Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
God has always intended for mankind to join Him as a son, providing access to the tree of life from the beginning. It has always been through obedience to His word.
His word became flesh said He could speak to us directly. Many like Adam will not listen, for that road is the narrow way and few will find it.
His word remains today and will endure forever. Seek and you will find.
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.
The way back into the Garden is to live in the word of God. He who is blessed will be transplanted into the soil of the kingdom of heaven. He will be fed by the living waters of the Spirit and bear the fruit of a life who has entered the everlasting life of the Lord.
Psalms 90:1-2 (NASB Strong’s (Lockman))
A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD.
1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
Our dwelling place has always been the house of the Lord for the generations of the heavens and the earth. The intent of the Lord for His creation has always been for His Spirit to abide in these bodies of flesh that we might be transformed into the image of Christ.
Those who are reborn from the earth and the world will enter the everlasting life of God.
John the Baptist baptized with the water of repentance. This is necessary for all of us to prepare the way for the Lord in our lives. The kingdom of heaven has drawn near and our repentance opens the door to the knock of Jesus in our hearts.
He is there when we turn to Him.
Matthew 21:16-17 (ESV Strong's)
16 and they said to him, “Do you hear what these are saying?” And Jesus said to them, “Yes; have you never read,
“‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies
you have prepared praise’?”
17 And leaving them, he went out of the city to Bethany and lodged there.
To enter the kingdom of heaven one must become as a little child, reborn as a new creation in the Spirit of God. This is the way the Lord has predestined for those who would join Him.
With our mouth we confess and praise Him.
The salvation of Christ is a gift. Responding to His grace is our gift in return. Our fellowship is one of giving.
Genesis 2:10 (NASB Strong's)
Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.
The living waters flow from the throne of God in heaven to the four corners of the garden on earth.
Colossians 1:15 (ESV Strong's)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
God took the image of a man in creation and raised His body into heaven as the firstborn of the new creation.
We take the Spirit of God and are reborn into a new creation made in the image of God. We will be resurrected and raised bodily into heaven as the first fruits of the work of Jesus Christ the Son of God.
He is working in the earth of man and the harvest is ready. We become one with Him.
The word of God was spoken and was manifest in creation. All that is was made through and by Him.
In Him we move and have our being.
The word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
He emptied Himself that we might be filled.
We have become the flesh of God and are filled with His Spirit. He is the firstborn of the new creation.
In Him we move and have our being.
2 Kings 1:7-8 (NASB Strong's)
7 He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” 8 They answered him, “He was a hairy man with a leather girdle bound about his loins.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
John the Baptist wore a garment of hair and a “leather girdle about his loins.” Jesus said he was the Elijah to come who would be the one crying out in the wilderness.
Elijah and John both prophesied in preparing the way of the Lord.
Matthew 17:10-13 (ESV Strong's)
10 And the disciples asked him, “Then why do the scribes say that first Elijah must come?” 11 He answered, “Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. 12 But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them of John the Baptist.
John 14:6 (NASB Strong's)
Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
If there is more than one way to God, then Christianity is just another religion and does not offer the salvation of God.
If Christianity is true, then every other religion is false.
If the life of God is in Jesus Christ, then what is life without Jesus?
Genesis 2:9 (NASB Strong's)
Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Every tree in the Garden represents a choice in life. There are two trees in the middle of the Garden which provide a choice between eternal life or eternal death. The other trees may speak to the diversity and abundance of life in the Garden.
Every tree is pleasing to the sight and good for food.
Genesis 2:8 (NASB Strong's)
The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed.
God has ordained and prepared a place where heaven and earth meet. God and man will abide as one when creation is finished. He chose a man to prepare the way for His light in the world. He formed Adam from the dust of the earth to begin this purpose.
Jesus, the second Adam, would change the location of the garden to the clay of mankind. It would come to exist in the heart of everyone who accepts the Lord into their heart. The garden is a unique place of dwelling and one to one relationship with each person. This is the abiding presence of two who have become one. It is a mystery which is apprehended by faith in the one who plants the garden.
Those in Christ are like “a tree planted firmly by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season.” Ps 1:3
The body of Christ is the salvation of God. He is the way, the truth, and the life. The way is narrow because it is only by His name that one can be saved.
Though the way is narrow, there is room for all who would come.
Genesis 2:7 (NASB Strong's)
Then the LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Man without the rain of the living waters from heaven is as the dust from the ground until he receives life from above. This is something God is doing with everyone who receives the Holy Spirit.
This act foreshadows the second Adam when the Son of God receives the flesh of man who is made from the dust of the earth. Upon His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him and remained. He became the first living being since Adam to receive the breath of life from heaven.
Genesis 2:6 (NASB Strong's)
But a mist used to rise from the earth and water the whole surface of the ground.
The life of earth before this was sustained by the water of the earth, the natural water of the first creation. It sustains life without God which is fleeting in its passing.
Genesis 2:5 (NASB Strong's)
Now no shrub of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
Jesus would come to the earth and work in the earth of man to produce the harvest of the Lord.
The rain of heaven refers to the living waters of the Lord, that is, the Holy Spirit who has not been given to the earth. This is also the meaning of the river that would flow from Eden into its garden on the earth. The living waters of heaven will rain upon the earth and will become an ever increasing river that flows from the throne of Christ.
Full expression of life
Is found in flesh and spirit
The two become one
This may be why God spoke the word and we give answer.
The revelation of God comes from Christ, for He is God manifest in creation. The Holy Spirit leads us into that truth. He is the way, the truth, and the life.
Matthew 17:1-2 (ESV Strong's)
The Transfiguration
1 And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.
We are in the last day of the creation in which we are made in the image of God, which is Christ. When the time is fulfilled we will rise from the grave to be transfigured by the light. We will be given the morning star and don the robes of the righteousness of Christ.
Isaiah 1:18 (NASB Strong's)
“Come now, and let us reason together,”
Says the LORD,
“Though your sins are as scarlet,
They will be as white as snow;
Though they are red like crimson,
They will be like wool.
Coming to God is reasoning of the highest order and will provide the best possible return for the effort, that is the fullness of life. Anything less is settling for second best, no matter the reason.
Genesis 2:4 (ESV Strong's)
These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
God chose a man made from dust to prepare the way for the coming light of the world. He breathed the breath of life into Adam and placed him in the garden of His presence.
The gospel of Luke traces the bloodline of Jesus all the way back to Adam. He is the first man whose descendants would become lsrael, the chosen people of God.
The “generations of the heavens and the earth” began with Adam and find fulfillment in the body of Christ. They are the people through whom the light of the world would come.
Through Israel would come a man, “the second Adam”, who is the light of the world and who is working in the earth of man and will accomplish the will of God.
Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Faith precedes an understanding of the things of God because He then gives His Spirit to abide with our spirits. The Holy Spirit is the doorway into heaven. Understanding and salvation begins and continues by the grace of God. His mercies are made new each morning in the light of His love.
10 After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand. 11 It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
What proceeds out of the mouth comes from the heart and nature of man. This is a dark place without the light of God. In this state we are defiled by an impure heart.
It is through hearing and understanding that the light will begin to enter that darkness. That word comes through the Holy Spirit. He will cleanse all defilement of man so he can enter the light of Christ.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10 (NASB Strong's)
9 but just as it is written,
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God.
The revelation of God has been given to us in these last days. The word of God was made manifest in the man Jesus and continues with the incarnation of God in the flesh of everyone in the body of Christ. The Spirit is transforming us into the image of Christ. As such, we have and are becoming sons of the living God.
The natural man cannot conceive the purpose of God, or see it taking place before our very eyes.
30 But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, 31 so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”
The wisdom of the world flows from the knowledge of good and evil. It rises from the mind and flesh of man who is made of the dust of the earth. The fruit of that tree enables us to see the value and glory of the tree of life, and our need for it.
We are able to free ourselves from the gravity of the world only when we take the hand of the Lord by receiving the Holy Spirit. He brings the fruit of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of Christ.
The wise man will boast in the Lord, and rightly so. The light of God can only truly be seen from the darkness of man.
32 John testified saying, “I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33 I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.”
The Holy Spirit remains upon the body of Christ to this day. We have become the dwelling place of His Spirit who will one day raise us up to join Christ. The Spirit will be withdrawn as we leave the earth before the great and final tribulation to come.
He remains with us as we abide in Him.
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1 Corinthians 1:13 (NASB Strong's)
Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
While there are many denominations, there is one body of Christ. Make sure you are in that one no matter where you are.
