Safely secure in the knowledge of God lies not in the circumstances we face but in how we face the circumstances.

I would like to begin this chapter (Jesus, and the People of the Way – Chapter 4) again with a rose, an apple, and a tomato in coming to understand how we can feel safely secure as God works in the circumstances of our lives.

As we have stated in the previous chapters, the rose bush is a living entity. It experiences life. The apple tree is a living entity. It also experiences life. Likewise, the tomato plant is a living entity it also experiences life. Finally, I am a created entity as well. I also experience life. But, how does the rose, the apple, the tomato, and myself have life? How do I experience that life being safely secure in the arms of God?

Safely secure actually depends on being “partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”

There is a passage of Scripture that reveals the intricacies of how I experience God. In Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he wrote, “Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light” (Col. 1:12). He stated, “giving thinks unto the Father, which hath made us . . . meet [to make us able].”  Made us able to be partakers of what? We are “. . . partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.” It is the path to being safely secure in the experiences of our lives.

When a calamity happens, unfortunately you hear many Christians say, “How could God let this happen?” When you raised that question, you are obviously telling off on yourself. You are revealing your lack of understanding. You are revealing the fact that you are not walking in light but in darkness. When we raise the question how could God let this happen, it simply means we do not understand how God is working. The question arises out of our ignorance of not feeling safely secure.

What Paul is emphasizing in this verse is that we are make to be partakers of the inheritance of light, not darkness. We will examine that a little further in a moment. But, first, the question must be raised, “What does it really mean to be able to see?” In verse 13, Paul stated that God has delivered us from the power of darkness. I need to emphasize a point because of what we will be examining in the next chapter. In the phrase, “the power of darkness” the question can be asked, “What power does darkness have?” The answer is simple, darkness has no power.

How could Paul then say “the power of darkness.” The word power in this phrase means, “privilege.” In other words, darkness has no power within itself, but it can become very powerful. Darkness can be powerful because we give it the privilege to have power over us. In fact, most of our struggles in life comes from something that absolutely has no power, but because we give it the privilege to have power it controls our life. It can become very powerful, however, it is not powerful within itself. Our mind actually gives darkness the power it has. It is a pseudo power that destroys our feelings of safely secure.

Safely secure is a reality of the state of our mind.

Paul added, “who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” The book of Ephesians is a sister letter to the book of Colossians which means they say about the same thing. How Paul says this in Ephesians is “And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6).

When are we made to sit together in heavenly place in Christ Jesus? In the next life? No, now, in this life. See what we do when we put so much emphasis upon the next life? We have probably ninety per cent of Christians from time to time going through life miserably and their only hope is the next life. Our hope about the next life has so confused us that we do not experience the heavenly realm in this life. But, we are made to sit together in heavenly place in this life, in this very moment. We can be safely secure in life because we have been set with Jesus in heavenly places.

Paul continued in the Colossians letter, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:14). Again, why did Jesus come into this world? The typical response is to forgive us of sin. I am afraid it is a little deeper than that.

Perhaps, we got that answer off of this phrase, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” The word forgiveness in this phrase, however, actually means in the original language, the “remission of sin.”

The reason why Jesus came is not just to forgive us of sins, and to forgive us of sins, and to forgive us of sins. If you believe Jesus came into this world just to forgive us of sins, then what is going to occur is the need to be forgiven, and to be forgiven, and to be forgiven again and again. What Paul is actually implying is Jesus came into this world for the remission of sins, the stopping of sin in our lives. It is the only path to feel safely secure as we live life.

Since we do not know how that occurs, it is sometime said, “Just show me one person that lives a sin-free life.” With their voice raised, “Give me one person that ever lived free from sin, just one person!” There is a very simple answer. The one person who has lived without sin in this world is Jesus Christ.

Then, they would probably say, “What has that to do with me living a sin-free life?” Well, because we do not understand Christianity, very little. Understanding Christianity, however, it means the one person who lived a sin-free life lives in me. If Jesus lives in and through me, then sin does not occur. In the “Me” that God creates and perfectly sustains, sin does not occur.

Paul then stated, concerning Jesus Christ, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature” (Col. 1:15). This does not mean that he was created first and then he created everything else. The “firstborn of every creature” means he is the power source of every creature. He is the one that has created everything:

For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth visible and invisible whether they be thrones or dominion, or principalities, or powers, all things were created by him and for him (Col. 1:16).

Finally, Paul added, “And he is before all things and by him [the literal translation is “in him”]. . . and in him all things consists” (Col. 1:17). Again, let me ask a simple question, “Does all things mean all things?” Paul stated that “in him all things consists.” With the word consist meaning “set together,” it is a simple statement that all things that experiences life have been set together with the one who is life, Jesus Christ.

This is how the rose experiences life. This is how the apple experiences life. This is how the tomato experiences life. This is how I experience life. I am a flesh and blood creature who does not have any essence of life in that part of me that is flesh and blood. There is not any life in flesh itself. However, even though I do not have life in the reality of my flesh and blood, I do have dwelling within me the Son of God by the indwelling Spirit of God. I have been set together with him who is the essence of life. Jesus Christ is the essence that enables me to live safely secure.

Safely secure can be a reality because we have been set with the one who is eternal life.

Let me illustrate this with my left hand and my right hand. My left hand with the palm facing away from me, represents God. My right hand with the palm facing away from me represents the rose, the apple, the tomato, or me. The right hand represents any living created thing. Since the right hand represents all created physical things, it represents that which does not have life within its physicality.

There is only one entity, one being, that has life within itself, God. There is not another source of life anywhere else in the created world. So, where ever you see life, you see the manifestation of God. He is the only source of life.

To try to comprehend that which does not have life being set together with the one who is life, I will take my right hand, which represents me, the rose, the apple, or the tomato, and bring it around until it would be palm to palm with my left hand. They would be setting together. If I could do it accurately, precisely, you would only see the back of my right hand. You would not be able to see the left hand at all.

In other words, you would see the rose, you would see the apple, you would see the tomato, or you would see the human being represented by my right hand. The essence of the rose, of the apple, of the tomato, or of the human being, however, is not the right hand, although it is the only entity that can be seen with the naked eye. The essence of life of all living creatures is always the power of God represented by the left hand “behind” the right hand. The essence of God’s power, the left hand, is the essence of the right hand experiencing life safely secure.

The essence of life is the spirit of God that dwells within the human being, the rose, the apple, or the tomato. What actually happens is this divine power represented by my left hand flows in and through, my right hand manifesting life in that which can be seen. It is the manifestation of the power source behind or within the physical entity that is the real essence of life.

What we want to come to grasp in this chapter and the next chapter as well is how do we experience Christ coming through our flesh and blood bodies. Something has to occur or is occurring before the essence of life can come through our flesh as it was meant to be. Paul stated, “we have this treasure [of life] in an earthen vessel, that the excellent of power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Cor. 4:7). Then, he added,

Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh (2 Cor. 4:10-11).

Finally, he would say to the Corinthians, “For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16). Our outward man perishes that our inner man might be renewed? Can we not say, based upon this statement, that if the outward man does not perish the inner man will not be renewed? Can we not say if the seed of the apple is not planted you do not get new apples, if the seed of the rose is not planted you do not get a rose bush, and if we are not planted, the fruit of what it means to be a human being is also not seen?

In our example of left hand-right hand, I can illustrate this truth by turning or rotating my right hand down. As it is rotated down, what do you then see? You see my left hand. In real life, you actually see the presence of God, or “though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

If the right hand refuses to go down, when God takes it down by the circumstances of life, the man will create in his mind a “Me” of his existence. He fails to experience the “Me” that God is trying to create by renewing the Spirit of life within the physical man. The “Me” that the man actually experiences in life, the “Me” that I create or the “Me” that God creates, will depend not on the circumstances but on how he responds to those circumstances.

Safely secure is experienced only in the “Me” that God creates.

In reality, man actually goes down whether he thinks he can stop or control the circumstances that are taking him down. As in the tale where a child is told to set down by his parents and then sets downs but in his mind he defiantly says to himself that he is still standing, man will often also “play the I am standing game.” We often think we can stop being taken down, but God has decreed that the planting of the seed will occur in every living creature. Man will always have his seed planted regardless of how hard he may try to prevent it.

For example, when someone says or does something harsh to us, we often respond angrily (verbally or non-verbally) with a “You cannot do that to me.” It may seem that we are resisting being taken down by the circumstances, but our response reveals that we are also being taking down to the garbage dump to dwell. Our angrily response, reveals that we are experiencing the same hell as the accuser. It is only in our mind that we perceive we are still standing even though the circumstances are taking us down.

We have to understand that our seed has to be planted just as the rose, the apple, and the tomato. I have raised the question before, but here in this chapter it is asked from a different vantage point. What does the rose bush do to experience the rose? What does the apple tree do to experience the apple? What does the tomato plant do to experience the tomato? Or, what did Paul do to get knock off his donkey on the road to Damascus? What did he do? Nothing, he did not even know that it was going to happen.

In addition, how does the rose experience the expression of God for the rose? How does the apple experience the expression of God for the apple? How does the tomato experience the expression of God for the tomato? How do we experience the expression of God in our life?

I have attempted a lot of things trying to experience God. I have attempted a lot of things trying to get the nearness of Christ in my life. For example, the real issue of life is not trying to get God to come into my life, but it is understanding that God is already in my life. The fact that I am breathing testifies to the reality that God is in my life (Gen. 2:7). Thus, the issue of experiencing the nearness of Christ in my life is not something I do to get it, but rather understanding it when it occurs.

Safely secure occurs when we fully understand the resurrection events of our lives.

I have come to understand that it is in a resurrection event that the rose experiences the life of God. It is how the apple experiences the life of God. It is how the tomato experiences the life of God. You plant a seed into the ground, the outward husk of that seed has to do what? It has to rot or decay. If it does not rot and decay, the essence of life which is in that seed stays within the seed. The seed must experience the resurrection event to experience life continually.

When the husk of the seed rots and decays, then the essence of life within that seed will shoot upward a little spout seeking sunlight. Another spout goes down seeking nutrients and water from the soil. Finally, the tomato plant will be grown and eventually tomatoes will hang on the tomato plant. In those tomatoes will be seeds and within the seeds in the tomatoes hanging on the tomato plant will be the same life that was in the seed that was planted in the ground.

In addition, can we not say that the ripe tomato for the tomato plant is the fullest possible manifestation of life for the tomato plant? Can we not say that the apple hanging on the apple tree is the fullest possible manifestation of life for the apple tree? Is not the flower of the rose the fullest manifestation of life for the rose bush? Although the rose is not God, the apple is not God, and the tomato is not God, the flower of the rose, the fruit of the apple, and the fruit of the tomato is the fullest possible manifestation of the life of God that can be experienced by the rose, the apple, and the tomato.

Exactly whose life is the rose, the apple, and the tomato experiencing? Do they have life within themselves? No, they are created entities. Do I have life within myself? No, I am also a created entity.

I am coming to grasp that for me to experience resurrection power that it is actually less what I do than it is what God keeps doing in my life. This process of the planting of the rose seed, the planting of the apple seed, the planting of tomato seed, and the planting of my seed is actually a continual process. Paul said that we are always bearing about in our bodies the dying of Jesus in order that we might experience the life of Jesus (2 Cor. 4:10-11). The only thing I need is to be enabled to comprehend and to revel in the glory of the many resurrection events in my life.

God takes me down at night to raise me up in the morning refreshed. I wonder how far down the road we would be if by some means we could grasp the glorious morning, the splendid springtime, the beautiful rose, the delicious apple, and the luscious tomato are marvelous manifestations of the resurrection of Christ within the physical being? I kept seeking, searching, and trying to find resurrection power not knowing that I actually was already experiencing resurrection power in the many resurrection events of my life.

Safely secure is lost when we become to active in the thinking of our mind.

The problem of my failure to know and to revel in his glorious  resurrection power is quite simple. The rose never goes to hell. The apple never goes to hell. The tomato never goes to hell. However, for some reason I often found myself in hell. I have been given a marvelous opportunity to experience the life of God but I often keep experiencing life as if I was dwelling in a garbage dump (One of the original words that is translated hell in most of the English translations of the Bible actually means a valley south of Jerusalem which was used for the local disposal of trash.).

Have you ever woke up in the morning and you were not refreshed? Have you every woke up in the morning and wonder did I get any sleep at all? Have you ever woke up in the morning feeling almost as bad as you did when you went to bed, maybe even worst?

God has been telling all of us exactly what is our problem. If we do not wake up refreshed in the morning, it is usually because the mind simply will not shut down. We toss and we turn, we worry and we fret, so “sleep won’t come the whole night through.” It is actually our mind that prohibits us from enjoying the glory of each resurrection event when it occurs.

The rose, the apple, and the tomato never have any problems when they experience their resurrection event. However, I jokingly say that if we could put our mind in the rose seed, in the apple seed, and in the tomato seed, they suddenly would begin to experience the same hells of which we often struggle.

It would go something like this when the husk of the seed began to rot and decay. The seed would cry out, “Who in the world let all of this water get in here?” “Who is it that is dumping all this dirt on me?” As that little spout pushes itself up through the ground and hits a rock, it would cry out “Who put this rock in my way?”

Of course, you do not hear those cries coming forth. The little spout just goes around the rock and sometimes even goes through the rock. It cannot say who put the dirt on me. It is only we who can think about our thinking that cries out with such anguish in the midst of a resurrection event.

Safely secure occurs only when the Holy Spirit enables us to glorify God and be thankful for what he is doing in the circumstances of our lives.

It is not a question of us trying to get resurrection power. It is a question of us understanding it when it occurs. We actually experience the same resurrection event that produces the rose, the apple, or the tomato. Unfortunately, however, when those events occur in our lives we often fail to understand that God is at work in the circumstances we are facing. We fail to glorify God as the God who is in control of all the circumstances of life. Most of us are definitely not thankful that a resurrection event is occurring. Sadly, we are just not aware of the many resurrection events that occur in our lives. Faling to understand what is occuring in any resurrection event, we fail to be safely secure in all circumstances of life.

Peter closed his first letter with an admonition of how each of us should respond to the resurrection events we encounter in life. He also revealed the promise of God to ” make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” in all resurrection events (1 Pet. 5:10). He wrote,

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you” (1 Pet. 5:6-10).

Can we join with Peter in all of our resurrection events and say, “to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever . . . Amen?”

To be continued . . . .