Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
John 17:17-19 (ESV)
17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Those in the body of Christ participate in the life of the word. Those in Christ are in the word of God. Jesus sanctifies us with His death and resurrection and through His Spirit of truth. We are therefore holy, even as He is holy.
Psalms 102:18 (ESV)
Let this be recorded for a generation to come,
so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD:
The generation that will see Jesus Christ are all those reborn into His life. From the first disciples to the last one that signals the blowing of the last trumpet of our resurrection.
We will be like the angels, neither marrying or given in marriage, uniting heaven and earth in our new creation.
Matthew 22:14 (ESV)
For many are called, but few are chosen.”
There are many called to enter the body of Christ, but few will be chosen as the Bride of Christ. Consider the virgins who were not ready when the bridegroom came for them.
Hebrews 2:13-14 (ESV)
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again,
“Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
Man is the unique creature of all creation who is born and capable of being reborn as a child of God and a brother of the Son of God. As such, we become the Bride of Christ and become one with Him.
The Holy Spirit conceives a son of God in everyone who believes in Jesus and receives Him. We are made virgins with our repentance and His cleansing blood. As virgins we conceive a holy one of God, a child of promise.
Exodus 33:20 (ESV)
But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”
We must die to the Lord and be resurrected before we will see Him face to face. Then we will see Him as He is and that we are like Him.
1 Peter 1:12 (ESV)
It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.
To the angels being angels is their natural state. From their perspective mankind would be supernatural. Earth is the realm of death with life apart from God. It is populated with mortal life that is quick in passing and void of meaning.
Jesus descended into the realm of death and preached the good news to all who will listen. How precious is life that is awakened from the dead. The meaning of life is found in the life of God.
Matthew 1:23 (ESV)
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us).
Jesus was born of a virgin by the Holy Spirit.
You and I are reborn a virgin by the Holy Spirit. In us a child of God comes into this world.
He is the first man who is made in the image of God. In the end, those in the body of Christ are made in His image. We will be like Him. He is the beginning and the end.
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus is the first child born of God. The Son of Man and the Son of God.
Each one of us who receives the Holy Spirit is reborn as a child in the kingdom of heaven. The gift of His grace allows us to become sons of God. When we celebrate the birth of Jesus, we should give thanks for the supernatural reality of our own rebirth.
We follow in His steps as a son of man who has become a son of God. We shall be with Him.
Behold a star shines forth
In the darkness of night
The light of the world
That gives the blind sight
The Son receives our flesh
A gift from heaven above
The salvation of all mankind
The word of God’s love
If we would only hear it
Of what His Spirit would say
The light of the morning star
Would rise on a new day
Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)
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,
The exact image of God in creation is the resurrected Christ, the Son of God in the perfected flesh of man. We are made in His image because He took our image for His own.
God will rest in creation in the image of the man. We will rest in creation in the image of God. We both choose each other for life, for eternal life. Heaven and earth become one.
The word of God is accomplished.
John 16:33 (ESV)
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
The world to be overcome is the heart of man. When we take our heart and give it to Him, we join Him on His throne. Our hearts become one.
Matthew 22:29-30 (ESV)
29 But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
Christ is The angel of the Lord who is clothed in the perfected flesh of man. The Holy Spirit brought Him to us and resurrected His flesh from the dead. Heaven and earth were joined together in Jesus.
The Spirit will do the same for us of those who have entered the body of Christ. The Holy Spirit will raise us to Him, resurrecting us from the dead. We will be like angels in heaven, but more importantly, we will be like Him.
John 14:26-27 (ESV)
26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
The peace He leaves with us is the presence of the Holy Spirit that comes with our reconciliation with our Father in heaven. It is a peace that is beyond our understanding and is ours by faith. It is only by faith that we are saved.
John 14:21 (ESV)
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.
The flow of love between God and man with the gift of His grace and life which is answered with the obedience of man. It is a continuous and dynamic interaction which forever characterizes our fellowship with Him. It is life in the Trinity of His presence.
John 14:24 (ESV)
Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.
8 Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11 Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.
Jesus is the physical and Spirit manifestation of God in creation. God the Father is beyond creation, which is an expressed word of God. Through the Spirit God entered His creation in the form of man. First in Jesus, then all who join Him in the body of Christ. We know this because He is with us.
John 16:23-24 (ESV)
23 In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. 24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.
James 4:3 (ESV)
You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
Our joy and His glory are the ultimate reasons for going to our Father in prayer. As we transform into a new creation and begin to comprehend with the mind of Jesus, we will seek those things that align with His will and purpose, which is for the best for us.
This is our heart’s desire, which won’t be fully revealed to us until our resurrection.
2 Chronicles 29:15 (ESV)
They gathered their brothers and consecrated themselves and went in as the king had commanded, by the words of the LORD, to cleanse the house of the LORD.
Today the temple of the Lord is the heart of man. If we confess Jesus as our Savior, we receive the justification which consecrates us into His righteousness. His word begins to cleanse our hearts to the purity needed for the kingdom of heaven.
We gather in the unity of the Spirit that is the body of Christ.
1 Peter 2:2-3 (ESV)
2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
If we have tasted that the Lord is good through the gift of His Holy Spirit, we will not be satisfied with the water of the world. If we have been transformed into the children of the kingdom of heaven, we will grow into His salvation feeding on the living water of the Lord.
We will act in deed according to His word.
John 14:2-3 (ESV)
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.
He prepares us with the presence of the Holy Spirit. We become the house of God, the new and living temple. He will come again to raise us in perfection like Him. This will be our new home.
Mark 13:32 (ESV)
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
When God looks at me He sees Jesus, even as I am being made in His image. One day I’ll be resurrected and be like Him.
Matthew 24:12-13 (ESV)
12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
There is an end. Jesus is the beginning and the end. His love endures forever because He is the great “I AM.” Our love is a choice, as is salvation.
We will be known by our love. It is the light of the world.
John 12:24 (ESV Strong's)
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
Each person who believes in Jesus becomes a grain of wheat that falls to the earth of that man or woman. If that person dies to the word, they will bear much fruit.
This is the working out of our own salvation. Receiving the Holy Spirit brings us into the garden of Eden. Obedience to His will bring us to the tree of life.
Mark 9:24 (ESV)
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”
To believe in Jesus the Son of God is the salvation of man. Those who do enter the body of Christ.
To obey and love Jesus is to overcome the world. Those who do become the Bride of Christ. He will help us if we ask. He invites us and longs for us to join Him.
30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
It is a fearful thing to be a person of God’s people under the law because no one can keep it. We have seen this with Adam and the people of Israel.
To be under the mercy and grace of Christ casts away all fear of God as we are embraced in His Spirit of love and truth.
Romans 12:12 (ESV Strong's)
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
The word of God transforms us into a living prayer. To live is Christ.
Matthew 21:12-13 (ESV Strong's)
12 And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. 13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
The temple of the new covenant is the risen body of Christ. His Spirit comes to us and cleanses our hearts, transforming us into a house of prayer. We become new creations who are suitable companions for the Son of God.
It is written and is coming to pass.
Psalms 24:6 (ESV Strong's)
Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
There is one generation of those who seek and find God. These will be revealed as the sons and daughters of God who are like the angels in that they do not marry and are not given in marriage, but have become the Bride of Christ.
This is the generation who will see God.
Psalms 24:3-5 (ESV Strong's)
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
The holy place is the Holy of Holies established in the heart of the believer who receives the Holy Spirit of God. This is the foundation of a pure heart sought by God.
Our blessing is the righteousness of Christ which becomes our own.
Psalms 24:1-2 (ESV Strong's)
A PSALM OF DAVID.
1 The earth is the LORD'S and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
The earth began without form and void, “and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” The Spirit descended into the hearts of man and we are being made in the image of God. When we see Him face to face, we will be like Him.
Psalms 25:1 (ESV Strong's)
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
Every creature on earth who has the breath of life has a soul and spirit life. Every creature who comes from the earth is destined to die and return to the earth.
Every creature who is reborn from above is destined to live in the kingdom of heaven.
When we lift our soul to the Lord, He will lift us up the rest of the way.
John 19:34-35 (ESV Strong's)
34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water. 35 He who saw it has borne witness—his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth—that you also may believe.
Eve was fashioned from a bone taken from the side of Adam. She became his bride and companion.
The bride of Christ is reborn from the water of our repentance and His blood which covers our sins. The body of Christ becomes His bride and companion.
2 Samuel 7:12-14 (ESV Strong's)
12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men,
Eve was fashioned from the body of Adam. The Lord tells David that the Son of God will come from his body. The Bride of Christ will come from the body of Christ. From the body of Christ a house and temple will arise that will establish His kingdom forever.
By His stripes we are healed.
