Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
Leviticus 19:1-2 (ESV Strong's)
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.
The Law revealed how unholy we are. Jesus fulfilled the Law and makes us holy with His presence. We then strive to live a holy life here on earth as we walk with Jesus in His light.
Job 38:4-7 (ESV Strong's)
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Revelation 2:26-29 (ESV Strong's)
26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, 27 and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. 28 And I will give him the morning star. 29 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
God set the cornerstone of the earth when He said “Let there be light.” The light would take the shape of the man Jesus who is the exact image of God. We shall be like when we meet Him face to face.
When we receive the morning star, we join Him and the angels as the sons of God.
Romans 3:20-22 (ESV Strong's)
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction.
The righteousness of the law shows us the unrighteousness of man. Jesus made the way for us to enter the righteousness of God. The road through the wilderness of the world is “through faith in Jesus for all who believe.”
Leviticus 15:31 (ESV Strong's)
“Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.”
To be unclean before God is the natural state of man. We are after all created from the dust of the earth. We can only enter His presence in the body of Christ.
Jesus was born of man and we are reborn of God. We meet in the middle and become one.
Leviticus 18:1-5 (ESV Strong's)
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the Lord your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.
When we follow the Lord, we leave the ways of the world for the ways of the kingdom of heaven. Walking with Him in the world takes us to another place.
Luke 18:13-14 (ESV Strong's)
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
Matthew 5:5 (ESV Strong's)
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Being humble or meek before the Lord is a necessary element of the repentance that leads to salvation. The beatitudes are not impossible marks or attributes we can never attain, but a description of life in the body of Christ. We are not perfect, but are a work in progress undertaken by the perfect Lord. His word will not come back empty. It will accomplish His purpose and will.
Those who overcome the world will inherit the earth.
Genesis 2:24 (ESV Strong's)
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
What God has joined together becomes the body of Christ. We are of one flesh.
There is no higher or more profound relationship.
Isaiah 40:7-8 (ESV Strong's)
7 The grass withers, the flower fades
when the breath of the Lord blows on it;
surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
but the word of our God will stand forever.
We are but a creature in passing unless we find the surpassing grace and life of Christ Jesus.
Romans 1:22-23 (ESV Strong's)
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
God took the mortal image of man and raised it as the image of God. Mortal man is full of himself, while the children of God have received the fullness of God in the Holy Spirit. We look the same on the outside, but on the inside the light of the world has entered the darkness of man. We will be revealed and made visible by that light.
God sees us from the inside out. We see each other from the outside in.
Romans 1:1-6 (ESV Strong's)
Greeting
1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,
We, servants of Jesus Christ, called to be disciples and set apart in the gospel of God- the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding His Son, who as to His earthly life a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. Through Him we received grace and discipleship by answering His call for the obedience that comes from faith for His name’s sake. We are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
We are set apart and belong to Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:45 (ESV Strong's)
Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
We all participate in the tale of two Adams. We are born a living being and can be reborn in the Spirit of life. We begin in the natural and can choose to end in the supernatural which is the beginning of no end.
Matthew 6:11 (ESV Strong's)
Give us this day our daily bread,
Our daily bread is the bread of heaven. It is the body of Christ which has become our own with the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is the provision of life for the living.
Matthew 5:17-18
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
The Law did not disappear when Jesus came, but was fulfilled in Him. He brings it into the hearts of His disciples. No longer constrained to tablets of stone, but written on our flesh. This allows us to embrace the righteousness of Christ and to be made in the image of God. It is the word of the body of Christ.
Matthew 4:17 (ESV Strong's)
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
The doorway to the kingdom of heaven is repentance. The only way.
John 10:29-30 (ESV Strong's)
29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
No one can prevent us from going into the Father’s hand. Neither can anyone snatch us out of His hand. Our coming or going is our choice. The Father has reached out His hand to us through His Son Jesus and God lifts us into His life.
John 3:5-7 (ESV Strong's)
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
The Old Testament is the account of God dealing with the flesh of man. The New Testament is the account of God dealing with man in the flesh of man. He enables man to be reborn and enter the kingdom of God. This is the only way.
Our conversion and confession is not a onetime word, but an ongoing conversation which translates into our transformation into His image.
Following Jesus means making Him the Lord of our lives.
You are not a disciple of Jesus unless He is Lord of your life.
Psalms 25:4-5 (ESV Strong's)
4 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
teach me your paths.
5 Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Psalms 25:9-10 (ESV Strong's)
9 He leads the humble in what is right,
and teaches the humble his way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.
James 1:25 (ESV Strong's)
But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.
He will teach and lead all who obey the law of liberty, which are the commandments of Christ. We humble ourselves by making Him the Lord of our lives. He does so through the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth. This is the mind of Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 2:16 (ESV Strong's)
“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
John 14:1-3 (ESV Strong's)
1 “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
The Father’s house is made up of the hearts in which He abides, the new temple that was raised from the tomb of death. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you. He is doing so through the Holy Spirit given to each believer in the body of Christ. We embark on a journey of sanctification until He takes us to Himself to join Him where He is. He is with us.
Leviticus 8:30 (ESV Strong's)
Then Moses took some of the anointing oil and of the blood that was on the altar and sprinkled it on Aaron and his garments, and also on his sons and his sons' garments. So he consecrated Aaron and his garments, and his sons and his sons' garments with him.
We in the body of Christ have been consecrated by the blood of Jesus and anointed by the Holy Spirit. Thus we’ve been cleansed and purified to wear the white robes of the righteousness of Christ. We serve as a royal priesthood in the temple of our Lord.
John 8:35-36 (ESV Strong's)
35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
We are slaves to righteousness until we are revealed as sons of God. We will receive a glorified body like Jesus and be with Him forever.
To be freed by the Son is to rise from the confines of man into the freedom in the divine.
Ephesians 2:10 (ESV Strong's)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
One cannot do any work that will bring him or her to God. At the same time, one cannot be with God without doing good works.
That’s the way it works.
So what does God get in return for the unmerited gift of His only Son for all mankind?
Some will offer Him in return the only gift we have that He desires: that of ourselves.
Psalms 24:7-10 (ESV Strong's)
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
Revelation 3:20 (ESV Strong's)
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
The ancient door of our hearts is the only place in creation that the King of glory has to knock before He can enter. This is the door He will wait for us to open and invite Him in.
The bread of life has two key ingredients. They are the wheat harvested from the fields of mankind thoroughly mixed with the divine life of the Son of God. It is a meal to be shared.
Leviticus 6:8-11 (ESV Strong's)
8 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 9 “Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. The burnt offering shall be on the hearth on the altar all night until the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be kept burning on it. 10 And the priest shall put on his linen garment and put his linen undergarment on his body, and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and put them beside the altar. 11 Then he shall take off his garments and put on other garments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place.
Jesus was wrapped in linen grave clothes and placed in the tomb as our burnt offering of atonement. There in the darkness of death He would lie until His resurrection as the morning star of creation.
Having performed this offering as our high priest, He left behind His grave clothes, folded the cloth that had veiled His face and rose with the new garment of the first resurrected body.
The body of Christ of today will undergo the same resurrection as we follow Jesus to that clean place of pure light. Jesus will give us the morning star if we remain in Him until the end.
Leviticus 5:5-6 (ESV Strong's)
5 when he realizes his guilt in any of these and confesses the sin he has committed, 6 he shall bring to the Lord as his compensation for the sin that he has committed, a female from the flock, a lamb or a goat, for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for him for his sin.
They say confession is good for the soul, but it is essential for the life of the soul. Confession of our sin to Jesus brings us to the repentance necessary to receive His mercy and forgiveness. This is the washing of our feet that cleanses us from the dust of the world we unavoidably collect as we walk on this earth.
He has made the atoning offering for our sin with His own body. We bring our body and soul to Him, the priest and mediator of the body of Christ, and we are healed by His light.
Exodus 3:2-6 (ESV Strong's)
2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
The angel of the Lord is God before He took the form of man. Holy ground is a result of His presence. Moses could approach the ground of the presence of the Lord which we might understand as the land promised to Israel. Moses was able to lead his people up to the promised land, but not into it.
Those who have entered the body of Christ have the presence of the Holy God within our hearts. This is holy ground not found on earth, but the ground we walk in the kingdom of heaven. The Holy of Holies resides in the hearts beating in these tabernacles of flesh. This is the promised land of the new covenant.
When the time comes, we will not hide our faces, but see Him face to face and that we are like Him. He is doing this new and marvelous thing.
Acts 24:14-15 (ESV Strong's)
14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.
Everyone will be resurrected. This is at once an event of extreme happiness for some and a grim reality for others. Those who think this life is all there is to our existence will at last know the truth. Jesus is the way, truth, and life.
We will be judged by the truth. That is the way of life and death.
Acts 24:14-16 (ESV Strong's)
14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, 15 having a hope in God, which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust. 16 So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.
The Way of God includes the past, present, and future. It is the way of His light entering the world that begins with the word of God. It is written on stone before manifesting in the flesh of Jesus. His resurrection of the flesh of mankind allows the word to be written on the flesh of our hearts, filling us with His light and truth in the present moment of today. It shines as a beacon of the future when the light of the world comes to rest in the New Jerusalem. Christ Jesus will assume the throne of David with the Bride of Christ by His side.
He is the beginning and the end, yet without beginning or end.
