Divided
Version - Spirit
of the Word - Covenant
Eschatology - Introductory
Note - New Stuff
Whispers Of the New Covenant by Ray Prinzing
Preface
1 - He Takes Away The First
2 - God Was In Christ
3 - Ending The Stone Age
4 - God's Commandments Are Promises
5 - Jesus, The New Covenant 'Yes'
6 - With Shoutings Of Grace
7 - A New Covenant Spirit
8 - A New Covenant Generation
9 - New Covenant Security
10 - A New Covenant Name
11 - Embracing The Choice Vine
12 - New Wine In The Cluster
13 - In That Day
14 - Kingdom Of The New Covenant
15 - Beholding--Near And Afar Off
16 - Summary
Preface
"Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out
of Your law" (Psalm 119:18). This is the on-going prayer of our
heart, both for ourselves, and for all who read this book. It is
written with the hope that it will serve as a confirmation to that which
God sovereignly reveals to you. And we freely confess that it is
but a "Whisper" concerning His new covenant with man.
Certainly the new covenant bespeaks of a love
relationship of God with His creation. "For God so loved the world
that He gave..." (John 3:16). Indeed, "God commends His love
toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans
5:8). The initial action is on God's part. "No man
can come unto Me, except the Father which has sent Me draw him." (John
6:44). It is His Spirit working in us, drawing us, that creates our
responsive action. It is His grace imparted to us, working in us,
that brings about our walking pleasing in His sight. As Paul so aptly
said, "and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians
2:8).
It will take the ages to come to reveal the depths
of the new covenant, that FULL ARRANGEMENT which we have in Christ Jesus.
Suffice it for now that we keep our eyes single to Him, that He may perfect
His will in us for today. With joy we dedicate this book to all those
who would walk in the freedom of His Spirit, unfettered by the creeds and
dogma of men, and works of the flesh which only gender bondage. HE
is our LIFE. amen.
NOT TO BE SOLD-- this book is given free,
as a ministry of love. That which is contained therein cannot be
valued in terms of material goods. If there be any thoughts expressed
that seem to be the result of only natural thinking, we trust that a little
breath of kindness will blow the chaff away, that the kernel of truth might
remain.
Ray and Doris Prinzing BACK
1 - HE TAKES AWAY THE FIRST
"Then said He, Lo, I come to do Your will, O God.
He takes away the first, that He may establish the second." (Hebrews
10:9).
In His great wisdom, for the outworking
of His plan through the ages, our God has arranged many things in pairs,
or shall we say, by contrasting twos. We read of the first Adam and of
the last Adam, each the beginning of a race; the first, that which is of
the earth; and the second, that which is of the heavenly. Thus we have
a natural birth, born into this earth realm; and we have a spiritual birth,
to be born from above-- to be a partaker of His spiritual reality. Therefore,
"As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly." (1 Corinthians 15:49).
There is the first death, as man died to the will
and knowledge of God, turned to his own way to serve the flesh and self-will,
to partake of the realm of the carnal mind, and go into corruption; and
there is the second death, which is a dying out to all of self and sin,
that we might be alive unto God, and His righteousness.
Through the offense of the first Adam death reigns
over mankind, and is manifested in two stages, a transition from the spiritual
realm to the carnal, and of the physical flesh into utter corruption and
decay. The second death undoes all the work of the first death, in the
same manner that the last Adam undid all the work of the first Adam. Not
to nullify the purpose being wrought out by the plan of God in the firsts,
but to bring a release from all the negative aspects of the first, into
the MUCH MORE of the glory and victory of the greater things of God. "For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every
man in his own order." (1 Corinthians 15:22-23).
Creation was made subject to the bondage of vanity
for a purpose. Sin was allowed to exist for wise ends, but when those ends
have been secured it will cease to exist. The purpose is not nullified,
but the means whereby the purpose has been executed shall be done away.
Discipline is a means to an end, but not an end in itself, it leads up
to that "nevertheless afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness."
(Heb. 12:11).
The first Adam died to God and righteousness,
and became alive unto sin and self. The last Adam died unto sin, and lives
unto God, and so fulfills all righteousness. The first made all men sinners,
the last makes all men righteous. The lives and deaths of the two Adams
are thus greatly contrasting the one to the other.
Also in the realm of the firsts we have the law
written on tables of stone, but in the second His laws are to be written
in our heart and mind. There is the Levitical order of priesthood, it contrasted
by the Melchizedek order, etc.
Some of the "firsts" may seem to be very good,
and for a time quite acceptable, but in due time they are to be followed
by the "seconds" which are higher, better, more desirable than the firsts.
Perfection is found in God's seconds. Many of the "firsts" are but a type
and a shadow of the reality which is later to be found in the "seconds."
In the former we often find the negative realm working out its purpose,
and in the latter there is the glorious positive fulfilling its sphere.
The more one ponders each fragment of truth revealed, the more they yearn
to leave behind the realm of the natural, imperfect, fragmentary, that
they might enter into the freedom of the Spirit of Life in His fullness.
"For we know in a partial, fragmentary, incomplete way, and we utter
divine revelations in the same way. But whenever that which is complete
comes, that which is incomplete and fragmentary will be done away."
(1 Corinthians 13:9-10, Wuest Expanded).
In specific the writer to the Hebrews is making
reference to the COVENANTS which God has made with His people, and distinguishes
them with the designation of being "bold" and "new." And he proceeds to
contrast the ministry of the priests, in connection with the old covenant,
with the ministry of Jesus Christ who is "the Mediator of a better covenant,
which was established upon better promises." (Hebrews 8:6).
The division of our Bible into the Old Testament,
and the New Testament, is a silent witness to these two covenants. It has
also been well stated that "The OLD is by the NEW revealed, the NEW
is in the OLD concealed." For all of the types and shadows of the Old Testament
are much more clearly understood as we see them fulfilled in the reality
of the New Testament. And yet, it is in the Old Testament that we find
the symbols which help to give us insight as we seek to understand the
reality of the new. No wonder Paul writes, "All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works."
(2 Timothy 3:16-17).
When God brought the nation of Israel out of the
bondage of the land of Egypt, He said unto them, "Now therefore, if
you will obey My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a peculiar
treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: And you shall
be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. - And all the people
answered together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do."
(Exodus 19:5-6, 8).
The covenant of God with His people is briefly
stated, "After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein you dwelt, shall
you not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring
you, shall you not do: neither shall you walk in their ordinances. You
shall do My judgments, and keep Mine ordinances, to walk therein: I am
the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes, and My judgments:
which if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Lord." (Leviticus
18:3-5).
Israel was not to live after the manner and doings
of Egypt, nor after the manner of the land of Canaan into which they were
going. They were to WALK GOD'S WAY, do His commandments, and if they did,
they would LIVE, if they disobeyed, they would die. Thus, "Moses describes
the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which does those
things shall live by them." (Romans 10:5). DO AND LIVE, was the essence
of the covenant which God had with His people. But the problem was that
with their carnal nature, filled with self, they could not DO the WAY OF
THE LORD, they constantly failed, came short of the glory of God. Thus,
rather than bringing them into an abundant life, it witnessed against them
continually, that they were not DOING RIGHT. It became a "ministration
of condemnation," which brought them into death. It was a very literal
demonstration that in himself, by his own strength and abilities, man could
not live the divine life.
God instituted the law (first covenant) with a
special purpose in view, as He was working out His plan for the ages, but
it was not to be a permanent arrangement, it was for a time, with a view
towards when it would be TAKEN AWAY.
One thing needs to be clearly understood, that
this is entirely the outworking of GOD in His purpose of the ages-- He
remains sovereignly in control, and while we would "GO ON TO PERFECTION,"
yet "this will we do, if God permit." (Hebrews 6:1, 3). For, "We are
HIS workmanship." (Ephesians 2:10). HE gave the OLD covenant, HE instituted
all of its services. And HE takes it away, that He might establish the
new. Only GOD can impart vision, a revelation of the NEW, and then
work it into us until it consummates in reality. We cannot live on a borrowed
revelation, nor can we take that which is real to us and cause it to become
life in another. HE is the LIFE-SOURCE, and "It is GOD which works in
you both to will and to do of His good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13).
Next, "HE takes away..." Once we become
accustomed to a certain realm, we act as though it will last forever. We
think of the shadows as being real, the signs and symbols as being the
substance, and people will constantly cry for "the good old days," as they
want to repeat over and over that which they experienced in their yesterday.
But we have to relinquish the "first" if we are to receive the "second."
Furthermore, His means and methods of "taking away" are applied to us as
individuals, and we dare not "preach experience" and expect that everybody
will face the exact circumstances that we have gone through. The principles
worked into each of us are the same, for we are all to be conformed to
HIS IMAGE, and become a partaker of HIS DIVINE NATURE, to EXPRESS HIS LIFE.
Also, it appears that some things almost automatically drop off as we outgrow
them, while other things have to be TAKEN AWAY with a more forceful action.
But since it is GOD that ordains the taking away, we can be assured that
He does it in love, tenderly, wisely, with a view toward our good.
"Giving thanks unto the Father, which has made
us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who
has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into
the kingdom of His dear Son." (Colossians 1:12-13).
Though the King James Version speaks of it in
the past tense of "hath," we recognize it as a PROCESS, with old things
passing away, all things becoming new. As Paul speaks in another place,
"Who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver: in Whom we
trust that He will yet deliver." (2 Corinthians 1:10). He did-- past;
He does-- present; He will-- future; for the whole deliverance process
is HIS, as HE takes away the first and establishes the second. "According
to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own
will: that we should be to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:11).
The first covenant was given for a specific purpose,
and was rigid in its principle: THIS DO, AND LIVE; miss the mark, and die.
"Wherefore then serves the law? It was added because of transgressions,
till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made." (Galatians
3:19).
THE SEED, by whom shall come the fulfillment of
the promise, belongs to the realm of God's seconds, for it speaks of the
SEED OF THE NEW CREATION, that which is born of the Spirit, and not out
of the flesh. The Seed is Christ, singular, that composite body,
the entire anointed company made ONE in union with Him. HE is the Head
of that body, and all the anointed ones are members in particular.
While The Head has been brought forth, the Firstborn
of the new creation, the rest of the body is still in the process
of development and to be birthed, hence, in a sense, the full SEED has
not yet come, and therefore God continues to use the restraining
measures of the law to hold in check the transgressions of the people.
Jesus Christ, the Head of the body, is now "set down" (Revelations
3:21), in the Father's throne, from henceforth expecting-- waiting for
the emergence of the OVERCOMERS, the first fruits company of the new creation
species, the fullness of the SEED, and then shall the first covenant be
totally done away, and the second covenant established. It is because this
SEED COMES TO DO HIS WILL, that He can take away the first, and establish
the second.
The law (first covenant) must not be confused
with the covenant of promises given to Abraham. God made that covenant
with an individual, and to his seed, and it is not disannulled by the law
which later came by Moses to the entire congregation of Israel. "And
this I say, that the covenant (to Abraham), that was confirmed before of
God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after,
cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect." (Galatians
3:17). One must learn to rightly divide the Word of Truth, for the law,
though coming after the promise, belongs to the realm of the "firsts";
while the promise, though given before the law, actually pertains to the
realm of the "seconds," and cannot be fulfilled until after the "firsts"
have been taken away.
The PROMISE embodies the fact that through the
SEED of Abraham the blessings shall flow, and all nations shall ultimately,
be justified by faith. "Is the law then against the promise of God?
God forbid: for if there had been a law given which could have given life,
verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture has
concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under
the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore
the law was our school-master to bring us unto Christ, that we might be
justified by faith." (Galatians 3:21-24).
A schoolmaster, (the Greek text gives, a child
conductor), was one who held the child in restraint as they conducted the
child from home to the school, making sure that there was no mischief along
the way, and that the child arrived at the school. Then the child was given
over to the care of the teacher, and the duty of the child conductor was
ended. The child conductor did not stand in the back of the class room
and continue to exercise control and authority over the child, for now
the Teacher was in control, and there was to be no outside interference.
So also, once we have been brought to Christ, and His anointing abides
within us, we are to be led by the Spirit.
On the waywardness of man, and his propensity
to do evil, the scripture is clear. "The works of the flesh are manifest,
which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,
witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like." (Galatians
5:19-21).
No wonder Paul wrote, "Wherefore then serve
the law? IT WAS ADDED BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS." Man was in desperate
need of a restraint, a child-conductor that would hold him on course, until
DIVINE HELP would come, which would enable him to live a righteous life.
The whole ministration of the law, with its rules and regulations, ceremonies
and rituals, was designed to continually remind them of what NOT to do,
and what they SHOULD DO, if they would be found acceptable unto God. It
was "imposed on them until the time of reformation." (Hebrews 9:10).
REFORMATION-- The Greek word is "diorthosis" meaning:
a making thoroughly right. The root word is "orthos" which means: upright,
straight. This is very interesting. Man has long been bowed down with the
weight of his sin, centered on self, turned away from God, he could not
stand upright and tall before God. Then came the law-- imposed upon him
to help guide his step, but rather than enabling him to stand upright,
it only weighted him down the more-- with loads of condemnation because
he could not maintain the righteousness of the law. Hence that which was
given for a help, only increased the burden. No wonder it has to be TAKEN
AWAY. And thank God He has purposed that there shall be a MAKING THOROUGHLY
RIGHT.
It is of this new realm of victory of which Paul
then writes, of the life and walk of the Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance: AGAINST SUCH THERE IS NO LAW. --If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-23, 25).
This is tremendous-- that as we live and walk
in the realm of the Spirit, there is a life lived-- a fruitage expressed,
AGAINST WHICH THERE IS NO LAW. There is no need for a law to govern the
fruit of the Spirit, it is all good fruit. And Paul also includes the reason
why, verse 24, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh
with the affections and lusts." That's why there is no need for the
"restraining influence of the law," because once the CROSS has done its
work within us, and only the Christ life is expressed, it is a life that
is ALL RIGHTEOUS. Therefore "If you be led of the Spirit, you are not under
the law." For as long as we "Walk in the Spirit, we shall not fulfill
the lusts of the flesh."
The law, therefore, serves as a conductor to point
out that which is sinful, and to warn us not to miss the mark, while we
are brought to Christ, and the inworking of His anointing. "When He,
the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth." (John
16:13). With the advent of the holy Spirit into the world, sent by the
promise of the Father, "You need not that any man teach you: but as
the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie,
and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in Him." (1 John 2:27).
Now that we have the Teacher, THE ANOINTING WITHIN, the role of
the child conductor is ending. The holy Spirit will guide you, and
empower you to fulfill the righteousness of the law.
Herein is another transition-- as the indwelling
Spirit of Christ governs our life, we are beginning to taste of the realm
of the "seconds." It is but a first fruits company that are now learning
to live and walk by the Spirit, but in that day when He fully takes away
the first, to establish the second, HE WILL POUR OUT OF HIS SPIRIT UPON
ALL FLESH. Then "they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the
least to the greatest." (Hebrews 8:11). Praise His wonderful name!
"For until the law sin was in the world: but
sin is not imputed (or, brought into account) when there is no law."
(Romans 5:13). Death was reigning as the fruition of iniquity, yet from
Adam until Moses there was no law to establish or give the knowledge of
sin. "Moreover the law entered, that the offense might abound. But where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound." (Romans 5:20). The law served
to bring sin to the full, that it might be dealt with-- dealt with by God
Who is rich in mercy, and Whose grace much more abounds beyond the scope
of all sin.
How then served the law? Being holy, just and
good, the law causes sin to appear exceedingly sinful, thus giving knowledge
of sin. It takes truth to expose error! Yet herein is the difference between
the two ministrations, (more of which we shall touch on in a later chapter).
To speak the truth in negatives is to produce death, but to speak the truth
in positives is to kindle sparks of life. One might expose sin by stating
the truth on what is wrong, or, one might expose it by declaring that which
is right, making it self-evident, as the light witnesses against the darkness
simply by swallowing it up into the light. To expose sin by naming it as
such, and yet offering nothing to replace it, leaves one in a state of
emptiness. Thus the law served as a ministration of condemnation and death,
though in itself the law was holy, just, and good.
True light always illumines the dark corners,
and when the Gospel, THE GOOD NEWS is preached, it shall produce the desired
results. Man has not yet heard much of the good news. He has received law,
plus the many additives of tradition which carnal minds have burdened upon
him, but very little Gospel is preached. How we thank God for the promise
that the day shall come when , "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (Habakkuk 2:14).
"For what the law could not do, in that it
was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4).
How marvelous is the new ministration of the INDWELLING
SPIRIT OF GOD! The Spirit reveals to us the divine will of God, and then
enables us to do it. All the Divine commands include the enablement whereby
we can accomplish His will and purpose as we yield to the inflow of His
grace. The first law said, "DO, and you shall live." But this greater,
new covenant says, "LIVE, and you shall do all My will." By our union with
Him we have the out-living of His life, fulfilling His will.
The mountain shook 'neath a cloud of smoke, And
the thunder proclaimed His name,
As God descended on Sinai, And the law unto
Israel came.
With the law came consciousness of sin,
And the means whereby to atone,
But all it could do was cover it o'er, The guilt
and the shame that was known.
Impute the sin, and cover it o'er, And then wait
for the judgment day.
For the law was weakened by the flesh, And
it could not put sin away.
On another day, another mount Did
quake 'neath the presence of God,
As on Calvary God's blessed Son Gave His life for
each human clod.
And His sacrifice was once for all, Not a Iamb,
but Himself, He gave,
Compassion flowed from His loving heart, All the wayward
and lost to save.
For Thou hast put all my sin away, And Thy nature
has filled its place.
What the law was weak and could not do, Thou hast wrought
by Thy boundless grace.
Thank God, we are being "delivered from the
law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness
of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." (Romans 7:6).
Oldness-- from the Greek word "palaiotes" which
means: worn out, or anti-quatedness.
There are some people who have a lot of interest
in antiques, while others consider those things as old, to be forgotten.
But there is one ANTIQUE that we all need to leave behind, the antiquatedness,
the old, the worn out realm of the letter, that we might go on into the
NEWNESS and FRESHNESS of the Spirit. Speaking of "THE LETTER" is in direct
reference to the law, that first covenant and order which was written in
stone. One might quote the literal letter of the law for hours on end,
and still minister only condemnation and death, for the power to live out
the righteousness of the law is not present in the stone. But in the newness
of His Spirit, this vitality of His LIFE, we have the power to live out
that which is well-pleasing to God.
"For if that first covenant had been faultless,
then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault
with them, He said, Behold, The days come, says the Lord, when I will make
a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. -In
that He says, A new covenant, He has made the rust old. Now that which
decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:7-8, 13).
The very moment you say there is a new model of
a car on the showroom floor, you have relegated the previous model to being
old. You may sell it to a man who has never seen the NEW model, and he
will think he has a new car, until the new model comes on the scene, and
then he will know that his is not of that new order. So likewise, we have
a lot of preachers that keep selling what they call new-- but it is actually
of the old order of the first covenant, with just another twist to its
works and programs. But when GOD said there was A NEW covenant, He immediately
relegated the first one to the realm of being old. The very moment He said,
"A NEW," the other one became OLD. So no matter how many try to sell the
old covenant as being new, it is still old, because God has already decreed
the NEW one which takes its place.
The writer to the Hebrews realized that the old
covenant was still around in his day, though the book of Hebrews was supposedly
written at least thirty-five years after Jesus came forth declaring A NEW
TESTAMENT. But, he said, the old is decaying, ready to vanish away, because
it "waxes old."
Interesting word, "waxes old," from the
Greek "gerasko" which comes from "geras" which literally means: senility.
There is a realm which has gone into senility!
God says, "Leave it, and rise to walk in the newness of the life of the
Spirit." HE is truly taking away the first, that He might establish the
second. There are those who "turn again to the weak and beggarly elements
(rudiments, first steps)-- to observe days, and months, and times, and
years." (Galatians 4:9-10). But the challenge is to rise "and walk
and live out of the realm of THE SPIRIT, in all of His newness, freshness,
and not to return to that which is antiquated and gone into senility.
The first law was unable to make anyone perfect,
it just gave a knowledge of sin, which the flesh could not conquer. The
NEW COVENANT, which is so much higher, gives a forgiveness of sin, and
then a knowledge of that which is right, plus the inflow of HIS LIFE to
live pleasing unto God. Once the fullness of the new birth process is complete
in US, so that HIS SEED LIFE remains in us and we cannot sin, then this
new, all righteous life shall fulfill all the will of God. The first law,
which was without, could not change the nature of that which is within.
The new covenant begins inwardly, and then is able to manifest outwardly
that which is right.
First the old, and then the new, but never
more the same,
The Second far excels the First, to glorify
His name.
As He takes away the First, the Second shall
become,
To swallow up the ‘in part,' in true perfection's
sum.
Types and shadows served their place, a
sign of what would be,
Now we long for that rare hour of His reality.
Yet these words 'to take away' bespeak a
process too.
As we're stripped of all the old, the things
flesh did accrue.
Removal of outward form that once did gender
pride,
In its place the higher realm of 'spirit'
doth abide.
Not as the first, shall be the last, the
greater shall abound,
Glory that shall cover all, wherever man
is found. BACK
2 - GOD
WAS IN CHRIST
"Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things
are become new. And all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself
by Jesus Christ, and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. To
wit, that GOD WAS IN CHRIST, reconciling the world unto Himself; not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation."
(2 Corinthians 5:17-19).
In the life of every believer it
is essential that there be a progressive revelation of THE FATHER, and
of THE SON. For, "This is life eternal, that they might know You the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." (John 17:3).
"Philip said unto Him,
Lord, Show us the Father, and it suffices us. Jesus said unto him, Have
I been so long time with you, and yet have you not known Me, Philip? He
that has seen Me has seen the Father; and how do you say then, Show us
the Father? Believe not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me?"
(John 14:8-10).
Well do we sing the little prayer chorus:
"Only to know Him, only to know Him,
Is the prayer within my heart.
Not just in measure, but in Thy fullness,
This, O Lord, is the cry of my heart."
Such glorious truth contained
in these words, "GOD WAS IN CHRIST," for the Father is vitally involved
in the outworking of the NEW COVENANT with men. He did not just "send His
Son" to reconcile the world unto Him, but verily, HE INDWELLED THE SON,
so that it was GOD HIMSELF showing forth His love and mercy to His wayward
creation. "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me," is the
very heart of our reconciliation. For in the sending forth of His own Son
to be our Saviour, He was THERE IN HIS SON, so that it could truly be said,
"God manifest in the flesh." (1 Timothy 3:16). Nor does it stop
with "God in Christ," for we also are to be "IN CHRIST," and thus in vital
UNION with God Himself, that His life might be our life also.
To ask the question: What
is the GOSPEL, the TIDINGS OF GREAT JOY? would bring a variety of answers.
Some would say: "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief."
(1 Timothy 1:15).
THIS IS GOOD NEWS! It is
worthy to be received! He is the SAVIOUR of sinners. To sin-- to err--
to miss the mark-- truly, "All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God." (Romans 3:23). Therefore, "You shall call His name
Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21).
But the GOOD NEWS is far
greater than just a forgiveness of our sins of the past, it is of a SALVATION,
a coming into HIS WHOLENESS, HIS SOUNDNESS, so that we will never sin again.
It is a partaking of His DIVINE NATURE which cannot be corrupted. No more
to "come short of the glory of God," but to actually SHARE THAT
GLORY. For "The glory which You gave Me I have given them: that they
may be one, even as We are one. I in them, and You in Me, that they may
be made perfect in one." (John 17:22-23).
Another may answer the question,
What is the Gospel? with Acts 13:38-39. "Be it known unto you therefore,
men and brethren, that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things which
you could not be justified by the law of Moses."
Now we have more than just
"forgiveness of sins," but here is the inclusion of justification-- yes,
FAR BETTER than the justification obtained by observance of the law of
Moses, with all of its ceremony and ritual, "in which were offered both
gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect,
as pertaining to the conscience." (Hebrews 9:9).
The first covenant, the
LAW with all of its ceremonies, could not bring justification to man, it
could not make him perfect on the inside-- because it was a system of works
designed for outward observance-- things to DO, or NOT DO, but it was not
a LIFE that could be lived from inside out.
Praise God, "Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ: by Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we
stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2).
There is a justification, a being DECLARED RIGHTEOUS, because we are made
partakers of HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS through the abundance of grace which He
gives us, which enables us to be partakers of His holiness, and of His
glory.
Others may yet seek to give
a fuller answer, to "what is the Gospel?" with a quoting of John 3:16.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Furthermore, "He is the propitiation (mercyseat) for our sins: and not
for ours only, but also for the sins of the WHOLE WORLD." (1 John 2:2).
Thus they would expand our consciousness to the fact that God gave His
Son for THE WHOLE WORLD, and the WHOLE WORLD He shall yet receive unto
Himself --fully cleansed, fully redeemed, fully restored into His life
and righteousness.
Long ago the prophet Isaiah
declared the fullness of the promise. "There is no God else beside Me;
a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside Me. Look unto Me, and be
saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.
I have sworn by Myself, the Word is gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
and shall not return, That unto Me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall
swear. Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength."
(Isaiah 45:21-24).
There is a universal outreach and
coverage here that is both glorious and overwhelming-- that every knee
shall bow, every tongue shall swear-- and what shall they say? That "IN
THE LORD have I righteousness and strength." That is the fullness of
the NEW COVENANT confirmed in Christ our Redeemer!
In the three answers given,
we have an unfolding revelation, that He came to save sinners, He came
to justify all who could not be justified under the law, indeed, He came
to bring salvation to the whole world.
But there is one more answer
to the question: What is the Gospel? It includes all of the above, and
adds yet another dimension. That by the coming forth of the ETERNAL WORD,
a NEW MAN is brought forth out of our divided nature, who is truly, "son
of God, son of man." Sin's breach is healed, and God comes to DWELL IN
MAN, that man may do the works of God, and yes, that man may truly come
to DWELL IN GOD. This is the INNER HEART of the NEW COVENANT-- to bring
about a UNION of God and man, so that God shall dwell in man, and live
out His righteousness through man. Thus, "IN THE LORD HAVE I RIGHTEOUSNESS
AND STRENGTH" Bless HIS name!
As the Mediator of the NEW
COVENANT: Jesus Christ is identified both as "Son of God, Son of man."
This is essential, for He is the BRIDGE, He is "The Way, the Truth,
and the Life," and no man comes unto the Father except by Him. HE IS
THE GO-BETWEEN, drawing together both God and man.
Galatians 3:19 tells us
that even the old (first) covenant was ordained, arranged "by angels
in the hand of a mediator."
There were two realms: God,
the divine, the celestial; and man, the earthy. These two realms must be
brought together, and this required a mediator-- literally, a go-between.
In the first covenant we have as it were two mediators, two go-betweens.
God was represented by the angels, and man was represented by Moses. The
angels were spokesmen for God, while Moses was Israel's spokesman. Acts
7:53 confirms the fact of the angels' participation in the order of the
first covenant, when speaking of those "Who have received the law by
disposition of angels." It was a working of God, using the instrumentality
of angels. It was not to be a permanent arrangement, but only until THE
SEED should come, through whom the New and BETTER covenant could be arranged.
For a temporary order God could use temporary help.
On the earth side, Moses
was the go-between. "They said unto Moses, Speak with us, and we will
hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die." (Exodus 20:19).
For sure, Moses was a very faithful servant, and he could tell the people
of the law, the Word of the Lord, but he could not change them, nor impart
to them a nature to do the will of God. Once God said to Moses, "O that
there were such an heart in them, that they would fear Me, and keep all
My commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their
children for ever." (Deuteronomy 5:29). But not until the day when
He fulfills the promise of Ezekiel 11:19-20, will this be realized. "I
will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I
will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart
of flesh: that they may walk in my statutes, and keep Mine ordinances,
and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God."
The problem was not with
the law, for "The law is holy, the commandment holy, and just,
and good." (Romans 7:12). The problem was with the ministration of
that covenant. The angels could BEAR THE SWORD, and slay all who did not
obey. The human spokesman could fervently declare the Word of the Lord.
But neither the angels, nor Moses, could change the inner nature of man,
to enable man to keep his part of the covenant. Thus, "The commandment,
which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death." (Romans 7:10).
Furthermore, Paul went on,
"We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal (flesh-minded)."
(Romans 7:14). As long as the law was spiritual, but man remained carnal,
it is obvious that the GO-BETWEEN was not bringing the two realms together.
That ministration was a failure!
The ministration of condemnation
and death must needs be replaced with a new ministration which would be
of LIFE. How could this be accomplished? GOD INTERPOSED HIMSELF. He placed
Himself as the Mediator, as the Go-between. "He saw that there was no
man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore His arm brought
salvation unto Him; and His righteousness, it sustained Him." (Isaiah
59:16).
It is essential that a mediator
be on equal terms with both realms, to rightly represent both realms. He
must be able to converse freely in the realm of divinity. He must be able
to identify with the low realms of mankind. Total identity with both dimensions.
There is "ONE MEDIATOR between God and men, the man Christ Jesus."
(1 Timothy 2:5).
Certainly He intimately
knew the realm of the Divine, HE CAME FROM GOD! And He was born into the
realm of the human. "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same." (Hebrews
2:14). And, HE "was in all points tempted (tested) like as we
are." (Hebrews 4:14). Now He was fully equipped to bring the two realms
together, for He was both SON OF GOD, and SON OF MAN. In Himself the reconciliation
was made complete. He could be BOTH IN ONE, and now He is able to work
that same reconciliation in us, so that we who have tasted so deeply of
the earthy, might also experience the blessed reality of the heavenly.
Furthermore, HE retains
this identification for the ages. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
and today, and for the ages." (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus is the name of
identification with our earth realm. Christ is the identification with
the heavenly realm, the anointing Spirit. And as long as there remains
one individual in the universe in whom this reconciliation is not yet complete,
HE IS THERE AS THAT MEDIATOR! The One who can identify with their need,
and also unite them with the Divine. Yes, THE SON reigns until all enemies
are subdued under His feet, and all is fully reconciled.
THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS! That
God can take us, "the sons of men," and so thoroughly transform us that
we can be called "the sons of God." It is far more than just saving us
from our sins, but it is the whole process of TRANSFORMATION into the image
of God. "That He might be the Firstborn among MANY BRETHREN." (Romans
8:29).
Indeed, so fully is man
to be made "partakers of the divine nature,"
(2 Peter 1:4), that in due time
it can be said, "As He is, so are we in this world." (1 John 4:17).
There is no need for premature,
rash announcements of who we are, for our very state of being will belie
our words. Not until we have FULLY BECOME, can it be said that we are "as
He is." It will require the full outworking of the process, in spirit,
soul, and body. A quickened spirit, a renewed mind, and a changed body.
Thank God, He who has begun in us a work which is good, shall also bring
it to a successful conclusion. The fullness of our salvation is secure
in Christ.
When we speak of "father
and son," in order to BE a father there must be the bringing forth of a
son. A man may live to be an hundred, and be a mature man in physical form,
in mental prowess, in spiritual integrity, etc. and yet never be a father.
A father is defined as: one who has begotten an offspring. Thus, when we
receive a revelation of God as our FATHER, it inherently includes the thought
of relationship, that we are His sons and daughters. The FATHER--RELATIONSHIP
is also inherent in the heart of the NEW COVENANT. And it is first manifest
in our Lord Jesus Christ.
"No man has seen God
at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He has declared Him." (John 1:18). He came to reveal the heart
of the Father, that He might become the FATHER OF MANY. He revealed that
there is an eternal love between Him who begets and they who are begotten.
There is a union and a communion with Him who is the source and ground
of all being.
FATHER-- tells us of a source
of life; of one in Whom His sons have been-- for all sons have once been
in the loins of their father, from whom they came, and whose image and
likeness they are called to manifest.
They said of Jesus, "Is
not this the carpenter's son? is not His mother called Mary? and His brothers,
James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all
with us? When then did this Man get all these things?" (Matthew 13:55-56).
"And they said, Is not
this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is
it then that He says, I came down from heaven." (John 6:43).
They were continually astonished
at His doctrine, His wisdom, His power, His authority. They thought they
knew His father, but what He was saying and doing was not the image of
His father. Of course not! But they did not know Who His true Father was!
They thought it was Joseph. But they should have asked Mary, His mother,
for she knew. It has been said unto her, "The holy Spirit shall come
upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore
also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the SON
OF GOD." (Luke 1:35).
When Jesus expressed the
NATURE of His Father, they knew Him not, for they knew not His Father.
Joseph wasn't His Father, therefore He did not express like nature to Joseph.
Mary provided His humanity, His body, but HIS NATURE WAS DIVINE. Thus He,
IN HIMSELF, brought together both the earthy and the heavenly. And IN HIMSELF
He triumphed! As Paul wrote in Colossians 2:15, "Triumphing over them
in it," or literally, the Greek text reads, "IN HIMSELF."
Once Jesus asked the Pharisees,
"What think of Christ? whose son is He? They say unto Him, The Son of
David. He said unto them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord,
saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit on My right hand, till I make Your
enemies Your footstool? If David called Him Lord, how then is He his son?"
(Matthew 22:42-45). They could not answer. They understood human relationship,
but they could not extend into the Divine. They were totally baffled, not
knowing that He was both SON OF GOD, and SON OF MAN. His earthen-vessel-body
came out of the lineage of David, via His mother Mary, but truly, HIS NATURE
CAME FROM HIS FATHER, from God.
Therefore do we read, "He
is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall
of partition: having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of
commandments contained in ordinances; for to make IN HIMSELF of one new
man from the two, so making peace." (Eph. 2:14,15)
Many long years ago we read a
little verse:
"Within this temple there's
a crowd, One of us that's humble, one of us that's proud.
From much corroding care
I could be free, If ever I could determine which is me."
How long we have suffered under duality-- from the day that Adam and Eve
partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. How we long for
all duality within us to cease, that of the two He would make "ONE NEW
MAN" With a nature that is totally divine, and a body "fashioned
like unto His glorious body," (Philippians 3:21), so that we could
freely express that divine nature.
Permit us one more illustration:
"Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David your son,
which is with the sheep. And David came to Saul and stood before him; and
he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. And Saul sent to
Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray, stand before me; for he has found favor
in my sight." (1 Samuel 16:19, 21-22).
Saul KNEW that the father
was Jesse, the son was David. Saul became well enough acquainted with David
that he loved him greatly, and brought him into the close relationship
of being his armour-bearer for a time. The wording is clear, Saul KNEW
both who Jesse was, and who David was, on a very personal level.
Then David returned home,
and Saul went off to battle the Philistines. Jesse sent his son down to
see how his brothers were faring. You remember the record. Goliath gave
his challenge to Israel, and when David heard it, he volunteered to go
and fight him. Saul KNEW all about this, in fact, "Saul said unto David,
Go, and the Lord be with you. And Saul armed David with his armour. --And
David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them,
And David put them off him." (1 Samuel 17:37-39). This is very clear!
Saul KNEW David, knew he was willing to fight Goliath, and even tried to
provide what he felt would be the best armour, which David rejected.
David, with a sling and
five stones, ran to meet the Philistine, slew him, cut off his head, and
Saul, from afar, watched the happening. Now make careful note: "And
when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner,
the captain of the host, Abner, WHOSE SON IS THIS YOUTH? And Abner said,
As your soul lives, O King, I cannot tell." (1 Samuel 17:55).
Saul knew Jesse the father,
he knew David the son, why did he not know this young man? Because on this
occasion this young man was not expressing the image and likeness of Jesse!
BY FAITH IN JEHOVAH, David was drawing out of the DIVINE REALM, even as
he said to the Philistine, "I come to you in the name of the Lord of
hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defiled. This day
will THE LORD deliver you into mine hand." At that moment David
was not walking "according to men," but according to a higher realm, and
so they could not recognize him.
"David returned from
the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before
Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said unto him,
Whose son are you, young man? And David answered, I am the son of your
servant Jesse the Bethlehemite." (1 Samuel 17:57-58).
WHOSE SON ARE YOU? Well
could David have answered, "Saul, Saul, you will never comprehend the higher
realm, you cannot relate to that identity, so just know me as you always
have-- I am David, the son of Jesse."
David knew, in a measure,
of a realm that was far beyond the realm of humanity which he inherited
from Jesse and it serves as a glimpse, a parable, of this greater relationship
into which we come, as we are indeed BORN AGAIN, born from above, with
God as our Father.
With a father there is a
relationship in nature, and in blood, a love which is unchanging, though
the son becomes a prodigal. As Jesus gave His parable, the son is still
loved, and though he may wander afar off, as he returns, the father will
run to him, fall on his neck and kiss him, EVEN WHILE THE RAGS OF THE FAR
COUNTRY STILL COVER HIM. For, "God commends His love toward us, in that,
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8). Far from
our FATHERLAND, we have tasted the dregs of this earth, became impoverished,
wasting our substance and ending up destitute. But LOVE reaches out to
receive us, and draw us to Himself again.
Over and over again, with
parable after parable, Jesus, THE SON, declared precious truths of THE
FATHER-- of His love, His compassion, His mercy, His heart toward us, and
His ultimate plans for our good. What revelation He becomes to us, and
truly, He is "The true Light, which lights every man that comes into
the world." (John 1:9). Saying, "I shall show you plainly of the
Father." (John 16:25). And again, "I have declared unto them Your
name, and will declare it: that the love where with You have loved Me MAYBE
IN THEM, and I in them." (John 17:26).
Jesus Christ came forth
to declare-- to become the LIVING EXPRESSION of the Name of the Father.
There is a progressive revelation of the Father in the revelation of His
name.
"And God appeared unto
Moses, and said unto him, I AM the Lord (Jehovah): And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by
My name Jehovah was I not known to them." (Exodus 6:2-3).
There are specific revelations
for specific dispensations, for the outworking of God's purpose through
the ages. The time of the LAW (first covenant) was at hand, and so there
was a specific name of God to be revealed for that law dispensation. It
was not revealed unto Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it was not needed for
their time. They knew Him as the ALMIGHTY, as El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient
One, and that was enough to see them through their days. But now God has
a specific time and dealing to be wrought in Israel, and He needed a NAME
which would be identified with that era and working, so He revealed a NAME
that bespoke of all that would be brought into focus.
Significant that Abraham,
that great patriarch of faith, did not need a particular revelation of
this name. "The scripture, foreseeing God would justify the heathen
through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, In you
shall all nations be blessed." (Galatians 3:8). GOD LEAPED OVER AN
AGE, and revealed to Abraham the GOOD NEWS which belonged to an age to
come, of the realm of FAITH, and GRACE, and the over-flowing mercy of the
NEW COVENANT, and so it was not needed that he be given a revelation of
the dispensation and name which preceded that glory. Therefore, "By
My name Jehovah (Yahweh) was I not known to them."
Yahweh-- from the tetragram YHWH,
meaning, I AM THAT I AM. Let us not become hung up on the "letter" of this
name, but receive the Spirit and Reality of its message, and then go on
to receive more revelation of the unfolding NAME of God, even that which
pertains to this day.
When the time for the LAW
was at hand, the name YAHWEH came into the foreground. It was a time when
HE who is righteous must judge evil, wherever it existed, at whatever cost,
whether to the creature, or to the Creator. Holiness, and the process of
becoming into that realm by means of the law, brought forth this particular
revelation of the name and nature of Yahweh. The cold facts were laid out
in the law, and it was condemnation unto death if you did not, could not
keep that law.
"The law has dominion
over a man as long as he lives." (Then Paul gives a type, an illustration).
"For the woman which has an husband is bound by the law to her husband
so long as he lives; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the
law of her husband." (Romans 7:1-2).
God took Israel to mount
Sinai, and there she made her vows to be joined to Yahweh-- He became her
husband, "till death do us part." Though the marriage went on the rocks,
Israel became an unfaithful wife, seeking out many lovers (strange gods),
yet she remained bound to Yahweh until DEATH. God knew when it was time
to end that dispensation, and He sent forth His SON, yes, HE INDWELLED
THAT SON, "To wit, that GOD WAS IN CHRIST," and then He went to
the cross, and DIED. That ended that particular relationship, ended that
marriage, and ended that dispensation, and methinks in a sense it ended
the usage of the name which was revealed for that time, in this respect--
that when a man dies, the woman is loosed from her husband, and she is
free to be married to another, AND RECEIVE A NEW NAME.
"Wherefore, my brethren,
you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ (the body that
died); that you should be married to another, to Him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Romans 7:4).
Remember, parables, illustrations
are given to make a point, not to become definitive theology. Yet show
me the man, named Mr. Smith, who marries a woman formerly married to a
Mr. Jones, now deceased, who asks his wife to call him by the name of her
deceased husband. Nay, she must now use his name, "Mr. Smith," for she
is now joined to a new man, with his own name.
In the death of Jesus Christ,
one order ended, and a new order began. HE "took away the first, that
He may establish the second." The dispensation of the first covenant
was FINISHED IN HIM, and the NEW COVENANT was ratified by His blood. Now
we are free to be JOINED UNTO CHRIST, to Him who is RAISED FROM THE DEAD,
so that we might bring forth fruit unto God-- THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT,
of grace, of faith, and not the works of the flesh, as under the old law.
Jesus Christ, the expression of Jehovah on earth, filled up in Himself
all of the old covenant, brought that era to an end, and DIED. Then out
of the tomb came a NEW LIFE, a NEW EXPRESSION, and as we are joined
to Him, we receive of His Spirit-life, that we might bring forth a spirit-fruit
which glorifies God.
As long as we carry the
former name we testify that we have not come into the NEW COVENANT, but
remain under, to be judged by the old, which is a ministration of condemnation
unto death.
Just as we see in Christ
the ending of the adam nature, to bring in the new God-nature; so also
we see in Christ the ending of the dispensation of the law, that we might
come into the NEW COVENANT, by His Spirit, with the declaration of a new
name, even as He said, "Him that overcomes will I make a pillar in the
temple of My God, and he shall no more go out: and I will write upon him
the Name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, which is New Jerusalem,
which comes down out of heaven from My God, and I will write upon Him My
new name." (Rev. 3:12).
"Saying, I will declare
Your name unto My brothers, in the midst of the church will I sing praise
unto You." (Hebrews 2:12).
One more special thought
concerning the name "Yahweh," which is given in the King James Version
by all capital letters, LORD. We have already quoted the verse, God saying
unto Moses, "But by My name YHWH was I not known unto them (Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob)." Yet we find that this name was in a sense known throughout
all the time of the patriarchs, clear back to Eve, where she said, "I
have gotten a man from the LORD (YHWH). (Genesis 4:1). How then could
it be said that He was not "known" by this name?
The Hebrew word used here
for "known" is "yada" meaning: to be perceived, understood. Thus literally,
this name was not known so as to be understood, to be experienced. Abraham
did not experience the dispensation of the law, therefore did not intimately
understand the meaning of the name YHWH. Yet by the impartation of revelation
by the Spirit, he leaped over that whole time period, and as Jesus said,
"Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day; and he saw it, and was
glad." (John 8:56).
When did Abraham see this
day? Ah, could it not have been on that mount where he prepared to offer
his son, Isaac, according to the commandment of God. When Isaac said to
him, "Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the Iamb for a burnt
offering? And Abraham said, My son, GOD WILL PROVIDE HIMSELF a Iamb for
a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:7-8). Did he not see much more than the
provision of "the ram caught in a thicket by the horns," which he
offered in place of Isaac? Truly, he saw that God would PROVIDE HIMSELF.
"To wit, that God was in Christ," to become that Lamb which takes
away the sins of the world. Abraham saw, and he rejoiced! For to him was
declared the good news, long before the Gospel dispensation would come,
how, that through this SEED all nations of the earth would be blessed BY
FAITH! Yes, he saw beyond the time of the law, into a ministration that
exceeds in glory--no wonder he rejoiced!
So, "By My name YHWH
was I not known..." How is such knowledge gained? Psalm 9:16. gives
answer. "The LORD (YHWH) is known by the Judgment which He executes."
When judgments were predicted against any person or nation, it was always
connected with the statement, then "They shall know that I am the LORD
(YHWH)." For His judgments were calculated to display His supremacy
above all other gods, etc. and they would know that Israel's God alone
was GOD.
Pharaoh says, "Who is
the LORD (YHWH), that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know
not the LORD..." (Exodus 5:2). But he surely came to know Him by the
JUDGMENTS which He executed!
Many today would cry for
a heavy hand of judgment, with death to all those who oppose righteousness.
Since we cannot change men, since we do not have the power to transform
their life into a new creature, if they seem to be exceedingly sinful and
rebellious, we just say, "Okay, Lord, remove them, wipe them out."
Even Jeremiah experienced
this. "Righteous are You, O Lord, when I plead with You: YET LET ME
TALK WITH YOU OF YOUR JUDGMENTS: Wherefore does the way of the wicked prosper?
Wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously?" (Jeremiah
12:1). "Lord, isn't it time that you exercise your judgments, and just
wipe them all out?" Perhaps we know the feeling all too well, but is not
all of this still under the dispensation of the law, while we want to demand
the penalty of the law upon other men?
The Pharisees were so quick
to condemn, and more than once Jesus said unto them, "But go and learn
what that means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Matthew 9:13).
How little have we learned this, if we are so ready to "sacrifice" anything,
or anyone, that does not measure up to our standard, as we set the law,
and then become the judge for another. But MERCY, truly-- "blessed are
the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." Jesus demonstrated for
us this tremendous expression of God, for He did not condemn, rather, He
came TO and FOR the sinner, knowing that they desperately needed His life.
There is a revelation of
ALL THE NAMES OF GOD in Christ Jesus, not just one facet, but all of them,
thus unto greater victory-- total redemption!
First, the name "Elohim,"
from the Hebrew: EL, meaning: STRONG; and ALAR, meaning: TO SWEAR. Combined
they bespeak of GOD IN COVENANT RELATIONSHIP WITH MAN, ratified by an oath.
He gives His own Word, and He has the strength to carry it through to completion.
"Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by Him" (Heb. 7:25).
The name "Elohim" is uni-plural,
speaking of more than two who are bound together in a basic unity of strength
and faithfulness. "He is the Lord our God (our Elohim): His judgments
are in all the earth. He has remembered His covenant for ever, the word
which He commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant He made with
Abraham, and His oath unto Isaac: and confirmed the same unto Jacob for
a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant." (Psalm 105:7-10).
What a fascinating passage
of scripture! God made COVENANT with Abraham-- it is still in effect, and
it both PRECEDED the dispensation of the law, and it FOLLOWS that dispensation.
The law was an interjection for a time. Paul says "it was added" for a
time. The promise to Abraham was that ALL NATIONS (that totally includes
every creature), was to be blessed BY FAITH-- by the outworking of the
covenant through Jesus Christ. This was so great a Word that BY AN OATH
God spoke it again to Isaac. But when we come to Jacob-- who stands in
figure for all of his seed after the flesh, with the Jacob nature in all
of its carnality, then God confirms the promise again, but AS A LAW, with
all of its ministration of ceremony and ritual, which held promise in type
and shadow, of the GREATER TO COME. For a time the covenant was spelled
out as a law, "imposed on them until the time reformation." (Hebrews
9:10). But when God takes away ungodliness from Jacob, and brings forth
the new nature, re-names him as Israel, then we see again that it is no
more a law, but AN EVERLASTING COVENANT. As long as one deals externally,
by works, it comes as A LAW. But as soon as one is lifted to the higher
spiritual dimensions, the PROMISE is renewed as an EVERLASTING COVENANT.
Christ Jesus declared the
COVENANT RELATIONSHIP of our Father, whose love never changes, therefore
"The blood of the everlasting covenant," witnesses that ALL MEN
are loved with God's unchanging love. And He also revealed a NEW DEPTH
of the Jehovah (YHWH) nature to judge the wrong, for "God has committed
all unto the Son." (John 5:22). And plainly He stated, "For judgment
I am come into this world." (John 9:39). HE WAS JUDGMENT! Wherever
He went people were brought face to face with the truth, "that they
which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind,"
and thus their inner state of blindness would be exposed, and could be
corrected.
When the disciples were
ready to "command fire to come down from heaven, to consume them...
"
He said, "The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to
save." (Luke 9:54, 56). HE WILL CORRECT, at a great cost to us, and
to Himself, but NOT UNTO DEATH, BUT UNTO LIFE. For all His judgments are
remedial, revealing His great mercy as they are used to prepare men to
receive the fullness of His life.
Thus He taught, "But
love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and
your reward shall be great, and you shall be the children of the Highest:
for He is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be therefore merciful,
as your Father also is merciful." (Luke 6:35-36). THE FATHER IS MERCIFUL,
and as His children this is to be our disposition, our nature, our attitude
towards all men.
Abraham did not understand
the Jehovah nature part of God, i.e. the LAW, and the JUDGMENT which accompanied
the law, with its death penalty-- an interim imposing of an order upon
men. But Abraham knew the Most High, and even paid his tithes to Melchizedek
who was priest of the Most High God. And he looked forward to the day of
the Christ, who is "after the order of Melchizedek."
They died under the law
without mercy. Jesus, who was judgment, came declaring mercy. It was not
"judgment, or mercy," for in Christ we have them BOTH, as He brings forth
judgment UNTO VICTORY, and covers the whole with His mercy-- for the end
of the NEW COVENANT is His MORE ABUNDANT LIFE. No more an incomplete, fragmentary
revelation of God. No more one manifestation of Divine character at a time,
but in Him, ALL FULLNESS IS PLEASED TO DWELL, and He can reveal the Jehovah
nature of God IN LOVE, with abundant mercy, as He reconciles IN HIMSELF,
to bring forth ONE NEW MAN-- a new creation species that is truly an expression
of the Father, in all of His nature of love and holiness.
God hid Himself within the Form
Of Jesus Christ His Son,
And through His Son He gave His
life To ransom every one.
'Twas "God in Christ," the Scripture
says, For God so loved the world, And He would reconcile us all,---
His covenant unfurled. So long
ago Abram had said, "Himself-- God will provide,"
Provide Himself to be the Lamb,
And so for us He died. Isaiah said, "God looked, and saw,
Wondered there was no man, No intercessor
in the gap." So His own arm did span----
Did span the gulf from heav'n
to earth, To be our righteousness. He interposed Himself to be
The Word, our souls to bless.
Father of mercy, love, and grace,
As God indwelt the Son. So
now His Spirit dwells in us To finish what's begun.
That we His image truly bear,
His nature be our own. Praise God, the covenant He gave
Unites us with His throne. That,
as He is, so we shall be, What wonder of His grace.
Transforming power to make us one,
His new creation race. BACK
3 - ENDING
THE STONE AGE
"The letter of the Law leads
to the death of the soul; the Spirit of God alone can give life to the
soul. The administration of the Law which was engraved in stone (and leads
to spiritual death) was so magnificent that the Israelites were unable
to look unflinchingly at Moses' face, for it was alight with heavenly splendor.
Now if the old administration held such heavenly, even though transitory,
splendor, can we not see what a much more glorious thing is the new administration
of the Spirit of life." (2 Corinthians 3:6-8, Phillips).
There is a very strange malady that affects much
of Christendom, a peculiar disorder that is hard to reconcile with world
progress in general. When it comes to the affairs of natural development,
no expense or effort is spared to advance with the latest techniques. But
when it comes to spiritual development, strangely enough, men are afraid
to move on with God, but they stubbornly cling to old traditions, and insist
that the first glory be repeated over and over again. Jesus faced this
in His day, and said,
"No man also having drunk old wine straightway
desires new: for he says, The old is better." (Luke 5:39).
Let us make it very clear, we have no desire to
simply "update religion," nor to modernize form and ceremony to keep them
in harmony with worldly times. But we truly desire to follow on to KNOW
THE LORD in the reality of HIS SPIRIT OF LIFE as pertains to the new covenant.
Thus we find it imperative that we walk softly before God, and make the
transition out of the stone age of the first covenant, into the life of
the new-- in Christ.
Briefly note the introduction of the administration
of that which was written in stone. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Come
up to Me into the mount, and be there: and I will give you tables of stone,
and a law, and commandments which I have written; that you may teach them."
(Exodus
24:12).
"And He gave unto Moses, when He had made an
end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables
of stone, written with the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18).
Two tables of testimony-- literally, OF WITNESS.
They were a written declaration of God's will for man. ENGRAVEN IN STONE
as a further confirmation that they were to be enduring and unchangeable.
When God gives a Word, He does not alter it at a later occasion, adjusting
it to a new situation. Because He is omniscient (all knowing, infinitely
wise), He knows what all future happenings, needs and requirements will
be, and He has already taken them into consideration. Thus HIS LAW (His
will) shall stand throughout all generations-- its required holiness is
unchangeable. The standard shall never be lowered. "For I am the Lord
your God: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and shall be holy; for
I am holy." (Leviticus 11:44).
The requirements of holiness are never changed.
What desperately needed changing was the ADMINISTRATION-- so that it would
be wrought BY THE SPIRIT, by the indwelling Christ, and not by the efforts
of the flesh.
TABLES OF STONE. Herein lies the limitation of
this covenant with man. The "STONE" becomes a powerful symbol of this ministration
of the law. It was CLEARLY WRITTEN, indeed, by the very "finger of God."
There was no mistaking its message. There were no obscure passages that
required intense scholarly effort to learn what it was that God required
of them. It was clear cut-- do this, and live; don't do this, under penalty
of death. But it was apart from man, it was not internally made apart of
his nature, but written outside of man, on these specially prepared tables
of stone. They could see it, they could read it, but they were dependent
upon their own abilities and strengths to carry it out. This was the WEAKNESS
of this ministration-- of this order.
"The Law never succeeded in producing righteousness--
the failure was always the weakness of human nature." (Romans 8:3,
Phillips).
For this reason, Paul writes, "The commandment,
which was meant to be a direction to life, I found was a sentence to death."
(Romans 7:10, Phillips). For remember, they were called tables of witness,
and while they gave testimony to the right way, they also gave witness
against whoever could not meet the standard. To add to the distress, Paul
points out, that it was BY THE LAW that he gained a knowledge of sin. "I
had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the
law had said, You shall not covet." (Romans 7:7).
Example, the children are out playing in the yard,
blissfully unaware that their mother is baking cookies. They are not hungry,
so the thought of cookies doesn't even enter their mind. Then mother comes
out with a small plate of cookies to take to a neighbor, and she pauses
to admonish the children, "Don't you dare touch those cookies cooling on
the table." At that moment the law is given-- and suddenly the children
are both aware that there are cookies, and they find they are awakened
to a desire for them. Had mother never mentioned them, they could have
kept at their play without any temptation to go see the cookies. But I
now, with the KNOWLEDGE GAINED BY THE SPOKEN LAW OF MOTHER, sin was waiting
to ensnare. "For where no law is, there is no transgression." (Romans
4:15). But the law gave knowledge of sin, and the wickedness of the human
heart was alerted, and the flesh was too weak to resist-- so the law was
broken. And now the law was a witness against them, for mother could say,
"I told you not to touch the cookies." But what mother could not do was
impart the strength for obedience. She could threaten them with punishment,
but the obedience had to come from within, and if we could borrow the words,
"The
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Evidence of the weakness of the flesh is all about
us. Man has the knowledge of what will happen if he goes against all the
laws of nature, the laws of society; moral laws, spiritual laws, civic
laws, etc. Yet the depravity of the flesh causes disobedience, and the
consequences multiply-- the prisons are overflowing, disease and sickness
grip the human race, homes are broken, abuse abounds, and the wickedness
of man is horrendous. Obviously the order is NOT WORKING-- it is a ministration
resulting in death. Yet the LAWS remain, and are a solid WITNESS AGAINST
every one that disobeys. More laws will not help the situation! Only an
impartation of a NEW MINISTRATION of an INNER SPIRIT OF DIVINE LIFE can
bring man into victory.
An interesting event occurred with Joshua and
the children of Israel. Brought into the land of Canaan, ready to establish
their homes and settle down to live in their inheritance, Joshua gave a
strong challenge to the people. "And Joshua said unto the people, You
cannot serve the Lord: for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will
not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord,
and serve strange gods, then He will turn and do you hurt, and consume
you, after that He has done you good. And the people said unto Joshua,
Nay; but we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:19-21). Thus they made
their covenant-- choosing to serve the Lord.
"Joshua wrote these words in the book of the
law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that
was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said unto all the people,
Behold, this stone shall be a witness unto us; for it has heard all the
words of the Lord which He spoke unto us: it shall be therefore a witness
unto you, lest you deny your God." (Joshua 24:26-27).
THE STONE WAS A WITNESS, for it had HEARD the
words of the Lord. As a visible pillar it would remind them of this time
when they covenanted to serve the Lord. To pass by and see it, they would
remember their vow-- how they had chosen to serve God. But it was far more
than Just a SILENT WITNESS, for the STONE HEARD-- it had received and stored
into itself the word of the Lord, and yes, the confession of the people.
Should there come a day when they would deny the Lord, if God chose to
release the SOUND VIBRATIONS WHICH WERE STORED UP IN THE STONE, it would
be a witness against them. If they lived out that which they had covenanted
to do, it would remain a witness FOR them.
"Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak; and
hear, O EARTH, the words of My mouth." (Deuteronomy 32:1). The WORD
has gone forth, the EARTH, yes, even the STONES of the earth have heard
it, received it, stored it up within them. Insomuch that Jesus said, at
the time the Pharisees complained about the people shouting praises to
Jesus on His triumphal entry to Jerusalem, "I tell you that, if these
should hold their peace, THE STONES WOULD IMMEDIATELY CRY OUT." (Luke
19:40). And what praises the STONES could give to their Creator.
The prophet Habakkuk spoke of these things. "For
the STONE SHALL CRY OUT OF THE WALL, and the beam out of the timber shall
answer it." (Habakkuk 2: 11).
From ancient writings, Juvenal (the Roman poet) has a
passage which well illustrates this:
"Should trembling slaves not dare to squeak,
Beasts, dogs, and posts, and marble
walls shall speak."
But from our present day comes another illustration:
The report has been recorded of how a certain man in England watched a
program on his television that was broadcast from the United States. He
was so impressed on receiving a program that originated so far away, that
he wrote down the call letters and location of the station that did the
broadcasting, and wrote to them of the remarkable fact that he had received
their program from so many thousand miles away. But then the astonishing
report came back to him that the station had been off the air for over
three years. So the question was: Where had those electrical sound waves
been stored? It is one of the phenomenon of nature, that those electrical
sound waves had been held in the atmosphere, and with the conditions just
right, had been received by the Englishman's television set.
This certainly gives another dimension of meaning
to the scripture, "For by your words you shall be justified, and by
your words you shall be condemned." (Matthew 12:37). If God releases
from the earth the sound of our own words, how often would we stand in
shame before Him? Such is the ministration of the first covenant, with
THE STONES retained as a witness, and often working against us. Yet how
precious is the ministration of the new covenant, wherein He states, "I
will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8:12). Yea, "Not imputing
their trespasses unto them." (2 Corinthians 5:19). Bless His wonderful
name!
How tremendous is the promise, "I, even I,
am He that blots out your transgressions for Mine own sake, and will not
remember your sins." (Isaiah 43:25). Again, "I have blotted
out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins:
return unto Me; for I have redeemed you. Sing, O heavens; for the Lord
has done it: shout, you lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing,
you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord has redeemed
Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel." (Isaiah 44:22-23).
BLOTTED OUT-- the Hebrew word is "machah" meaning:
to rub or wipe off, thus, by implication, to erase. Herein is the MERCY
and LOVE and GRACE of our Lord. With the atmosphere filled with the sound
of our iniquities, as thick clouds stored in His treasuries; and with the
earth itself, stones and all, retaining the sound vibrations that will
witness against us; He shall cause "the heavens to pass away with a
great noise, and the elements to melt with fervent heat, the earth also
and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (AND THEN). "We,
according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwells righteousness." (2 Peter 3:10, 13). That's redemption!
The first covenant retained the witness in STONE--
a witness that surely goes against us. But He purposes to WIPE IT ALL AWAY,
blot it out, erase it, till there is nothing remaining which is against
us, while GOD HIMSELF IS FOR US. Then let the mountains "break forth
into singing," for it shall be totally of praise and glory to our God!
Might we insert a special word right here: So
often men are prone to document all their grievances-- writing down so
as to have a record, and as the occasion arises, they bring out this witness
against another, in judicial court, or however used. They follow the ways
of the STONE AGE, and use the evidence to stone another. If you never write
those negatives in a letter to another, it will never be there-- in written
record, to condemn at a later time, and witness against you. Thus, we find
the holy Spirit checking us again and again from all this documenting of
events and happenings-- if it is negative, forgive and release it immediately,
and there is no need to keep a record, a score card, a tally sheet. There
is no "written in stone" witness retained against another, nor one that
remains ready to fall on you. BLOT OUT WITH FORGIVENESS IMMEDIATELY-- it
is a characteristic of the new covenant ministration, which does not impute
iniquity.
Yes, "Our sufficiency is of God; who also has
made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of
the Spirit: for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." (2 Corinthians
3:5-6).
Not of the letter-- significant that the same
Greek word "gramma" which is given as "letter," is also used in the phrase
"WRITTEN
in stone." The letter of the stone! When the law was written in tablets
of stone, people have found cause to stone others with it ever since. They
throw out their "you shall not," at every twist and turn. But for all their
stoning of another, they cannot change the inner nature. Thus it became
a ministration of condemnation and death.
"Moreover, you shall say to the Israelites,
Anyone of the Israelites, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who
gives any of his children to Molech (the fire god, worshipped with human
sacrifices) shall surely be put to death, the people of the land shall
stone him with stones." (Leviticus 20:2, Amplified).
"A man also or woman that has a familiar spirit,
or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them
with stones." (Leviticus 20:27).
While several other passages could be cited, these
are enough to reveal that under this ministration of the law, anyone that
disobeyed the specific laws that were given, "they shall stone them
with stones." One of those explicit laws was concerning adultery. Exodus
20:14, "You shall not commit adultery." Therefore, "The adulterer
and the adulteress shall surely be put to death." (Leviticus 20:10).
The commandment was written in stone, and those who disobeyed it were stoned
with stones.
"The scribes and Pharisees brought unto Him
a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they
say unto Him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what
do You say?" (John 8:3-5).
How quickly they were ready to stone-- for all
they had was the letter written in stone. By His message and action they
knew that Jesus was OF ANOTHER ORDER, and they would tempt Him, test His
way concerning this. Jesus knew that they were not ready to walk a path
of love and forgiveness BY THE SPIRIT, and so He dealt with them on their
own level. "And said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him
first cast a stone at her." (John 8:7). He left them on the STONE-LEVEL,
but turned them inward just enough so that their own conscience convicted
(or shall we say, stoned) them, and they slipped away.
All of this action of the stone has one result,
it is a ministration unto death. Stephen had dared to touch the temple,
challenging their whole religious order, how they "received the law by
the disposition of angels, and have not kept it." (Acts 7:53). And what
happened? They
"cast him out of the city and stoned him," so that
he died. The stone age leads to death!
Even Israel's God, in Old Testament times, was
likened unto a Rock. "For their rock (gods of the heathen) is not as
our Rock (God of Israel), even our enemies themselves being judges."
(Deuteronomy 32:31).
Certainly one can draw positive applications from
this, lifting it up to spiritual realities, but the figure remains, the
types and shadows were in the outward, the letter, the stone. But Jesus
taught,
"God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him
in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24).
Jesus knew the mentality of those held in the
ministration of the law, He knew of their stony nature, so He used the
same metaphor to teach them, saying, "Whosoever shall fall on this Stone
shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to
powder." (Matthew 21:44). If you are in the STONE AGE, you will be
dealt with as stones, and the GREAT STONE will fall on you, and utterly
diminish you.
Yes, we know there is a precious message here,
and we thrill to the fact that we can fall on Him, and be broken, and with
the sharing of His cross, the fellowship of His sufferings, also come into
the sharing of His life. But the fact remains-- the terminology is of stones.
From the life of Jacob we draw another illustration.
Jacob had fled from his brother Esau, spent the night in a lonely place,
with stones for his pillows, and went to sleep. He had a dream, and received
a tremendous promise from God, that God would be with him and bring him
safely back to his father's house. "Jacob rose up early in the morning,
and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a
pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying,
If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will
give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my
father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God: And this stone,
which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that You
shall give me I will surely give the tenth unto You."
(Genesis 28:18, 20-22).
Over and over this has been lived out by many
people. They take the LAW and try to use it for their pillow (to rest their
head, mind, upon) through the long dark night. It has not been without
its visitation of God, yet whenever they are touched by His presence they
are amazed. So they follow in step with Jacob. They are ready to "make
a deal with God." If God will do such and such, then they will serve Him,
He can be their God, and if He really prospers them, they will even pay
their tithes. While this actual happening to Jacob was "before the law,"
yet it holds all the earmarks of that which followed in the stone age.
I will serve God, I will do all my works-- but I will also expect God to
bless and honor me for it. And the ministration of the law worked on that
principle. "That the man which does those things shall live by them."
(Romans 10:5). On the basis of their works, men will try to bargain for
prosperity here on earth, and a place in heaven.
"Then Jacob went on his journey, and he looked,
and beheld a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep
lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great
STONE was upon the well's mouth." (Genesis 29:1-2).
The applications are many, and one ought not to
press any parable too far lest they distort the truth. We note there
were three flocks of sheep at the well. Body, soul, and spirit, all three
realms desperately need the water of life from this well. Also, mankind
had been divided into three major races, and it is imperative that all
races of men drink deep of this water of life. Yet there has been a GREAT
STONE upon the mouth of the well. The dispensation, ministration of the
law has been as a great stone which has hindered, more than helped, to
obtain that water.
"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust,
and not be afraid: for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He
also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall you draw water out
of the wells of salvation." (Isaiah 12:2-3).
Yes, God has been our SALVATION all through the
ministration of the law, and any time we could get past the STONE we could
draw water and be refreshed.
Jacob observed the situation, and began asking
questions, (most religious organizations prefer you not ask too many questions,
they just want you to accept their system as it is). But what Jacob wanted
to know was: Why are all the flocks gathered and lying around? Water them,
and send them out to feed, AND GROW. "And they said, We cannot,
until all the flocks be gathered together, and till they roll the stone
from the well's mouth; then we water the sheep." (Genesis 29:8). This
was too much for Jacob, he would not play their games and wait-- he "went
near, and rolled the stone from the well's mouth, and watered the flock"
Thank God, He has always had a few, those stalwart
men of FAITH, who have dared to by-pass the religious systems of man, even
go past the STONE, "And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers
of the world (age) to come." (Hebrews 6:5). These have truly drawn
water out of the well to water the sheep.
But we are now reminded of another day, and another
well to which the thirsty would come for water, and on this occasion the
woman who came to draw, found that "JESUS... sat thus on the well."
(John 4:6). This was no STONE ministration now, here was the NEW ORDER,
the SPIRIT OF LIFE, and while the woman had to "go through Him," to get
to the water, He promised her, "The water that I shall give him shall be
in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." (verse 14).
No more works, no more DRAWING, but the reality of His INDWELLING LIFE
would cause a springing up-- the out flowing life of the Spirit, to thoroughly
refresh so that one never need thirst again. THAT IS THE VICTORY OF THE
NEW COVENANT ORDER!
Yes, there is a well-spring of living water, yet
for many long years there has been a STONE, (law-ministration) which has
covered the well, and far too few have been able to partake of its life-flow.
Yet JESUS CAME, fulfilled all the requirements of the law, and SAT DOWN
ON THE WELL-- so that now all of its life-flow is available through Him.
He offers no restrictions, but calls out to mankind, "If any man thirst,
let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believes on Me, as the scripture
has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."
(John 7:37-38).
"And let him that is thirsty come. And whosoever
will, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17). Praise
God!
There are not a lot of strenuous requirements
of DO this, DO that, before receiving of His life. Men do not have to fashion
special buckets, make long ropes, work hard to get the bucket into the
well, and labor even more to pull up a small amount of water. It is not
because of much fasting, shouting, clapping, praying, singing, and whatever
other religious exercise one might conceive that enables us to have a drink
of the WATER OF LIFE. Hear it, beloved reader, all He says is "COME,
and DRINK." The STONE (law-ministration) has been removed from covering
the well, and HE is there to freely impart of His life to those who believe
in Him.
Again an illustration from the life of Moses.
WORKS, DOING, was the fundamental basis of the old ministration, so that
even Moses fell into its practice, and carried it too far. Israel had come
into a desert area without water, "And the Lord spoke unto Moses...
speak unto the Rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water,
and you shall bring forth to them water out of the Rock; so you shall give
the congregation and their beasts to drink." (Numbers 20:8). But Moses
was hard pressed with the strain of the murmuring people, "Because they
provoked his spirit, so that he spoke unadvisedly with his lips." (Psalm
106:33). So when they gathered the people together before the Rock, "He
said unto them, Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch you water out of this
Rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the Rock
twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and
their beasts." (Numbers 20:10-11).
What condemnation Moses uttered against the people.
And then almost as if to think that it was he, by his works, that would
fetch out the water, so that he smote the Rock twice. Ah, we shall not
think too negatively of Moses in this-- he was demonstrating the weakness
of the flesh to cope with such pressures. And it all serves to point out
a pertinent truth-- We don't have to BEAT ON THE ROCK to receive His life-giving
water. Just speak-- "Ask, and it shall be given you... for everyone
that asks receives; ...shall our Heavenly Father give the holy Spirit to
them that ask Him." (Luke 11:9-10, 13).
SMITING THE ROCK is still deeply entrenched in
Christendom even in this day. How misguidedly they quote, "The kingdom
of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." (Matthew
11:12). Supposing that this gives them the right (authority) to violently
DEMAND that God impart to them the blessings of His kingdom. The Kingdom
is HIS, the right to command is HIS, He is to RULE IN US, we are not to
exercise some kind of authority over Him. HE gives the orders, we yield
in obedience. We do not seize it by force. Well Jesus said, "The good
news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God is being preached, and every one
strives violently to go in - would force his own way in rather than God's
way into it." (Luke 16:16, Amplified).
It is this trying to FORCE OUR OWN WILL, OUR WAY, that
is doing violence to the kingdom-- it is smiting the Rock again. But in
the ministration of the New Covenant there is no smiting the Rock, for
we bow low before Him to worship Him for all His ways, and in total surrender
from every atom of our being, we cry out, "Not my will, but Yours, be
done."
It was stated that because of his attitude and
action, Moses did not glorify God at the waters of Meribah, and, faithful
servant that he was, because of this short-coming he was not allowed to
lead the children of Israel into their promised land. Neither does any
of the STONE AGE, law ministration bring us into the fullness of divine
life. Yet "Moses verily was faithful in all his house, as a servant,
for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. But Christ
as a son over His own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence
and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end." (Hebrews 3:5-6).
Praise God, the ministration of TAKE IT BY FORCE,
"do
this, and you shall live," has been replaced with a far more excellent
way. CHRIST has come-- not as a stone covering the well, but as a NEW AND
LIVING WAY into the fullness of life. What shall we do? is the often asked
question of the old order. But, "Christ in you" as the well of living
water, is the glorious ministration of the new covenant.
How this was tested at the time of the temptation
of Jesus in the wilderness. "The devil said unto Him, If you be the Son
of God, command this stone that it be made bread." (Luke 4:3). There
are so many beautiful applications of truth from the Scriptures, permit
us to draw one more from this: "For the Bread of God is HE which comes
down from heaven, and gives life unto the world." (John 6:33).
HE WAS THAT LIVING BREAD. Yet the temptation of the adversary
was that He just cause the STONE to become bread. Carry on with the old
STONE AGE MINISTRATION, don't go on to become that NEW ORDER BREAD that
feeds the hungry and fully satisfies. Jesus answered, "It is written,
That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God."
Full well He knew that there was a FAR BETTER expression of THE WORD OF
GOD that was being unveiled, and it would feed the hungry of this world
in a way that former things could never satisfy. Stones turned into bread
are not enough. We desperately need to be "filled with all the fullness
of God." (Ephesians 3:19): And where is that fullness to be found?
"It
pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) should all fullness dwell."
(Colossians 1:19). Yea, "For it is in Him that all the fullness of Deity
continues to live embodied, and through union with Him you too are filled
with it."
(Colossians 2:9-10, Williams).
When the stone was rolled away from the tomb,
and Jesus Christ came forth in resurrection life, it truly signaled the
end of the stone age-- rolled away, to release His New Covenant Life.
Some
may try to roll the stone back in place, to resume the ministration
of the law, but it is too late! HE IS RISEN, and the Spirit of His
Life cannot be confined in a tomb-- nor restrained by the STONE AGE, but
He is free to bring us into the fullness of His life and glory.
Significant that after Pentecost, and Peter's
infilling with the holy Spirit, that we see in his message a transition
also out of the stone age. We read that we are come "as unto a LIVING
Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious. You also,
as
LIVELY stones, are built up a SPIRITUAL HOUSE, an holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1
Peter 2.4-5).
In Him the LIVING STONE all the stones have COME
ALIVE, and as soon as they are FILLED WITH HIS LIFE, we can drop the term
"stones," and talk about being A SPIRITUAL HOUSE, with the offering up
of SPIRITUAL SACRIFICES. Everything is being called to the higher dimensions,
no more to be of the letter, but of the Spirit, the reality of His divine
life.
Some try to turn stones into bread,
And find they feed on grit instead, Because they are not fed thereby--
They pick up stones and let them fly,
A ministration of death!
In Christ we have the Living Bread,
And by His life are richly fed, He is within our righteousness,
How fully He doth save and bless--
A ministration of life!
The contrast of the old and new, Two
ministrations stand in view, Praise God, the stone age passed away,
Christ dwells within, has come to
stay, A ministration of rest!
That one in Him we might become, His
grace and mercy fill the sum, His holy nature is our law,
No more from other wells to draw--A
ministration of peace! BACK
4 - GOD'S COMMANDMENTS--ARE
PROMISES
"That the righteousness of
the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after
the Spirit." (Romans 8:4).
"Think not that I am
come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
(Matthew 5:17-18).
How clearly Jesus stated
it! He did not come to "destroy," but to FULFILL. We note that the Greek
word used here for "destroy" is "kataluo" meaning: to loose down. In this
day when it seems the very moral fibers of our society are rapidly unraveling,
and there is so much at loose ends, we find it most encouraging to find
that there is a counter-working to all this-- for God shall "Gather
together in one all things in Christ." (Ephesians 1:10). He said, "The
thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I AM COME
THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, AND THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE IT MORE ABUNDANTLY"
(John 10:10). HE has it all-together! And He has come to put man back together
again, to make us whole, to make us one, to bring us into the fullness
of His life. His NEW COVENANT MINISTRATION is a ministration of LIFE!
There is a peculiar characteristic
in humanism that if people cannot rise to the higher standard, they simply
LOOSE THE STANDARD, lower it down to accommodate the people, the weakness
of the flesh. But God will never lower the standard of His righteousness.
His state of being is the criterion, and He is totally righteous, perfect.
As the Author and the Finisher of our faith, He purposes to bring us into
oneness with His holiness. At no time, from the beginning of our processing,
to the end, does He ever lower the qualification to an inferior state.
As Jesus came forth from the bosom of the Father, to be the Administrator
of the New Covenant, there was no way that He would LOOSE DOWN any of the
Father's commandments for perfect righteousness. He did come to BRING IT
TO THE FULL, and He was, and is, totally successful in all that He purposes
to accomplish. THIS IS THE OUTWORKING OF GRACE, grace that is able to gather
together all things into the fullness of His life.
Williams translation gives,
"I
have not come to set them aside but to fill them up to the brim." Nothing
halfway about what He does. He came to bring us life-- more abundantly,
till it overflows. Everything He does will be UP TO THE BRIM and overflowing.
Full measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. So also
is His treatment of the law, not to set it aside as incomplete, but to
bring it to FULL EXPRESSION IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.
Young's Literal, "I did
not come to throw down,..."
Consider an occasion when
the law was once thrown down. Moses had been up in the mount with
God, where God had given him "two tables of testimony, tables of stone,
written with the finger of God." (Exodus 31:18). Finally it was time
for Moses to return down the mount to the people, and as he drew near,
he saw that they were in a most idolatrous state, prancing around a golden
calf. "And Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his
hands, and brake them beneath the mount." (Exodus 32:19). His very
actions were a witness that all Israel would also continue to break, throw
down the law, being unable to keep it, or to fulfill the righteousness
thereof. Though there would be a long era of the ministration of that law
unto condemnation,
it was foretold from the beginning that man, in his
humanity, could not fulfill it.
But now, A GREATER THAN
MOSES was come. He would not throw down the law, as Moses had done, but
He
would bring all men UP TO ITS STANDARD.
The fault was not with Moses, for we read, "Moses verily was faithful
in all his house, as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were
to be spoken after." (Hebrews 3:5). We can learn much from Moses, his
meekness, his giving of himself to serve the people, etc. But there were
some things "TO BE SPOKEN AFTER" him, another ministration of a
much higher order, and it is to this GREATER THAN MOSES that we now give
our attention.
When Jesus came He never
threw down the law, He never caused it to be broken, fragmented, etc. but
rather, He lived out all the righteousness of the law, "leaving us an example,
that we should follow His steps."
(1 Peter 2:21). He would
not lower the standard to the level of corruptible man, but He would BECOME
THE WAY to raise man to His level. First of all He would fulfill it all
IN HIMSELF, and then He would pour His life INTO US, that He might fulfill
in us the absolutes of His righteousness. "Be therefore perfect (brought
to your full end, finished, etc. [web ed.]), even as your Father which
is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48).
Jesus said, "I am come...
to fulfill..." (Matthew 5:17). The Greek word is "pleroo" meaning:
to make full, complete. Not until something has been brought to completion
has it literally been fulfilled. We have tasted of the good things of God,
but how we long for more-- filled to the full, yea, until "my cup runs
over."
Then Jesus added the statement,
verse 18, that "one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the
law, till all be fulfilled." Here we have a different word for "fulfilled",
being the Greek word "ginomai" meaning: to become. Clearly stated, the
righteousness of the law has not been brought to the full in us until there
is a STATE OF BEING wherein every particle has BECOME. Thus He is working
in us by His grace until we shall have BECOME the fullness of all the perfection
and righteousness that the law implies. No wonder we need Christ to dwell
within us, for He alone can bring to the full a life of fulfilled righteousness.
It is BY HIS SPIRIT, and to Him be all glory and praise.
A man asked Jesus, "Master,
which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, You shall
love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second
is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt. 22:36-40).
This word "hang" is very
interesting, for it denotes that all of the teaching of the Old Testament
on morality is SUMMED UP within the scope of these two commandments.
Men sometimes get all tangled
up in the different kinds of law: the Mosaic law, the moral law, the ceremonial
law, the social law, the civic law, etc. But nit-picking on "the letter"
does not profit. The requirement is that ALL THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE LAW
BE FULFILLED IN US. We do know that the ministration of the law, as known
under the first covenant, is being taken away. That system of works which
was designed to bring forth righteousness was ineffective. Hence the need
for a new ministration, OF THE SPIRIT, which bespeaks that Christ has come
to dwell within us, to live out the righteousness of the law through us--
herein is our hope, yea, and joyous victory.
Law, in its simplest and
most broad definition, is ANY MANIFEST- ATION OF THE WILL OF GOD. However
He reveals His will for me, that becomes a law to me. Anytime God makes
known unto us a fragment of His will and purpose for our life, that is
His law for us. Jesus said, "I do nothing of myself; but as My
Father has taught Me,...I do always those things that please Him."
(John 8:28-29). LET THE FATHER REVEAL HIS WILL! "My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent Me." (John 4:34).
Is He sovereign? Is He my
King? Am I His subject? YES! Then as He communicates His will to me, I
am to become an expression of that will brought to fulfillment. With joy
we sing that "He IS Lord, He IS Lord..." and it becomes a reaffirmation
of our relationship to Him. God is sovereign Master, we are His servant
fully dedicated to doing whatsoever He reveals as His will for us. From
every avenue of our being, let there be the response, "Not my will,
but Yours, be done." Amen!
Proverbs 29:18, "Where
there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keeps the law, happy
is he." Every vision has a proper law for its fulfillment. If that
law, order, way is not kept, then the desired results cannot be obtained.
GOD MUST SUPPLY THE VISION! He must write His law into our heart and mind,
and then as we yield to His Spirit, He will help us to live out, keep,
fulfill His will, and thus we shall come into the results that bring joy
to our own heart, and praise to our Lord. HAPPY IS HE!
"If you continue in My
Word, then are you My disciples indeed: and you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32).
KNOW-- "gnosis" meaning:
to know by experience. It means that we LIVE HIS WORD (law, will) INTO
FULFILLMENT. Unfulfilled truth does not set us free. Only as we experience
it, penetrate into its reality, do we enjoy this freedom in Christ. We
may be able to quote the "letter of the law" backwards and forwards by
rote, and remain totally bound in our self-will and carnality. But when
He works that will into us, so that it is not a mere form of head-knowledge
or mental assent, but experienced, then we shall have the fullness of its
blessing.
Remember, all the law and
the prophets are summed up in HIS DIVINE LOVE LIFE. "Love is the fulfillment
of the law." (Romans 13:10). The simplicity of this is awesome!
If you love, you will unconsciously fulfill the whole law. It is the rule
for fulfilling all other rules.
A certain Rabbi once pointed
out that in the writings of the ancients of Israel, there are laws upon
laws, into the hundreds. But as you progress down through the writings
of the Patriarchs, they begin to simplify the matter a little, realizing
that certain laws if truly kept would also cover a lot of other minor regulations.
When one comes to the prophet Micah, there are only three listed. "He has
showed you, O man, what is good; and what the Lord requires of you, but
to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God." (Micah 6:8).
But if you follow on until you come into the teachings of Jesus, there
it is all summed up into one law-- TO LOVE!
"Owe no man anything,
but to LOVE ONE ANOTHER; for he that loves another has fulfilled the law."
(Romans
13:8).
Often the first thought
for "owe no man" is in monetary terms. But the previous verse explains
what Paul had in mind, so note verse 7. "Render therefore to all their
dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear (reverence)
to whom fear; honor to whom honor." How do we keep these debts paid
up? How do we keep from falling short in any of these matters? Simple,
IF WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER, love will cause us to do all these things-- to
give the honor, the respect, etc. which rightfully belongs to each man
and his position.
Then Paul goes on: "For
this, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not kill, You shall not
steal, You shall not bear false witness, You shall not covet; and if there
be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love works no ill to his neighbor:
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." (vs. 9-10).
Herein Paul has listed five
of the ten commandments, for they deal with our relationship to others.
If I truly love my neighbor, I will not mess around with his wife, I will
not covet any of his goods, I will not say a false word about him, I certainly
will not steal from him, nor seek to kill him. LOVE takes care of
all of the "you shall nots," without any emphasis on the negative approach,
because it is a positive living of His righteousness.
Christ met every specification
of the law, He was able to MAKE IT FULL, because HE IS LOVE PERSONIFIED.
We know this! But what about us? We cannot keep even a small part of the
law, how then can we make it full? God knows our frame, that we are
but dust, and therefore HE HIMSELF becomes the provision for us, dwelling
within, to live out this love life.
And now, consider these
again, not just as a commandment, as a YOU MUST DO, but as A PROMISE which
HE shall fulfill in us. Truly they are divine promises, for they are an
expression of God's will for man. Daily we pray, "Your kingdom come,
Your will be done, on earth (IN US) as it is in heaven." And
since these are expressions of His will for man, then in LOVE'S LIVING
they shall be brought to the full in our state of being.
We examine them as listed
in Exodus 20:3-17, beginning with: "You shall have no other gods before
Me." No other gods-- none instead of Him! The Greek word "anti" literally
means: instead of. That which is anti-christ is INSTEAD OF CHRIST. There
have been so many gods that we have worshipped instead of Him. But the
PROMISE is that HE shall become FIRST AND FOREMOST, the Central One within
our life. He is not only "The Author and the Finisher of our faith,"
but He is ALL THE WAY IN-BETWEEN! Filled with love for Him, we do not want
to serve, give obeisance to any other god. Indeed, least of all would we
want to be "devil-conscious" and impute to the negative realm credit for
all that happens. We see in our Lord total control over all the interplay
of good and evil.
Far too long the man of
sin (self)
"who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sits in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God."
(2 Thessalonians 2:4). Self, having
fallen into the snare of "I will," has aspired for its own godship. "I
will be like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:14). The drive to be recognized
as god, having to be right above all others, have our own way, win every
argument, etc. When we see traces of this in our self, how we cry out that
HE ALONE will be GOD IN US. "The fullness of Him that fills all in all."
(Ephesians 1:23). Yea, that He would become the indwelling and controlling
factor of our life. It is HIS WILL, it is HIS PROMISE-- He will work this
into us, purging and purifying, until we have no other gods before Him.
Praise His name!
"You shall not make any
graven image."
This goes far beyond our
placing an icon on a shelf in our home, though without a doubt that is
included.
"Take therefore good heed unto yourselves; for you saw no
manner of similitude on the day that the Lord spoke unto you in Horeb out
of the midst of the rue: lest you corrupt yourselves, and make you a graven
image, the similitude of any figure,..." (Deuteronomy 4:15-16).
Oh, how often have we boxed
God into a form of human conception, lowering Him from His totality, into
an image of our own making. We have graven, hewn out a mental image of
what we suppose God is like-- and the indictment stands, "You thought
that I was altogether such an one as yourself." (Psalm 50:20). We have
imputed to Him all the base emotions of carnal men, and "changed the
glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible men..."
(Romans 1:23).
What gross caricatures are
found in the chambers of our imagination, and we bow down to serve, worship,
give allegiance to these graven images. BUT NO MORE! He is purging our
heart and mind of all these false concepts, and we are beginning to see
HIM "high and lifted up." It is a PROMISE, it is HIS WILL FOR US, that
there be no graven images, for HE shall become the REALITY IN OUR LIFE.
We shall be changed into His image, to become an expression of His nature
and character, that He might be glorif