The Radiance

Hebrews 1:1-3 ESV 

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Revelation 21:9-11

The New Jerusalem

Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. The Bride of Christ shares in His radiance and thus are the children of the light. 

I AM Teacher And Lord

John 13:12-13 ESV

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.

He washes us to make us ready for the life of God.

Do we understand and accept what He has done?

He has come to us, shedding the garments of divinity for the swaddling clothes of our flesh. He has washed us clean with His life. He has put back on the outer garments of His divinity, and resumed His place on His Father’s throne. 

Elijah Who Is To Come

Malachi 4:5 ESV 

“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.

Matthew 11:13-14

For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come.

John came to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. He did for the first coming of the Lord what Elijah will do for His second coming. John is not Elijah, but acted in the spirit of the Elijah to come. This is the meaning if you are willing to accept it. 

Teacher, Lord, I AM

John 13:12-13 ESV 

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.

He washes us to make us ready for the life of God. 

Do we understand and accept what He has done?

He is:

Teacher 

Lord

I AM

Teacher 

The Law prepares us for the way by showing our need for salvation. 

It was written on stone by the finger of God, the Angel of the Lord. 

Lord

Jesus came to reveal the way of salvation. 

He is the way, the truth, and the life. He came in the body of a man. 

I AM

The Holy Spirit will lead the way to salvation. 

He is the truth and the life. He enters the body of all who believe. 

Because He is, we are. 

At first a finger, then in the form of a man, then in the form of men and women. 

His final revelation will be as the King of Kings. 

He is our Father and Lord God. YHWH

Wait, There’s More!

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV 

But, as it is written,

“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,

nor the heart of man imagined,

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

Our view of creation does not do it justice. We often will say a photograph does not capture the beauty and impact of the scene before our eyes. Like a memory, it only captures and retains a fragment of the reality of the moment. 

Consider that our experience is limited to our senses and attention. Interpretation is another filter that modifies our perception of our surroundings and their meaning. 

Imagine for a moment how God sees and experiences His creation. We haven’t seen anything yet. 

Our Walk

Faith in Jesus is evident by our walk with Him.

Our lack of faith is evident by our walk with Him. 

Our footprints reveal the path we’re on. 

Where are you headed?

Our Teacher

The Law prepared us for the way to salvation. It reveals our chains to sin and points us to the freedom that is in Christ. 

And Were Satisfied

Matthew 14:16-20 ESV 

But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

The loaves signify the bread of heaven representing Jesus who offers Himself to mankind as that bread to be broken by His own hands. 

The fish signify those of mankind who offer themselves in return for this gift of life from above. There are two that serve to confirm the testimony of man. 

This meal conveys the coming together of God and man in the sharing of a meal, which is a foreshadowing of the wedding banquet to come. 

Every Perfect Gift

James 1:16-17 ESV 

Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Every perfect gift comes from above, for He is perfect. 

Ask and it shall be given. 

The Lord will not withhold anything. 

The things of our Father are ours. 

Believing And Discipleship

We become children of the light when we enter the body of Christ through belief. 

We become the Bride of Christ when we follow Him and persevere to the end and thereby conquer our world. 

This is the goal and meaning of discipleship. To be fully blessed in union with Christ. 

What Does It Mean?

Psalms 1:5-6 ESV 

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

for the Lord knows the way of the righteous,

but the way of the wicked will perish.

Someone could use this passage to say “the wicked will not stand in judgement.” The wicked are not in fault. Only the way of the wicked is wrong and it will no longer be an option that might be a temptation to sin. This is what the words plainly say. Obviously this is what they mean. Opposing views could debate the merits of one interpretation or another without resolution, even to the point of producing hard feelings. 

Scripture contains the word of God and the word of God is truth. 

They could argue their position is based on scripture and that is true to a certain extent. Both interpretations are based on the same words. What is different is the way people hear or read it. What is important is what the Holy Spirit means by the words and context. Hopefully this will come through with time and maturity. The Spirit speaks to people where they are in their walk and understanding. 

There is the way of the righteous and there is a way of the wicked. Understandings of the way may vary, but the Spirit will lead us into all truth. 

To Sojourn

We can be neighbors, yet live in different places. 

We might walk side by side, yet be headed in different directions. 

To walk with the Lord means just this. 

The New Earth

We walk in the kingdom of heaven because the kingdom of heaven is within. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. 

Our promised land is the new earth of the body of Christ. 

Our Natural State

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV 

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

The natural person is unnatural to God. Because of this, He sent His only Son to bring us into His life. The Lord has a different nature and Jesus was the exact image of the nature of God. We will find this to be our truly natural state. We will find our rest. 

An Inheritance

Psalms 105:7-11 ESV 

He is the Lord our God;

his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever,

the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant that he made with Abraham,

his sworn promise to Isaac,

which he confirmed to Jacob as a statute,

to Israel as an everlasting covenant,

saying, “To you I will give the land of Canaan

as your portion for an inheritance.”

The portion of Israel’s inheritance from the Lord is the land of Canaan. Abraham walked in that land before it was given. 

The portion of the inheritance of the body of Christ is the Lord. We walk in the kingdom of heaven before it is given and drink from His cup of sacrifice before we reach the full possession of our inheritance. 

Psalms 16:5-6

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

What We Do Know

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV 

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

If we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, we have the mind of Christ that will bring us into the truth of God. Our spirits are made alive in His Spirit so we can begin to learn and transform our minds in His presence until we become like Him in nature. 

We may not be able to solve many equations or always have the right answer, but we do know the answer to the mystery of life. 

All These Things

Isaiah 45:7 ESV 

I form light and create darkness,

I make well-being and create calamity,

I am the Lord, who does all these things.

The darkness is not revealed until the coming of the light. 

Expressions of light and darkness can be found in well-being and calamity. 

All this comes by the hand of the Lord. 

All things work for the good for those who love the Lord. 

A Chosen Race

1 Peter 2:6-10 ESV 

For it stands in Scripture:

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone,

a cornerstone chosen and precious,

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

“The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone,”

and

“A stone of stumbling,

and a rock of offense.”

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Israel had a role to play in the plan of God for the salvation of mankind. God used them to bring the light of the law to bear on the weakness of man and to bear the light of the world for the salvation of man by overcoming that weakness. They would prepare the way for Christ and provide the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Their wilderness journey will come to an end when they see Christ, their Messiah. They were elected by God for this purpose. 

We are a chosen people of God, for we have chosen God. We have accepted His offer of mercy and life, thus He chooses us as children of His light and as sons of God to enter that life. 

Matthew 22:14

For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Few will answer. “Here am I.”

Exodus 19:5-6

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

We fulfill the role left undone by Adam and Israel. This is what God saw from the beginning. 

Take Away The Stone

John 11:41-44 ESV 

So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Each believer is like Lazarus who rose, left the grave, and walked into the light. Jesus calls out to us and life is given to those who answer and respond. We come out of the tomb still wrapped in our grave clothes. Jesus tells us in the light to help each other remove those old garments and put on Christ. This happens over time and with effort. 

Each of us are a unique expression of His light and life. We are part of the prism of creation through which the light of the Lord is seen in its full glory. 

I Will Look

Isaiah 66:1-2 ESV 

Thus says the Lord:

“Heaven is my throne,

and the earth is my footstool;

what is the house that you would build for me,

and what is the place of my rest?

All these things my hand has made,

and so all these things came to be,

declares the Lord.

But this is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

The house of God’s rest is the heart given to Him by a man or woman. Everything else in creation was made by Him except for love. It is our gift to Him in exchange for His gift of love and our covenant as one. This is the only thing we could give Him that is not already His. 

This is the one for whom He is looking. Seek and you will be found. 

Incarnation

God chose to enter the body of man. 

He called Himself the Son of Man. 

We choose to enter the body of Christ. 

He calls us sons of God. 

It is there we bodily meet and become one. It’s a choice we both make. 

How Can We Believe?

John 3:12-15

If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Jesus spoke to those around Him of earthly things because He was talking with those who dwell on the earth.  This is why He came. To give voice to the word of God. To speak to us where we are so we might be drawn to where He is. 

When Moses lifted the serpent in the wilderness, he was prefiguring the lifting of the Son of Man to become the sin of mankind and nailed to the cross. The sin for all who believe in Him has been absorbed by the body which hung in our place. 

Those who dwell in the kingdom of heaven can understand the language of the Spirit and it is the Spirit who brings us into all truth. When we hear earthly words in the Spirit we have received, our spirits begin to be understand heavenly things. They begin to shape us in His image. 

We enter the life that has no beginning or end. The eternal life of God. We move beyond the end of man as we completely become the sons of God, made in His image. We begin in the finite and end with the infinite. We become one with our Father who has no beginning or end. 

Our bodies will follow with the spirits who are led by the Holy Spirit. 

He loves us as we are with the life of His Son, but He loves us as a son when we believe in His Son. Believing in His Son clothes us in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We trade the rags of man by putting on Christ, by entering the body of Christ. When the Father looks upon us, He sees a beloved son. 

Two Folds

John 10:15-16 ESV 

just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

There are two folds of sheep. The Church does not replace Israel as the sheep. In the Church there is neither Jew or Gentile, but the children of Abraham have an everlasting covenant with God. The children of Abraham and the body of Christ will both be found in the flock of the one shepherd. The twelve tribes of Israel will serve as the gates of the new Jerusalem, while the Bride of Christ will serve as the new temple of the living God. 

Our Last Breath

Luke 23:44-46 ESV 

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Through the crucified flesh of the body of Jesus, a New Covenant is made for mankind. In the Old Testament Covenant with Abraham, the light of God passes through the halves of animal carcasses to seal the covenant. God made a promise to Abraham for faith he placed in the Lord. 

In the New Covenant, the light of the world passes through the body of His Son. The light of the sun falters with the dimming of that great light. 

In anguish, Jesus calls out to His Father and commits His spirit into His keeping. This is the human spirit He received as a man. When He did this, He overcame the world. When we commit our lives to the Father, we overcome the world. 

When we commit our spirits to the Lord, He commits His Spirit to us. He has given His life to make this possible. We are baptized in the waters of the Holy Spirit as we break through the surface of the waters of mankind and into the living waters above. We follow Jesus across that great expanse that separates the waters below from the waters above. 

We breathe our last breath as a living creature on earth and begin to breathe with the Spirit of the Living God Almighty. We now walk in the kingdom of heaven. When we accept His covenant, we are sealed with His Spirit and breathe as one. 

The Tree Of Witness

The light of the world becomes visible in the darkness of night. 

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was necessary for our understanding of the tree of life. Without the knowledge of death, how could we begin to comprehend life?

Darkness serves as the witness for light. We are born in darkness without God so that we might come to Him of our own free will. No other creature has the privilege of that opportunity. 

A Work In Progress

We are sown as a living creature on the earth, in the image of man. 

We begin to take the image of God when enter the body of Christ. 

The process is finished when we receive a body like His. 

God is not through with His creation. 

He is not through with me. 

The First Place To Look

God is everywhere. Look for Him there. 

The Fullness Of Abundant Life

Trusting in the name of Jesus is all that is needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is walking its paths which brings the fullness of its blessings to the sojourner. 

The Boundaries Of Our Creation

In the creation account, darkness precedes the light of day. These are the beginning and the end of the journey of man. They are the boundaries of our creation.