Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
Colossians 2:9-10 (ESV)
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
For in Him the perfection of man is seen that begins with the body of Christ, for we are filled in Him who is the head of all rule and authority.
Mark 3:26-27 (ESV)
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Satan is bound by the presence of the Holy Spirit. He will remain bound until the body of Christ is taken into heaven. We are the light of the world and the salt of the earth until Satan is loosed for the last days.
Mark 1:9-12 (ESV)
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 11 And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
The Temptation of Jesus
12 The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.
The man Jesus was the first to receive the abiding Spirit that would later come to fill the body of Christ. When we have gone through the waters of our repentance and have our sins washed away, the Holy Spirit descends upon each one of us and we become a beloved son of God. We join Him in the newness of eternal life.
Immediately the world that was once our home becomes a wilderness as we journey to our new home in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 12:49-50 (ESV)
49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
Those in the body of Christ have a new family. Instead of being united by the blood of man, we are united in the spilled blood of The Son of God. Our life is no longer found in the blood of man, but it is found in the Spirit we have received from God. We are brothers and sisters who live life together and worship together, giving praise and thanks to our Heavenly Father.
Hebrews 10:19-22 (ESV)
The Full Assurance of Faith
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
On the day Jesus was crucified, the curtain into the most holy place in the temple was torn from the top to bottom. It was confirmation that a new and living way into the presence of God had been opened to man. Many would draw near in faith and receive the Holy Spirit. The holy of holies could now be found in the abiding place of the Spirit, that is in the hearts of the many. We are bodily cleansed by the waters of our baptisms and the baptism of the Holy Spirit who comes by the hand of Christ brings us into His life to lead us in the way we should go.
Hebrews 9:14 (ESV)
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
When we participate in the Lord’s supper, we are worshiping as a royal priesthood, purifying our conscience to serve the living God. Instead of the chief priest of the old covenant sprinkling the blood on the ark of the covenant and the mercy seat, we are drinking His blood and eating the bread of the new covenant. We are affirming that we are in the body of Christ and participating in His eternal life.
Genesis 3:17-18 (ESV)
17 And to Adam he said,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
Matthew 27:29 (ESV)
and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”
Thorns were part of the curse of Adam. The crown of thorns worn by Jesus at His crucifixion signifies Jesus bearing that curse.
Israel is the nation of earth dwellers that God chose for Himself. Their inheritance is the promised land, a geographical location on the planet earth. The throne of the kingdom of God on earth will be in Jerusalem. Israel will serve Him as they minister to nations.
The least in the kingdom of heaven is above the greatest prophet of Israel. These are the ones who heard His call and answered, choosing God as the Lord of their life. He is our inheritance. The throne of God in the kingdom of heaven is in the heart of the believer. For now, our kingdom life is lived spirit to Spirit. Our resurrection will allow us to fully enter His abundant life with mind, body, and soul as predestined by God from the beginning. It is His will and purpose that we join in His life forever.
1 Corinthians 15:45-47 (NASB)
45 So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. 47 The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
There is a predestined order of life for mankind. God gives us a living soul made from the dust of the earth. We share in the life of all creatures of the earth. We are born through the will of man and share in the life of Adam. We have no say in the matter.
The second Adam, who is Jesus, is quite different. It is the spiritual life of God that we choose for our own. This is the abundant life Jesus speaks of, which is to be like Him, to be made in His image. The predestined step in the way of Jesus the optional, one is that is offered to all.
Ephesians 3:19 (NASB)
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
We truly know Christ when we know the love of Christ. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that we might be saved. The love of God was manifest in Jesus and is now manifest in those in Christ. The love of God is beyond words and is fulfilled Spirit to spirit.
Matthew 13:27-29 (ESV)
27 And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
Be gentle in how you view the weeds. Many of us were in the weeds at some point. By His mercy and grace we have been changed.
Matthew 16:17-18 (ESV)
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
If the Father revealed this to Peter, it was through the Holy Spirit, who may have been the rock Jesus referred to on whom the church is built. The gates of hell will not prevail against the presence of the Holy Spirit which will reside in the body of Christ.
It is through Jesus and the Holy Spirit that God is manifest in creation.
Matthew 13:20-22 (ESV)
20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.
From the sower parable we see it is possible to receive the word and fall away.
Matthew 13:23 (ESV)
As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.”
This describes a disciple of Christ, one who perseveres to the end. He will judge everyone of us. While His mercy abounds, He will be just.
Matthew 7:12 (ESV)
The Golden Rule
“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The Law can be summed up by loving God with everything you are and loving your brother as you love yourself. The Law and the Prophets prepared the way for the Son who would fulfill them. He is the final word of God expressed in the flesh of man.
Matthew 7:17-20 (ESV)
17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
A tree signifies a person in this parable. The fruit is who we are and what we are becoming relative to the commandments of God. Good fruit only grows from the seed of His word. Even a branch attached to the vine of life must bear the fruit of the Spirit. John 15:2 His abiding Spirit allows us to know God and be known by Him. The fruit of His Spirit brings us ever closer to the image of the nature of Christ.
Romans 12:2 (ESV)
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We have a worldly mind when we first trust in the Lord. It will only change as we seek Him. Renewal of our minds is something we do. If you ask, it is His delight to give what our hearts desire, which is more of Him. If we follow His Spirit, He will lead us into the truth of His word. He that is within us inhabits Scripture and He reveals its meaning when we are ready. He always meets us where we are to help us on the next step of our journey of transformation to be like Him.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (ESV)
16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
Scripture is delivered to us by the Holy Spirit, who is the breath of God. Just as God breathed life into Adam and placed him in the Garden of Eden in the presence of the Spirit, when we place our faith in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit, we are transferred into the kingdom of heaven. Like Adam, we must choose to obey His word or eat the forbidden fruit. Today the Garden of Eden is within us, for the kingdom of heaven is within us.
Adam disobeyed and was unable to eat from the tree of life. We have Christ to help us in our weakness. He will always forgive us when we sincerely repent. He has made a way despite our weakness to the tree of life.
1 John 3:9-10 (AMP)
9 No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, andhabitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.
10 By this it is made clear who take their nature from God and are His children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children: no one who does not practice righteousness [who does not conform to God’s will in purpose, thought, and action] is of God; neither is anyone who does not love his brother (his fellowbeliever in Christ).
All who are reborn of God have received the seed of His word into these mortal bodies of man. This is the flame of the Holy Spirit who works toward changing our nature to conform into the nature of Christ, who is the exact image of God in all of creation. We will still sin, but it is no longer the guiding and dominant principle of our life. We are led through the wilderness of the world, repenting when we stray from the path He has shown us as the way we should go. The light of His righteousness is the lamp unto our feet.
2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 (ESV)
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the firstfruits of those raised that are fallen asleep. 1Cor 15:20 The bride of Christ is chosen as the firstfruits of those to be saved, “through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. We who have answered the call of His gospel will obtain “the glory of our Lord”, for we will be like Him. 1John 3:2
Colossians 2:9-10 (ESV)
9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
The Son has taken the full image of Christ who is the visible image of the invisible Father God. The image of God is made in the perfected flesh of man. We have become the body of Christ on earth, for we are filled with His Holy Spirit and await our resurrection at His coming. We will join Him as the body of Christ in heaven, for He is the head of that body and we shall be like Him.
There was no body in heaven until the ascension of Christ. He brought the perfected flesh of man into the fellowship of God who is three in one.
Colossians 1:18 (NASB)
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
The Son is part of God who is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the beginning of God manifest in creation in the form of man and has raised that mortal flesh into incorruptible perfection of the image of God. He is the firstborn from the dead. He is the beginning and end of the perfection of man, His last work and the fulfillment of creation.
It is then God will take His Sabbath rest.
Philippians 3:20-21 (ESV)
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
With our eyes we see the world around us, but with our hearts within us we can know we are citizens of heaven by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We cannot see what we are going to be, but we know we will be like Him. Let us be mindful of this promise and remember Jesus who has made the way for this reality.
Ephesians 4:20-24 (ESV)
20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
It falls to us to be active in putting off the old man and renewing our minds with the leading of the Holy Spirit. Our minds are part of our spirits that allow us to know the Lord. Another part of our spirits communes with the Holy Spirit in a language beyond words. We are to pursue the Lord with all that we are, for we seek to be made in His image.
Ephesians 3:19 (NASB)
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
We truly know Christ when we know the love of Christ. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that we might be saved. The love of God was manifest in Jesus and is now manifest in those in Christ. The love of God is beyond words and is fulfilled Spirit to spirit.
Galatians 4:6-7 (NASB)
6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.
When we believe with our hearts and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, we are justified before God as sons of God. When we are baptized by the Holy, the Spirit enters our hearts crying, “Abba! Father!” His Spirit leads us ever into His light and His nature. God brings us into our inheritance through the working of His Son and Holy Spirit.
1 Corinthians 3:10 (ESV)
According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it.
Jesus has given us the foundation for a new life in Him. We build upon it according to what we do, whether good or bad. The Lord works with us, but nothing happens without us. (Phil 2:12)
1 Corinthians 1:30 (ESV)
30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
Jesus came into our world to bring to us the word of God. He brings the kingdom of heaven within us with the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings to us “wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” It is through the Holy Spirit that we have “the mind of Christ.” 1Cor 2:1
It is in Christ that we live and have our being.
1 Corinthians 15:50-52 (NASB)
50 Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
We who have been made alive in Christ have inherited the kingdom of heaven in Spirit. Our bodies remain in the natural condition of flesh and blood. To be made whole and like Christ, our bodies must be made alive in the same way that matches our spirits.
Not all will sleep, but all will be raised in the twinkling of an eye. Believers who have died will join believers who are alive will be raised with incorruptible bodies to meet Jesus in the air. We wait with great expectation. Come Jesus come.
