a spiritual being in a fleshly body.

However, when man consumed the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:1-7), 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.

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 (John 5:26,27), man, in his mind, will now perceive himself as the essence and measure of his life. He now believes that he can make life happen by the activities of the mind itself.

The simple fact that man now perceives that he can control life by the exercise of his mind demonstrates the reality of the freedom of man. In other words, if man could not experience freedom of will, there never would have been a fall. If man did not have a free will, sin would or could not have ever entered into the life of Adam or the regenerated believer in Christ. The evil that is in the world amply demonstrates the free will of man.

However, man’s freedom has to remain within the sovereignty of God. The free will of man, as most of modern Christianity believes, is not the freedom of choice. The perceived freedom of choice that man thinks he possesses is actually the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17; 3:5-7). He erroneously, after eating of the forbidden fruit, now perceives that he can choose between good or evil.

After the fall, man made choices (his eyes were opened) but his choices could never produce the real essence of life. Moreover, his choices always took him down and away from God. It is actually the entering into the choosing process that is the fall.

In other words, in attempting to experience life, it makes no difference whether man chooses good or evil. Either choice is error because he perceives he can choose. He has left the realm of light and now walks in the realm of darkness.

Although he now thinks he can and will attempt to make life happen, all he makes is a world of dreams. He has created a vast matrix of activities and schemes in which he attempts to experience life that is nothing more than the illusions of his mind. Although they seems so real, they are the fantasy of his own thinking.

Moreover, this freshly 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 (the life of man) itself is a created entity bestowed upon man, it makes his life, then, an experience which must always be controlled by someone or something. Moreover, 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.

However, 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.

In other words, 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, his service. He has joined hands with the humanist, thinking he controls the direction of his life.

Consequently, the spirit of man will become as a god (Gen. 3:22). It now believes it not only has creative power (thinking it can make life happen) but it also believes it has sustaining power as well. The spirit of man always believes it is self‑sufficient.

Its perceived self‑sufficiency begins with the creation of a belief system. In creating a belief system, a way of life, it has actually created a life. It has created life in the sense that, when all life is reduced to its fundamental essence, its existence is simply the way it exists.

The way of one’s life is his life. It is the way he lives. The idolatrous spirit of man has created his own existence with the creation of his own way of life.

When man partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his eyes were opened. This new found perception not only created a new way of life, it also attempts to convince man that this new way can be trusted. The now awakened mind of man sets about to produce its own faith. For it is with the mind that man attempts to believe in his new found way of life.

The awakened beast has completed the full cycle of its existence. It has not only created its own existence, it now sustains itself as well by its own believing. It has become as God, creating and sustaining life. With the fading of the influence of the glory of God, the beast is given the privilege, by the mind itself, to exert power over its captive, although it has no power within itself.

Moreover, the influence of the beast continually changes its appearance as the glory of God fades away. Like the night that becomes darker and darker as the light is removed, the beast becomes stronger and stronger in its influence as the life of God is rejected as the essence of existence. The image of the beast changes drastically as the degradation of man sinks lower and lower.

No man would ever experience this tale of sorrow and death, were he to experience the end of the road at the beginning. The beast that lurks in the shadow of man’s existence never reveals its destruction until it is too late (Proverbs 7). It spins a tale of temptation that begins for the flesh of man with such promised hope and glory only to end in despair and shame.

Although Jesus emphasized that man should soar through life as the wings of an eagle ride the currents of the wind (Luke 17:33,37), man seems to find his eagle feathers constantly being plucked. Consequently, when an individual loses the source of his flight, the grace of God, he will stand upright within himself to find a new essence of his existence. The beast has raised his head to begin its mastery (Dan. 7:4).

As destructive as the rise of this beast is, it is unfortunately only the beginning. Although it is the same beast, it will now alter its image as it becomes a slave to its own passions. Its entire existence will now center upon feeding its belly. It becomes primarily concerned with only one thing, its survival. It constantly hunts that it may devour more and more flesh, now the means of its existence (Dan. 7:5).

However, the beast will be forced to alter its image again. The very thing to which it has turned to find life now takes dominion over it. Whatever the thing is that is perceived to be able to bring life it will take control and always bring bondage to the seeker. In other words, if the seeker perceives a certain thing can produce life, then he will do whatever the thing demands to experience that life. The seeker is now controlled by the thing.

As if the beast has four different heads, it will provide the perceived answer for every ambition of the spirit of man. It will feed itself upon fleshly intellectualism (the contemplative lifestyle), the pure excitement of emotional desire (the sensual lifestyle), the devotion to acts of the will (the active lifestyle), or the fatalistic judgments of the conscious (the resignation lifestyle). Whichever raises its head, it will take dominion over its captive.

It will control the life of the person by consuming his time and energy in attempting to meet the demands of the particular head that now rules it (Dan. 7:6). Whatever the spirit of man turns to to worship, it will always command his service. He will become a victim at its disposal.

In the end, however, the creature cannot produce life regardless of the effort. What begins with such excitement of anticipated glory now ends in the shame of total degradation. The beast has finally reached the only end to which it can come. Mental stress, emotional burnout, physical weakness, or fatalistic hopelessness will eventually overwhelm the captive of the beast.

The beast will once again change his image. He now becomes the monster that chews up the person, spits him out of his mouth, and stomps the remnant into the ground. Tragically, in the end, every person will be chewed up, spat out, and stomped on by the beast within, when the glory of God is removed from man (Dan. 7:7).

The only cure from the hell of man’s own life is the coming of the Son of Man (Dan. 7:13). The consuming fire of the Holy Spirit must overwhelm the beast. God Himself must restore His glory in man.

Moreover, this restoration of man is always mysterious, especially in the light of the thought processes of the Western world. It is mysterious because man’s deliverance is less a decision he makes than it is God actually dragging man back to His Creator. Since the beast, 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.

In other words, 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.

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