Righteousness!
Chapter 6
Reconciliation, Cont.
The consciousness of our separation from God
came from Adam whose identity we had assumed. We have acted before God just as
Adam did, by hiding from Him behind the trees. These “trees” represent our
thoughts, behind which we have sought refuge in thinking that the death of
Christ was a substitute for our death, and provided us with the forgiveness of
our sins, so God will not be angry with us.
However, Jesus said in Matt. 16:24,
"If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find
it."
Your life is wrapped up in your thinking. Jesus
is wanting you to take your life to the cross. That is, forsake your thoughts
and learn of Him because His ways and His thoughts are what will give you the
God kind of life that you are seeking.
Jesus called the multitude together and said, “Every
plant (representing our thoughts) that my Father has not planted, shall be
rooted up.” (Matt. 15:13) The Pharisees were offended by these things
because they were blind to the Truth, and so they kept the people who were
under them, in bondage also. Religion does the same thing today. Paul continues
speaking to the Roman Christians by saying, “As sin has reigned (as king)
bringing you into death, even so (in the same way) Grace reigns (as king)
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:21)
So in Rom.6:1 Paul begins by asking a question,
“Shall we continue in sin so that grace might abound?” He replies to this question by
saying, “GOD FORBID that you should even think such a thing.”
Then he introduces the question of Baptism to make his point. Of course he is
not speaking here of baptism in water for the forgiveness of sins, but of that
Baptism whereby we are Baptised by one Spirit into ONE BODY. In Gal 3:27, Paul
speaks of being Baptised INTO CHRIST.
This baptism, involves being baptised into the
death of Jesus Christ, and being buried with him. This indicates the absolute
end of life as we had known it up to that point. Having now terminated all
connection with our past life, we rise with him from that death to walk in a
brand new life. In verse 6, Paul continues with the analogy and says our OLD
MAN (called ADAM) was crucified with him, for the purpose of destroying that
existence in which we were dominated by sin. This beloved, is the pathway of
freedom. So if the “Adam” we thought we were, was swallowed up in Christ’s
death, then in resurrection we rise to live a Christ life, over which sin has
no power. Paul said in Rom. 14:17,
"For the kingdom of God is not meat and
drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost."
Despite the Truth of what we have just said, so
many of God’s people continue to live in a perpetual war zone within
themselves, facing conflict on every side. The reason for this “contradiction”
is that they have never allowed God’s reconciliation to work in their lives
bringing them into peace. What they have been taught by preachers and teachers
is all that they know, and that knowledge has failed to bring them into oneness
with God. Their lives have been one continual conflict between good and evil,
flesh and Spirit, and Light and darkness, just to name a few. This is what
living by Law brings us because we cannot live up to the Law's standards by
ourselves.
Paul continues his personal testimony in Romans
7, saying, “I know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal and a slave to
sin. Because that which I do not want to do I find myself doing, and that which
I desire to do, I am unable to do.” This is the conflict with which we all
identify, but at that time in Paul’s life his understanding was being
illuminated by the Spirit. He continues by saying, “For I know that in me, that
is in my flesh (that came from ADAM), dwells no good thing, for my desire is to
do good, but how to do it eludes me.” He says his life is in constant conflict,
because when I want to do good, evil is present to overcome my desire.
This is the cry of all humanity that echoes
from the Apostle Paul as he came to grips with the reconciling of all things in
himself to God. “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from THIS
BODY OF DEATH, which lives in constant conflict.” Immediately he replies to
his own call for help and says, “I thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ
our Lord.” Paul has now reached
that point in his life where the Spirit of God has brought revelation to him
concerning the way to experience the peace of God. However I know many people
use this testimony of Paul to prove that the conflict he speaks of is to be an
ongoing experience. If we have been reconciled to God it must mean surely that
we have been made to conform to Christ in a way that will allow us to enter
into union with him. There is no conflict in God, for there is only one power
in this universe and not two as has been taught by so many. How could God
reconcile us to Himself if there remains some power out there or within us that
can challenge His authority in our lives? We must first discover how this
reconciliation functions in our lives.
Paul says they that are in the flesh, or who
function out of the Adamic consciousness, cannot please God. How then can we be
reconciled to God if we cannot please him? The answer is that it is impossible
and yet our natural mind has the power to hide reality from us so we can
believe a lie. Therefore it is only Truth that can make us free.
Paul makes a profound statement that, “All things are of (or out of)
God.” I do not believe many
Christians have really grasped the truth that is revealed here. The concept of
a “devil” that is in constant opposition to God, looms so large in the minds of
many Christians that it has distorted our true understanding of God. We have
been convinced that our God is simply playing a kind of “catch-up” game, being so busy cleaning up
the mess that this “devil” keeps on making, that he has little time to do
anything positive.
Listen to what Paul had to say in Col. 1:16,
“For by him were ALL THINGS
created, that are in
heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones,
or dominions, or principalities, or powers; ALL THINGS WERE CREATED
BY HIM AND FOR HIM. He is before all things and by him all things consist.”
We must conclude therefore that there is really
nothing in all of creation that God has not made and made for Himself. Rev.4:11
says,
“Thou art worthy O Lord to
receive glory, honour and power, for thou hast created ALL THINGS, and for thy
pleasure they are and were created.”
Remember that at the end of creation on the
sixth day God looked at all He had made, including man, and declared everything
was very GOOD. However, it was in the plan of God to lower man into a level of
living that can only be characterised as vanity. This is how Moffatt translates
Rom. 8:20,
“For creation was not
rendered futile by its own choice, but by the will of him who thus made him
subject. The hope being
that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its frustration and be
restored to its pristine glory as the children of God.”
This restoration involves a reconciliation
of those opposites that have continued to function in us despite all our
personal endeavours to be rid of this duality. Paul explains how this matter is
to be resolved by saying. Col. 1:20,
“Having made PEACE through the blood of his
cross, by him to reconcile ALL THINGS unto himself, whether they be things in
earth or things in heaven.”
What does Paul mean when he says he has
reconciled all things in heaven and in Earth? First of all we must understand
that the Heavens and the earth refer to us, rather than the physical creation.
We are the heavens (the spiritual part of our being) and we are the earth. (the
physical part of us.) Here is the main source of all our inner conflicts. You
must understand that He made PEACE, through the “blood” (i.e. His life) of His
cross so there would be no more conflict within us. However for most Christians
there is still a battle that has not yet been resolved. This indicates to us
that the conflict is still raging between the Flesh and the Spirit and between
the carnal mind and the mind of Christ.
If we have not resolved the problem of Light
and Darkness, or Good and Evil then we really have not yet touched the reality
of being reconciled within ourselves. This means that the reconciliation Christ
has achieved on our behalf has not yet been implemented in us and so we have
not entered into that PEACE of God that passes all understanding. Paul
continues to expound the truth of reconciliation by saying that he was made a
minister according to the economy of God that had been given to him for US, so
that we might fulfil the word of God. He calls this a “mystery”
that has been hidden from the ages and generations, but is NOW made known to His
saints.
This mystery is CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF
GLORY. What exactly does this mean with regard to our reconciliation? The word “glory” comes from a
Greek word meaning to think and therefore to express the true honour and
dignity of our being. Most Christians still consider themselves as sinners and
mortal beings who were born and who will die. This does not express much in the
way of glory.
We admit that our body is under the influence
of sickness and disease, over which we seem to have very little control. Our
emotions such as anger, hatred, lust and desire, often dictate our attitudes
and actions, resulting in unresolved conflict. Reconciliation means that every
part of our being has been brought into harmony with Christ, enabling us to
express what He is. God expresses his Peace in the perfection of Christ. But
the mystery of Godliness, is that Christ walked this earth in the form of a man
called Jesus, who was born of a woman, being tested in all points just as we
are, yet He never sinned, and in everything He pleased the Father, therefore,
He could say, “If you
have seen me you have seen my Father, and I and my Father are ONE.”
One day Jesus asked the disciples if they knew
who He was, because from all outward appearances He was no different from any
other man. Peter looked into the eyes of Jesus with spiritual understanding
that was given to Him from the Father and declared, “Thou art the CHRIST the son of the living God.”
After His resurrection, Christ returned to
the Father to receive again the glory He had before the world began in order to
make that same glory available to us. Then He returned, just as He told the
disciples, on the day of Pentecost to take up residence within His people. This
is the mystery that reveals how reconciliation functions in us today. Christ IN
YOU is the only possible hope of God being glorified in His people.
Paul says, “YOU are God’s workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus.” Eph 2:10 This reveals to us that we must have been created IN
CHRIST in the beginning, so John declares to us, “As He IS, so are we in this world.” He
is the likeness and image of God and also the righteousness of God. So Paul now
says that if we are to express the glory, which is the honour and dignity of
our true being and identity, we must understand that Christ has now taken up
residence IN US as our Life, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and
redemption. He now stands within us declaring, “ I AM THE WAY.” He did not say, come to me and I
will show you the way. NO, he said, I AM the way and so if we are to
express the glory of our true identity that is Christ, we must become what He
is, because He said I AM, is the only way to declare that glory. We need to understand that the
title, “I AM” is not the name of a person but is a state of being, expressing
that our origin is out of Christ and has never changed from the beginning, and
neither has our relationship with the Father. That “title” was revealed
to Moses who needed to identify who it was that was sending him to Egypt to
deliver Israel, and literally means, “I am becoming what I am becoming.” The truth is, he is becoming
what he IS, in us.
It represented to Israel, that God would
declare Himself through Moses, to deliver them from their humanity and
mortality, bringing them into an expression of Himself. Ex. 19:4-6 says,
“You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and
how I bear you on eagles wings, and BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF. Now, if you
will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will 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 a HOLY NATION.”
This expression “I AM,” expresses the will and
purpose of God to dwell in man, and in doing so, for man to reflect his image
and likeness, even as it is in Jesus Christ. Because of this, Jesus was able to
say, “I am the way.” This means that He had “become” the WAY in Himself. For
any man who is seeking “The Way,” can only discover it by becoming what Jesus
had become.
He also said, “I am the Truth.” The truth is not some teaching
that he brought to us, but what He himself had become. There are not
many who seem to have understood this fact, considering instead that Truth is
ink on paper, or verses in the Bible. No, Truth is a person and if we desire to know truth, we
must become what he is. This seems so foreign to so many Christians. I
can remember when I was first told that I could have a personal relationship
with Jesus how foreign that was to me! It did, however, excite me to think that
I could become that close to Jesus!
In this sense, truth is something that has
always been, and can never change for it is set in the reality of God, who
quickens the dead, and calls those things that are not as though they were. (Rom.
4:17) Jesus connected one more thing to the concept of I AM, and that is LIFE.
Again, He never suggested
that life could be had, just by coming to Him and asking for it. He
said, “I am the LIFE.” Therefore life is but an expression of the “I AM,” therefore to have that life we
must become just what he is. Every attribute of God is reflected in the,
I AM and therefore manifest in Jesus Christ. He is the God of MERCY and so
mercy is manifested in that state of being that is, I AM. The same can be said
for Peace and every other attribute of God.
Now listen to what Paul has to say to us in 1
Cor 1:27-31.
“But God has chosen the foolish ones of the
world to put the wise to shame, and God has chosen the weak ones of the world
to embarrass the mighty…….. But you who also belong to God through Jesus
Christ, who from God is made to all of us, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and salvation. As it is written, he who glories let him glory in
the Lord.”
It can be seen from the above scripture that we
must look closely at Jesus Christ to discover the mystery which Paul spoke
about in Eph 3:2-7.
“Have you never heard of the
dispensation of the Grace of God
which was given to me for you? For this mystery was made known to me by
a revelation, as I have briefly written to you before, so that when you read it
you can understand my knowledge of the Mystery of Christ. This mystery in ages past was not made known
to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by
the spirit, (the mystery is) that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and
partakers of his body and of the promise, that is given through him by the
Gospel.”
During the time of the Old Testament, Israel
was considered to be the people of God and the Gentiles were as the heathen.
But Israel failed to fulfil the covenant and so the kingdom was taken from them
and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof. Paul goes into details
as to what constitutes a Jew. He says in Rom. 2:28-29,
“He is not a JEW who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which
is outward in the flesh. But he is a JEW that is one INWARDLY, and circumcision
is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not
of men, but of God.”
In the light of this definition, we must
conclude that we who have entered into covenant relationship with God
and have been circumcised in our heart by the Spirit, ARE THE REAL JEWS.
Let us consider what Paul says about the Gentiles in the flesh. Eph 2:11-12
“Remember, that you being in times past Gentiles in
the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the
Circumcision in the flesh made by hands. That at that time you were WITHOUT
CHRIST, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the
covenants of promise, having NO HOPE, and WITHOUT GOD in the world.”
Paul's definition of the Gentiles surely fits
the description of many of those who claim to be Jews by natural birth in this
our day. How incredible it is that God said to the Prophet Hosea, (Rom. 9:25, Hosea 2:23)
“I will call them my people which
were not my people, and her beloved that was no beloved, and it shall come to
pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, there shall they be called the
children of the living God.”
Israel who sought relationship with God on a
natural level failed to qualify, but those who now seek relationship with Him in the realm of
spirit, being circumcised in the heart are indeed the Children of the
living God. If you have ears to hear what the spirit is saying, you should have
already discovered the wonderful truth that is called reconciliation, and also
the way by which it can become your own personal experience. We must remember that all these
things are in the Spiritual Realm, and so must be spiritually discerned.
What we are in the natural cannot change the reality of our true being that
was created in Christ Jesus.
Allow me to once again say that all these
things are in the Spiritual Realm and can only be understood by spiritual
discernment!