In the book of Ezra there are three Persian kings that played a major role in restoring Jerusalem. In the previous article we considered how these kings typified our Lord Jesus Christ. We would like to briefly review the three different stages of Christ conveyed in these kings.
By the sovereign hand of God, the accomplished work of Christ is painted on the canvas of history. The master painter has shown us by the Spirit that the restoration of the old Jerusalem is a picture pointing to the greater glory of the New Jerusalem. With the above thoughts in mind, we would like to consider the conclusion of our fourth parallel. In the following thoughts we will consider how the work of restoration connects to the woes in the Revelation of Jesus Christ. We will also consider how this relates to the body of Christ today, for within the world, as within the body, we have yet to see the final removal of the three fleshly kings that were also considered in the previous article.
In the grand finale of the old creation we shall see pride in its peak expression. This is a power that we all have the potential to harness for our own glory and self-preservation. However, it will be to the glory of God for such an ugly expression to be dealt a deathblow at the Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Then Tatnai, governor on this side of the river, Shethar-boznai,
and their companions, according to that which Darius the king had sent,
so they did speedily... The second woe is past; and, behold,
the third woe cometh quickly
(Ezra 6:13 and Rev. 11:14).
At the present time, a tremendous amount of souls that we will not
even attempt to number are still in Adam. For those who are now in
Christ there is a valuable truth we must learn in order to
bring restoration within the body of Christ, as well as minister life
to those dead in sin. The first three
kings just mentioned represent a three fold revelation of Christ
enthroned for the purpose of
restoration. And the elders of the Jews builded, and they
prospered through the prophesying of
Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the son of Iddo. And they builded, and
finished it, according to the
commandment of the God of Israel, and according to the commandment of
Cyrus, and Darius, and
Artaxerxes king of Persia
(Ezra 6:14). This valuable truth is
found in the One who sits upon this
throne, the God of Israel. We must ask ourselves, 'Who is the God of
Israel?' The answer the Spirit
has impressed upon us is not found in a theology on the Godhead.
We are not talking about simply acknowledging God as the One who chose Israel out of all the nations of the earth. We certainly do not deny these historical truths. However, we must consider the present reality that transcends mere history, as well as the natural realm. You see, the simple phrase "the God of Israel" is just as profound as the confession "Jesus Christ is Lord."
So, again we pose the question, 'Who is the God of Israel?' He is the God of the apprehended souls that have tenaciously held fast to Him as they wrestled in desperation, only to limp away, abased and humbled, yet lifted up in their spirit. For, like Jacob, their blessing was having their name changed, which speaks of us having our nature changed (Gen. 32:22-31). We say all of this due to the simple fact that nothing we have shared will bring glory to God nor minister life to anyone unless it is ministered in true God wrought humility. When we see the expression of humility coupled with the boldness of the Spirit emerge in a few seeking hearts, we can rest assured that restoration is within reach.
In as much as Israel of old profaned God's holy name, all the proud boasting and self-exaltation in the body of Christ today has done the same. Despite all the truth we may possess, we testify that we know not the essence of all divine truth when we share truth in an arrogant spirit. Furthermore, we are seeing more and more people take such truths as sonship and pervert them with other world religions. This is nothing more than Adam trying to reclaim some lost ground in Eden. Nevertheless, just as the individual Adam was removed from Eden, so shall the corporate expression of Adam be removed from the garden of God (Song of Sol. 4:16 and Matt. 15:13).
In Revelation 11:13-15 we read, And the same hour was there a
great earthquake, and the
tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men
seven thousand: and the remnant
were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is
past; and, behold, the third
woe cometh quickly. And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great
voices in heaven, saying,
The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of
his Christ; and he shall reign
for ever and ever.
This passage corresponds to Ezra 6:15 to some
extent. In this verse of Ezra, we
read that the house of God was finished on the third day...
On
a much higher dimension, the
ultimate outcome of this finished house of God, portrayed in type in
Ezra but as a spiritual reality in
Revelation, is found in the declaration, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.
All of this language concerning the third day is an allusion to the
resurrection of Christ, which
also alludes to the perfection of His corporate body. Interestingly
enough, it was Herod to whom the
Lord sent a message that spoke of His perfection. ...Go ye,
and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out
devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be
perfected
(Luke 13:32). The
Lord also said foxes have holes, birds have nest, but
the Son of man has no where to lay his head
(Matt. 8:20 and Luke 9:58). In other words, the theocracy of God has
not been fully established and
made manifest in the earth as of now. But praise God, the Captain of
our salvation is in the business
of bringing many sons unto glory (Heb. 2:10). The end result of that
glory will be the Lord having a
perfected body on which to place His head. For now, many Herods may
have hollowed out secure
holes within the soil of humanity. Nevertheless, all of them shall be
removed when the Lord slays
them with the Spirit, the sword that proceeds from His mouth, and the
brightness of His presence (Rev.
19:21 and 2 Thess. 2:8).
These woes in Revelation that take place before this removal are symbolic of trumpets. The Lord graciously gives the searching heart more insight into Revelation when we use the pattern He laid out in the feast days and the types in the Old Testament, as opposed to all the modern day sensationalism of end time hype. We would also do well to take note of the three woes in relation to the seventh angel sounding (Rev.11:14and15). We find that these woes are an allusion to the threefold trumpet blast. Alfred Edersheim writes in his book The Temple: Its Ministry and Services writes; "On ordinary days the priest blew seven times, each time three blast- a short sound, an alarm, and again a sharp short sound (Thekiah, Theruah, and Thekiah), or, as the Rabbis express it, 'An alarm in the midst and a plain note before and after it.' According to tradition, they were intended symbolically to proclaim the kingdom of God, Divine Providence, and the final judgment" (p.50).
He also writes; "On the eve of the Sabbath a threefold
blast of the priests' trumpets
summoned the people as far as the sound was carried over the city to
prepare for the holy day,
while another threefold blast announced its actual commencement" (p.51).
To the old man these
woes are troublesome, but for the new man this is a prelude to praise
and a greater manifestation of
the Kingdom of God. The decrees that came from the three Persian kings
in Ezra only contained a
negative tone for those who opposed the restoration of Jerusalem. These
decrees are typical of the
threefold blast we find in Revelation. For they come from the throne
and shake everything that can be
shaken. In Revelation 11:13 we read in the Concordant Literal New
Testament that ...there
were seven thousand names of the men killed in the earthquake.
We
find the literal rendering
significant in light of the fact that names in the scriptures speak of
a person's nature. There are only
two natures in the earth, the Adamic nature and the Christlike nature.
Only the Revelation of Jesus
Christ can remove the old nature. In Hebrews 12:27, which speaks of the
"removing of those things
that are shaken," the Greek word used for removing is
also translated as change in Hebrews 7:12.
For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change
also of the law.
The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord ushered in these
changes. For His priesthood
is not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after the power
of an endless life
(Heb. 7:16).
Just as Jesus took on our flesh, yet without spot, He took the old
humanity to the cross and the new
humanity arose from the grave, and yet it was Jesus that died and rose
again. Every man in his own
order must experience this revelation (1 Cor. 15:22-24). Indeed the old
nature will be removed, yet
mankind is not done away with, but changed! That beloved is
judgment unto victory! That is the great
earthquake that will remove the old man!
In relation to this, in the natural realm, we find that "the
same forces that cause
earthquakes cause mountains to be made." Mountains are
symbolic of kingdoms in the scriptures.
The Kingdom of God shall emerge from the invisible to the visible as a
result of the sounding of the
pure unadulterated prophetic blast. The fact that Adam is still
expressed in the Church, as well as the
world, makes it quite clear that the final shaking has not happened. We
pray that we make wise use
of this short vapor called life that God has allotted to us. Now is the
time to prepare our hearts just
as Ezra did in his day (Ezra 7:10). Now is the time in which our
heavenly Joshua is setting the priests
in order. ...Take up the ark of the covenant, and let seven
priests bear seven trumpets of rams'
horns before the ark of the Lord
(Josh. 6:6).
In our time of preparation we must get a clear view of what the Lord
has done so that we might
be a part of what He is doing and will do. It is so crucial to sit at
the Lord's feet and hear Him speak
to our hearts. Generally speaking, we often fail to realize that there
is no substitute for prayerfully
seeking His face and listening to Him. Reading in and of itself does
not guarantee that we are hearing
the voice of God. The Pharisees read the scriptures but had no
communication with God (John 5:39).
It is extremely important to realize that God desires a two way
conversation. We can say this because
this is the desire in Revelation 3:20. Behold, I stand at the
door, and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me.
The portion
of this verse, I will come in to him and sup with him,
and he with me,
gives us the image of sharing
and intimacy. For further investigation into this thought we would
suggest to you to compare the above
passage with Song of Songs 5:2-6. To conclude our thought we will
simply add that it is the heart to
heart communication between two people that makes a relationship strong
and healthy. If we do not
develop this type of relationship with the Lord we will not get a clear
view of what He has done for
us. This brings us to our next parallel.
That thou mayest buy speedily with this money bullocks,
rams, lambs, with their meat
offerings and their drink offerings, and offer them upon the altar of
the house of your God which is
in Jerusalem . . . Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that
keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this
book
(Ezra 7:17 and Rev. 22:7).
The above passage in Ezra is from the same context that mentions Artaxerxes as the king of kings (7:12). We have already considered how this typifies the Lord in the book of Revelation. In Ezra 7:14 we read of Ezra being sent by the king and his seven counselors. This brings to mind the seven Spirits which are before his throne in Revelation 1:4. This paints a picture of divine authority from the throne room of God. We are fully persuaded that in this very hour there is a fresh word coming from the throne of God. However, this word does us no good if we are not listening. Beloved, in our hectic, fast paced, always-on-the-go routine, I cannot help but feel that the Lord gets pleasure out of those who simply sit at His feet waiting in holy reverence to hear the precious and yet authoritative still small voice of the Spirit (Luke 10:42).
What we find in Ezra may be quite a contrast to many of the
ministries in the body of Christ
today. Ezra simply prepared his heart, heard from the king, and obeyed
his decree (Ezra 7:11-28). He
had faith in the word he heard. He knew God was behind it, and as a
result, he moved in faith.
Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a
thing as this in the king's heart, to
beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem
(Ezra
7:27). First he heard, then He moved.
Faith comes by hearing (Rom. 10:17). Ezra did not come up with a
scheme, a program, a plan, or an
idea of his own and then ask the king to bless his efforts. Concerning
the way we do our own thing,
then call on God, one man once put it like this: "We ask God to bless
our mess!"
Good ideas can be carried out in our own strength. We see this in
Genesis 16:2. And Sarai
said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing:
I pray thee, go in unto my
maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened
to the voice of Sarai
(Gen.
16:2). It was Sarai's idea for Abram to obtain children by her hand
maid Hagar. We might add that in
relation to the rebuilding of Jerusalem in Ezra, the marginal notes for
Genesis 16:2 are quite
significant. The marginal rendering for the phrase obtain children
by her is rendered be builded by her. You see, Ezra did not
include his own ideas for the rebuilding of
Jerusalem. Like the promise of Isaac,
the restoration of Jerusalem would be carried out by God through a
people, rather than a people
moving in their own strength. Today, we have a religious world full of
Ishmaels. Nevertheless, when
the time is ripe for that precious, personal, spoken (rhema) word of
the Lord to come to pass, we will
find ourselves operating in the capacity that is not unlike what we
read in Ezra 7:28 I was
strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God was upon me.
All the
good intentions that we can
muster up and attach to the name of Christ will never compare to the
divine enablement of the Spirit
that empowers the saints to fulfill the will of God and move forward in
His awesome purpose of the
ages.
When we read Haggai 2:8, The silver is mine, and the gold is
mine, saith the Lord of hosts,
we are reading of the provision that went toward the restoration of
Jerusalem. This abundant provision
is mentioned several times in Ezra. Historically, we know this speaks
of things pertaining to the natural
realm, such as natural riches. With all of that in mind, we must
consider the spiritual riches that go
toward God's ultimate plan of restoration. You see, until we truly
apprehend the significance of such
riches we might find ourselves birthing more Ishmaels.
Let's consider what silver and gold speak of today in relation to the riches we have in Christ. We must first realize that as long as we think of these terms as something related to material things we have missed the boat. We are not saying God is not interested in meeting our needs in the natural. I, for one, am very grateful to witness the mighty supply of the Lord in the realm of our natural needs. However, those who focus on prosperity strictly in the natural may be hard pressed to cease from begging God to meet their wants, rather than simply coming into agreement with His will.
We must also go on to realize that if we do not understand what
these riches are we will not
benefit from them. In other words, if you do not know what you have you
will not know how to use
it. Silver speaks of redemption. The first time we find the word silver
in the scriptures is in Genesis
13. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all
that he had, and Lot with him, into the
south. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold
(Gen.
13:1 and 2). The fact that silver
is first mentioned when Abram is leaving Egypt is very revealing. Egypt
is a picture of what we have
been redeemed from, and that is the bondage of sin (Rom.
6:3-6). We find this same picture when the
exodus began. Israel left Egypt with silver, among other things (Ex.
12:31-35). The Hebrew word for
silver is also translated as money. In Numbers 3:49 we find
this word in the phrase, And Moses took
the redemption money...
Perhaps the most
obvious picture of silver being symbolic of redemption
is in Matthew 26:15 when Judas covenanted with the chief priests for
thirty pieces of silver to betray
Jesus, who is our redeemer.
Gold speaks of the very thing with which God intends to govern the
redeemed, and that is His
nature. Job spoke a prophetic word concerning the redeemed. ...when
he hath tried me, I shall come
forth as gold
(Job 23:10). We find gold first mentioned
in Genesis 2:11. In seed form, we find the
revelation of God's government in Genesis. And a river went out
of Eden to water the garden; and
from thence it was parted, and became into four heads
(Gen.
2:10). The river parting into four heads
speaks of God's theocracy governing creation. Four is the number of
creation and the river speaks of
the Spirit flowing out of the paradise of God nourishing His people and
ministering to all creation.
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth
the whole land of Havilah, where
there is gold; And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and
the onyx stone
(Gen. 2:11 and
12). We have some interesting words that expound upon what is conveyed
in the previous passage.
The name of the first river, Pison, means "great diffusion." Havilah
means "bringing forth, trembling
with pain." You have a river, named after its great dispersion of
waters encompassing a land that has
gold. On a higher plane in the Spirit, since Christ came to dwell in
our earthen vessel, we have been
given the capacity to have rivers of living water to flow from our
innermost being (John 7:38). This
land of Havilah, whose name means bringing forth and trembling
with pain brings to mind a woman
clothed with the sun, for this woman is travailing in birth and pained
to be delivered (Rev. 12:1 and 2).
Ah, here we see a corporate being about to bring forth an expression
that will govern from the throne
(Rev. 12:5). But remember, before the manchild even comes on the scene
she already has a crown of
12 stars, which speaks of government. In other words, this mature
expression of God's theocracy is
not going to just pop up out of the blue or fall on us one day. No sir,
it comes out of a people who have
been impregnated during their times of intimacy with the Spirit. The
bottom line is we can either get
intimate with God or get spewed out! (Rev. 3:16).
And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it
that compasseth the whole land of
Ethiopia. And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which
goeth toward the east of Assyria.
And the fourth river is Euphrates
(Gen. 2:13 and 14). The name
of Gihon means "great breaking
forth." Hiddekel means "the rapid swift." Euphrates means
"fruitfulness." The meanings of these rivers
and the order they are mentioned once more expound upon the moving, the
impact, and the results of
the Spirit. In the consummation of God's plan, He is all and in all (1
Cor. 15:22-28). That, dear reader,
is a plan that ends in fruitfulness.
Until we reach that glorious consummation, we need to prayerfully
ask the Lord to enlighten
the eyes of our understanding that we may know the hope of His calling
and the riches of the glory of
His inheritance in us (Eph. 1:18). Indeed, we left Egypt just like
Abram, except the riches we have are
on a higher plane according to Ephesians 1:7. In whom we have
redemption through his blood, the
forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.
The
silver is the Lord's. Only His blood and
only His death is redemptive. The gold is the Lord's. Creation has been
terrorized by the nature of
fallen man and it groans to see the nature of God made visible. Only
the expression of His nature
governing a corporate man can bring deliverance. Oh, how we need to see
the implications of what
the Lord has already done for us so that we may come
to the place where we fully experience and
express Him in us.
In relation to these riches that we already have, we find the following words by Watchman Nee very timely.
...Christianity begins not with a big DO, but with a big DONE. Thus Ephesians opens with the statement that God has 'blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ' (1:3) and we are invited at the very outset to sit down and enjoy what God has done for us; not to set out and try to attain it for ourselves." (Sit, Walk, Stand, p.12)
Nee goes on to say,
We began our Christian life by depending not upon our own doing but upon what He had done. Until a man does this he is no Christian; for to say: 'I can do nothing to save myself; but by His grace God has done everything for me in Christ', is to take the first step in the life of faith.
We would like to share just a few of the many passages that deal
with what the Lord has
already done for us. Galatians 1:4 tells us that the Lord gave Himself for
our sins. Romans 4:25 tells
us He was delivered for our offences, and raised from
the dead for our justification. The apostles in
the New Testament expounded upon what the Lord accomplished through His
death, burial, and
resurrection. They could look back at Calvary and begin to describe the
result of such a marvelous
work. The prophets in the Old Testament were given insight into this
glorious work which was ahead
of their time, yet foreordained before time was set into motion. Let us
now consider a passage from
one of those prophets. Surely he hath borne our griefs,
and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem
him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for
our transgressions, he was bruised
for our iniquities...
(Isa. 53:4 and 5).
We must take note that there is a clear cut difference between
simply acknowledging the death,
burial, and resurrection of the Lord and knowing just what that now
implies to us. You see, the Lord
robed Himself in humanity so that, by law, He became our kinsmen
redeemer (Ruth 3:13). In His work
of redemption He has accomplished something that we cannot merit, nor
earn. We are to simply
receive it, then keep it, guard it, and holdfast to it. The mature
spiritual reaction to what the Lord has
freely given us is not a lukewarm complacent attitude, nor is it an
irreverent practice of making
buzzwords out of revelations that should humble us. It certainly is not
the practice of twisting the truth
of justification in order to continue in sin. The mature spiritual
reaction to seeing what was done
through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord is embracing
this victory in a way that is foreign
to the natural man. By way of revelation and intimacy with our Lord we
can come to know that our
victory in Christ is not something for which we are profusely
struggling and working, but our victory
is a person living inside of us. Let us ask ourselves, are we
victorious because of something we have
done? Through whom did this victory come? But thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ
(1 Cor. 15:57).
Ah, the silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the Lord
of hosts
(Hag. 2:8). Indeed, it is
the Lord's. Yet, He has freely given us this wonderful provision. We
have written in this series about
the difference between the prize of the high calling and this wonderful
provision, which is a free gift.
We are aware that many can confuse the free gift of salvation with the
prize of the high calling in
Christ Jesus (See part 7, p. 10). Nevertheless, this does not have to
be a complicated issue. The balance
in understanding the prize and the gift is simply this: apprehending
the prize of the high calling is
based on what we have done with the free gift God has given us. In
other words, we must apprehend
what we have been apprehended for. But, at the same time, we cannot
over emphasize the fact that if
we are unaware of the implications of the riches we already have
in Christ, we will not benefit from
them. One of the benefits that can be missed is apprehending the prize
of the high calling. That should
be sobering enough to cause us to stop and really ponder our provision
in Christ.
We have a wonderful illustration of apprehending what we have been apprehended for in the life of Joshua and Caleb. They were the exception to their generation because they believed in the promise of God. They, along with the entire nation of Israel, were redeemed from bondage. However, these two men understood the purpose for Israel's redemption. They also understood the means to fulfilling that purpose. They boldly held fast to the promise of God until they literally walked right into the promise land. When the visible realm told their fellow countrymen that possessing Canaan was impossible, Joshua and Caleb held a totally different perspective. They were not looking to the visible realm to decide if it was possible to possess the land of Canaan. Beloved, it is no different for us today! These things were written for our admonition (1 Cor. 10:11).
And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us
go up at once, and possess it; for
we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him
said, We be not able to go up
against the people; for they are stronger than we
(Num.13:30
and 31). It is easy to imagine Joshua and
Caleb speaking with great expectations of the inheritance only to have
others try to verbally pour cold
water on their faith with their 'yeah buts'. Yeah, but there are giants
in the land. Yeah, but we cannot
do this. Yeah, but we cannot do that. There are a lot of 'yeah buts' in
the body of Christ today. These
doubtful mentalities rob us of the spiritual benefits we already have
through our riches in Christ. Let
us soberly acknowledge these words: But with whom was he grieved
forty years? was it not with them
that had sinned, whose carcases fell in the wilderness? And to whom
sware he that they should not
enter into his rest, but to them that believed not? So we see that they
could not enter in because of
unbelief
(Heb. 3:17-19).
They could not enter in because of unbelief. Those words of Hebrews
3:19 are so key in
relation to our subject at hand. They tie right into the prophetic
passage in Isaiah 53. You see, before
the chapter describes what the Lord has already done for us, the
question is posed, Who hath believed
our report?
(Isa. 53:1). We must see the connection between the
question that introduces the
redemptive work of Christ prophesied in chapter 53 and the reason why
all of Israel did not enter into
the promise land. Who hath believed our report? They could not
enter in because of unbelief!
On the surface, the question of believing the report may seem like
nothing more than a mental
acknowledgment of some facts. We can mentally acknowledge many facts
and yet our lives can go
on unchanged. The Hebrew and Greek words for believe mean
something more than an acceptance of
facts. The Amplified brings this out quite well in Isaiah 53:1. Who
has believed (trusted in, relied
upon, and clung to) our message [of that which was revealed to us]? And
to whom has the arm of the
Lord been disclosed?
After considering the full meaning of the
Hebrew, we can see why Numbers
14:24 speaks of Caleb fully following the Lord. You see, all
Israel saw the mighty acts of God when
He redeemed them from their bondage. However, it was Joshua and Caleb
that followed through with
the purpose of their redemption. They were the ones who did not merely
acknowledge what they had
seen or heard. They trusted in, relied upon, and clung to the
promise at the onset of their redemption.
The rest of Israel did not follow through with God's plan of
redemption, therefore they died in the
wilderness. ...they could not enter in because of unbelief
(Heb.
3:19).
In the New Testament, the Greek is no different from what is
conveyed in the Hebrew of the
Old Testament. We will briefly consider three Greek words to get an
idea of the attitude God desires
in the hearts of His children. John 1:11 and 12 reads: He came
unto his own, and his own received him
not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that
believe on his name.
We would like to quote Marvin
Vincent's comments on the phrase believe on.
The present participle, believing, indicates the present and continuous activity of faith. The word is used by John, sometimes with the dative case simply, meaning to believe a person or thing; i.e., to believe that they are true or speak the truth. Thus, to believe the Scripture (2:22); believe me (4:21); believe Moses, his writings, my words (5:46). At other times with a preposition, into, which is rendered believe in, or believe on. So here, 6:29; 8:30; 1 John 5:10. See the two contrasted in 6:29, 30; 8:30, 31; 1 John 5:10. To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one's self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Saviour, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life. (From Vincent's Word Studies of The New Testament, Vol. 2, p. 49 and 50)
This particular Greek word (Strong's #4100) used in John 1:12 is
also translated as committed. This word comes from another
Greek word (Strong's #4102) which is
translated several times as faith. We find that this word is
translated as believing when
Jesus is speaking to Thomas in John 20:27.
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my
hands; and reach hither thy hand,
and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
This verse alone significantly shows
two opposites, faithless and believing. Furthermore,
the type of belief Thomas was after was only
based on what he could see and perceive through his natural senses.
Nevertheless, this is not true faith.
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast
believed: blessed are they that
have not seen, and yet have believed
(John 20:29). Also, take
note that this word comes from another
Greek word (Strong's #3982) which is translated as obeyed,
persuaded, trust, yield, having confidence, and believed.
We cannot help but conclude that this
word implies an active faith rather than simply
being in agreement with a set of ideas. Unfortunately, spiritual death
is perpetuated today due to this
mental acknowledgment of creeds and doctrines that seems to be mistaken
for what many call faith.
Who hath believed our report? The prophet's words have echoed down
through many
generations. The redemptive work of Christ brings the good report right
to the doorsteps of our hearts.
Will we open the door? We are not talking about simply accepting Christ
as our Saviour, but going
on to know what this salvation that He brings fully means. What does it
mean to us that Jesus Christ
died on the cross? We pray that it will mean more than that we are
sinners saved by grace and on our
way to glory. Along with the apostle, we thus judge, that if One died,
that One being Jesus,
consequently all died (2 Cor. 5:14). Please understand that we thank
God that we are forgiven. The
New Covenant includes forgiveness. Indeed, all have sinned.
Nevertheless, the New Covenant does
not imply that we are no more than a forgiven sinner, or, should we
say, a forgiven old creation. The
New Covenant implies a new creation. This new creation springs up through
death, rather than from
death. Yet, if we see the cross to be the death of only one man, rather
than our death also, how can we
say with Paul, I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and
the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave
himself for me
(Gal. 2:20)?
Let us take a closer look at what has been done for us. What is so often missed when we consider what the Lord has done for us is the fact that we were included in His death not excluded! He was the only One qualified to do what He did for us. We could not redeem ourselves. However, the work of redemption, which is what He did for us, brought us into His death. The bystanders did not see all of humanity being crucified with Christ. If we could have seen the transgression of Adam in the garden we would have only seen the act of one man. Yet, we know that his transgression brought all of humanity into his experience, which was sin and death (Rom. 5:13).
We do not necessarily dismiss those who use the term substitution as having no truth to offer concerning what has been done for us. To be honest, the different views in some cases may be nothing more than a matter of semantics. However, in light of what we have shared thus far, we feel the following words do justice to our subject at hand.
When God created Adam He created all mankind. All men were latent in him - i.e., in him lay the germinal force to produce them all out of himself, just as the kernel of wheat contains the whole crop to be produced from it. But not only was Adam endowed with physical power to generate mankind: in his acts inhered a representative quality which made them racially effective -'through the one man's offense the many were constituted sinners.' The same principle of representation and headship exists in Christ. 'As' in the one, 'just so' in the other is the principle laid down by the apostle. Each is head and represents the race on opposite planes-the earthy and the heavenly. Each in turn imparts his own nature to the whole race. The first Adam was a living soul: in him all die. The last Adam is a vivifying Spirit: in Him all are vivified. 'As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.' Adam sinned, and through his one offense 'unto all men condemnation.' So Christ obeyed, and through His one just act 'unto all men justification of life.' This is not left to inference, but is emphatically asserted (Rom. 5:18-20). When Adam sinned sin was first reckoned to all, and afterward imparted by generation. So when Christ wrought his just act, justification was first reckoned to all, and afterward is imparted by vivification to 'each in his own order.' The potential reconciliation of all at the cross is the foundation of grace: the actual reconciliation of all at the consummation is the fruit of grace.
Neither Adam nor Christ is a substitute for all men. Neither stands instead of the race, but each for the race, all being present and represented in their heads on both planes. Adam was not a substitute, neither is Christ. It is oneness, not substitution, that brings both sin and death in Adam, and righteousness and life in Christ - end quote. (Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, Vladimir Gelesnoff, p. 42 and 43)
When we are unaware of the law of life out of death, which has been
set in motion through the
death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord, we are deprived of what
has been freely given to us. Ezra
did not earn the silver, gold, or anything else mentioned in the book
of Ezra. He received a decree from
the king to carry that which was freely given to him (Ezra 7:11-17). He
was commanded to carry the
silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely
offered
(Ezra 7:15). We have a
Heavenly King that has made the provision for us. We pray that the Lord
will open our eyes to see that
this provision was not given so we can have some lofty ideas that sound
good on paper. This provision
is given so we can grow and walk in the reality of the Spirit. The
question is, will we receive this
provision? In as much as Rahab, who "perished not with them that
believed not," received the spies,
we are exhorted to receive with meekness the engrafted word which is
able to save our souls (Heb.
11:31 and Jas. 1:21).
As long as our soul rejects what is true in our spirit we will never walk in the Spirit, nor enter into our Father's rest. The Lord does not enter into our hearts with a plan to gain a victory. He comes into our lives with victory, because He is the victory, and in receiving Him, He becomes our victory. Yet, we live in defeat when the only facet of the cross we hold to is the fact that we are simply forgiven, nothing more, nothing less. Today, there is a slogan that expresses this mentality, which says "Christians are not perfect, just forgiven." Another mentality of the defeated life is the one that says we are saved, and even though we are in the flesh we must try to be spiritual. Many are content to simply live the life of a guilt free sinner and others strive to be spiritual. On the one hand you can come to an extremity of living in indulgence. On the other hand you can come to an extremity of being calloused by dead works.
The only thing that will keep us from such extremes is living by
faith. It was by faith that
Rahab received the spies (Heb. 11:31). Faith is not demonstrated by
striving in fleshly efforts in order
to look spiritual. Faith is demonstrated by the Spirit through those
who believe what the Lord has
spoken to their hearts. Those who believe will indeed be active and
manifest the will of God through
their bodies, but they will not put the cart before the horse. It will
be no different than the 11th chapter
of Hebrews. Every action, every deed, every blessing, every miracle,
every victory, every martyrdom,
and every promise was preceded with two words - by faith. We
see the balance in the fact that real faith
is not a passive thing. It is not lifeless. It is the life of Christ,
for the Spirit inspired the apostle, who
saw that the death of Christ was his death, to declare the life
which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me
(Gal.
2:20).
When the Lord quickens to our hearts what we have in Him, it is by faith that we move in what He has revealed. We would like to consider the balanced words found in the following quote by Watchman Nee.
God has placed us in a most lofty position. Through our union with the Lord Jesus, all of the Lord's accomplishments and victories are ours. This is our position in fact. The question now is how we can experience all of the Lord Jesus' accomplishments and victories. Between the fact and the experience, that is, before the fact can be turned into experience, before God's accomplishment can be turned into man's practice, there is still the step of faith.
This step of faith is nothing other than the 'utilization' or 'management' of the inheritance. The Lord has left us a will. He has died, and the will is now in effect. We should no longer hold an indifferent or unconcerned attitude. Instead we should rise up to 'utilize' the inheritance that we have received so that we can enjoy, or experience, the blessing of the inheritance. We are God's children already. All that God has is now ours (1 Cor. 3:21-23). We should not be like the older son who vainly possessed the promises without entering into the enjoyment of them. Due to his foolishness and unbelief, he did not ask nor did he utilize. Hence, he did not have anything. If he would have asked to exercise his right as a son, he would have had not just one goat but thousands upon thousands of them! (The Collected Works of Watchman Nee: The Christian Life and Warfare, Set 1, Vol. 1, p. 56-57)
We cannot help but once more consider the prayer of Paul in
Ephesians 1:18 when he prayed
that The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye
may know what is the hope of his
calling, and what [are] the riches of the glory of his inheritance in
the saints.
Ezra was a man who
was enlightened to God's call in his generation. Ezra knew that the
promise and provision of God was
given to him and his fellow countrymen. When the time of captivity
ended, the pilgrimage toward
restoration began. There was no doubt, indifference, or debate in the
issue of restoration as far as Ezra
was concerned. God was behind the king's decree and the matter was
settled in his heart. The only real
issue left was the issue of stewardship. How would Ezra handle this
word? He was told to carry the
silver and the gold that was provided. He did not leave Babylon as a
poor and ignorant man. He left
with as a man with riches and awareness to God's purpose. However,
along with these riches comes
responsibility.
When our hearts are enlightened, it is no longer a case of being
ignorant to what the Lord has
done for us. The moment He reveals something to our hearts it becomes a
matter of obedience. He has
given us the silver and gold to take through this spiritual pilgrimage.
In the revelation of Him, we hear
the call to come out of any confusion that may hold us captive. The
call goes to His people to come
out of Mystery Babylon, that spiritual place of captivity. For those
who have heard the decree, which
proclaims the riches our Heavenly King has given us, there is yet
another decree we must give ear to.
Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of
the prophecy of this book
(Rev.
22:7).
The Lord has given us the capacity to keep the sayings of the prophecy. Indeed, the silver is His. Only in Him do we have redemption. The gold is His. His nature came into our being when He took up His abode in us, but it has yet to be fully developed. But praise the Lord the seed has been sown. In relation to this development, we must note that every word of faith brings a test (1 Pet. 1:7). When we are faithful during our times of testing, His nature comes to fruition. We have spent a great deal of consideration on our riches in Christ in hope of soberly pondering that which He has done for us. This speaks of the silver, which represents only that which He can do, which is redeem. In the next article we will consider the stewardship and the testing that come with these riches, which relates to the gold (His nature being developed in us).
We would like to conclude this portion of our series with one vital
point - we must see the
implications of what He has done for us. Let us pray to never take
another step in this spiritual sojourn
with the wrong mentality. If we put one foot in front of the other
viewing ourselves as an old creation,
beholding our sins, and trying to be spiritual, then we will run in
circles of defeat. If we simply parrot
slogans about faith, but never experience the life of faith, then we
are deceived. Dear saints, let us get
the first step right! Those of us in the household of faith are
supplied spiritually by the Father Himself.
We are now, not going to be, but we are now a new
creation in Christ Jesus. Therefore if any man be
in Christ, he is a new creature
(2 Cor. 5:17). We do not have to
try to be a new creation. The spiritual
senses and everything that comes with being seated in the heavens is
within the grasp of the child of
God! (Eph. 2:6). We have been (past tense)
blessed already with all spiritual blessings! Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in
heavenly places in Christ
(Eph. 1:3).