Word for Life in Love— Scripture Meditations By Stephen Brown
Mark 10:35-37 (ESV)
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” 36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
He who serves in the kingdom of heaven to build and edify the body of Christ will find honor. This is the glory of Jesus and all those who follow Him.
Jesus said He is the beginning and end, yet He has no beginning or end. He is the beginning and end of man made in the image of God.
John 4:25-26 (ESV)
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
The Messiah has come and will come again. He came as the Son of Man so we could become sons of God. He is the beginning and end of the the union of God and man. He never left His disciples alone, for His Holy Spirit remains leading us into the truth.
Ezekiel 5:11-12 (ESV)
11 Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. 12 A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.
The four horsemen that proceed from the opened seals of Revelation represent the judgment of God on Israel. Israel is the focus of Revelation as the wrath of God is fully poured out in the great tribulation, known as the time of Jacob’s troubles. The world will tremble at that outpouring which will lead to the return of Christ.
Galatians 6:3 (ESV)
For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
God is and man is not. Man is only something when he is in Christ. To think otherwise is to deceive one’s self.
Ezekiel 3:22-24 (ESV)
22 And the hand of the LORD was upon me there. And he said to me, “Arise, go out into the valley, and there I will speak with you.” 23 So I arose and went out into the valley, and behold, the glory of the LORD stood there, like the glory that I had seen by the Chebar canal, and I fell on my face. 24 But the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and he spoke with me and said to me, “Go, shut yourself within your house.
The glory of the Lord is the Son of God. He is the glory of all creation. His Spirit entered Ezekiel and began to speak to Him.
When we enter the body of Christ, we have entered the glory of the Lord. His Spirit descends upon us to abide with us. We are raised from the dead to stand before the Lord, as lampstands that lifts His light into the world. Let us stand firm in our faith we have placed in Him.
Ezekiel 2:1-2 (ESV)
Ezekiel's Call
1 And he said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak with you.” 2 And as he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard him speaking to me.
Ezekiel is a son of man who receives visions and the word of God through the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the Son of Man who is the word of God and is one with the Spirit. He is God with us.
In both instances the word of God is given to mankind.
Romans 3:23-25 (ESV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
We all have fallen short of the glory of God, which is man made in the image of God, who is Christ Jesus. We can participate in His glory first in the body of Christ which leads to the fullness of His glory when we become like Him.
Romans 3:20 (ESV)
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
It would seem that the law and the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil have something in common. They both provide our knowledge of sin and reveal the shame and weakness of man.
Romans 5:1-2 (ESV)
Peace with God Through Faith
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Our peace with God is accessed by faith in Him, rather than ourselves. Faith is the only way to receive Him and it becomes the way of life for the believer.
Romans 3:29-31 (ESV)
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
Abraham was blessed by his faith in God. It is a righteousness based on his obedience the Lord. His obedience was to the Lord.
The body of Christ is blessed through faith in God. Our righteousness begins with faith in His Son and continues in obedience to the word of God which becomes our own. Our obedience comes from being in the Lord.
The law is from the word of the Lord, which no one could keep. Jesus is the word of God who fulfilled the law. Those in Christ rest in His grace.
Eve was not fashioned from the dust of the earth, but from the body of Adam, flesh of his flesh and bone of His bone. She became a suitable companion for Adam. She foreshadows the bride of Christ to come.
The bride of Christ is taken from the body of Christ. We will have the flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone when we receive our resurrected bodies. We are suitable companions for Christ, for we shall be like Him.
Romans 12:1 (NASB)
Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
Our bodies are a part of the wonder and beauty of mankind. The Lord took one for Himself and raised it in perfection. It is the image of God.
They are part of our spiritual worship. We are to worship the Lord in body, soul, and spirit. We have become a living being in His presence, a holy sacrifice acceptable to God. The natural man has joined with the supernatural because he is united with the Spirit of the living God.
The way to happiness is love. The way of love is God. He is the desire of our hearts. This is the fullness of His abundant life and the end of man, meaning our perfection in Him. He is our Sabbath rest.
The pain and agony of childbirth that was the curse God pronounced on Eve can be understood as the death of man that precedes a life reborn into the life of God. She is the mother of the living and it is in God we find abundant life.
It is given that man shall die once. We have no choice in the matter. Now in Jesus we do have a choice to live again and forever. The fruit of the tree of life is within our reach. It is a gift and a promise. It is there for the taking.
Romans 3:20-21 (ESV)
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—
The Law gives the world the knowledge of good and evil. As such, it bears witness to the righteousness of God, just as the darkness bears witness to the light.
There is no good or evil without the reality of God. Any discussion of right and wrong testifies to His existence.
Galatians 5:16-17 (ESV)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
Galatians 5:25 (ESV)
If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.
If we walk by the Spirit, we are alive to God and share in His life. The flesh will follow either the Spirit of God or the spirit of man. We will serve one or the other. His Spirit allows us to work and will as He would have us. This takes place in the garden of our world where we work the ground of our earth. We are to be fruitful and multiply in the grace of our salvation, to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
John 14:7 (ESV)
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Moses asked to see the face of God even though he talked with Him face to face as friends. This would not be possible until the Son of God took the flesh of man. It was only then we could see and know Him, for He would become one of us.
Intimate knowledge of the Lord is possible only when we receive His Holy Spirit and become one with Him.
Those who have the word of God are His chosen people out of all the peoples of the earth. They brought the word of God into the world, the Law which reveals good and evil. They have fulfilled Adam’s charge from God to work the ground of the earth of man by preparing the way of the Lord. It opens our eyes to the knowledge of sin and condemns those under the Law.
Those who have the testimony of Jesus who have entered the body of Christ. They manifest the word of God in the flesh of man. We are no longer under the law, but in the Spirit of Jesus. We are taught and disciplined through His Spirit as sons of God.
The word of God comes to us through His chosen people- the Jews. In stone as the law and the flesh of the Son of Man.
The testimony of Jesus comes to us through His Holy Spirit, in the flesh of the sons of God.
Psalms 119:25 (ESV)
DALETH
My soul clings to the dust;
give me life according to your word!
Our souls thirst for the waters of life found in the word of God.
Let us lift our cups to be filled to overflowing.
Adam is the first of the chosen people of God. He was taken from the dust of mankind and brought into the presence of the Holy Spirit. Without the knowledge of good and evil, he ate the forbidden fruit of the world. His descendants are the Israel of today. They trace their ancestry to the first Adam.
Psalms 119:17-18 (ESV)
GIMEL
17 Deal bountifully with your servant,
that I may live and keep your word.
18 Open my eyes, that I may behold
wondrous things out of your law.
The truly wondrous work of creation is man made in the image of God. His light brings sight to the blind. To behold the Lord leads to the knowing of the Lord. In His light we see and can be seen.
When we die, our world ends. The world is unique in the eyes of the the beholder. This is the world we are to overcome to receive the promises of the Lord, the world of self.
When we persevere to the end of our journey with Christ, we will join Him on His throne. (Rev 3:21)
Psalms 118:19-21 (ESV)
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20 This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
Jesus is the gate to the righteousness of God and the way of salvation. When our eyes are opened by His light, we can pursue and receive the righteousness of the Lord. We only have to ask.
The kingdom of the earth led by the prince of the air prepares to destroy the chosen ones of God. The word of God endures forever.
Psalms 118:26-27 (ESV)
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!
We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27 The LORD is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.
Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!
The power and majesty of the Lord comes to us in His light. The creation of man in His image happens as we emerge from the darkness of mankind and enter the warmth of that light in the body of Christ, which is the house of the Lord.
Romans 3:19-20 (ESV)
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was placed in the Garden to separate the light from the darkness. This knowledge allows us to choose between the two and gives what we need to eat from the tree of life. This was always the plan just as Jesus has always been the way. The cross is the meeting place between God and man that enables us to eat of the fruit of the Spirit who is the bread of life.
Jeremiah 42:17 (ESV)
All the men who set their faces to go to Egypt to live there shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. They shall have no remnant or survivor from the disaster that I will bring upon them.
The disobedience of Israel brings the curses as signified in three of the horsemen in Revelation, which signals the beginning of the time of Jacob’s troubles, the final outpouring of the wrath of God on His chosen ones. We know this because the Antichrist, the rider of the white horse, appears at the beginning.
Matthew 6:21 (ESV)
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
The Lord sees and judges the heart of man, past the flesh which covers the nakedness of who we are. When we give our hearts to the Lord, they become repositories for the blessings of the kingdom of heaven. We are freed from the shame of Adam to become a son of God.
God entered the flesh of man in the body of Christ. We join Him in the body of Christ and become one with Him in Spirit. We will be bodily resurrected and be like Him.
Luke 3:8 (ESV)
Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.
Repentance plants us in the Garden of Eden, in the presence of the Lord. If we listen to His word and seek His company, our roots will grow stronger and our branches will bear the fruits of His Spirit.
Some angels chose to leave heaven rather than serve God.
Some men choose to leave earth to serve God.
God is sovereign in both instances.
Revelation 21:12-14 (ESV)
12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
When the New Jerusalem descends to earth, the Jews will minister between the people of the earth and the living temple of God. They will at last work the ground of the earth as Adam was charged to do. They will administer His light into all the world and act as the twelve leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the nations.
Through the gates of the twelve tribes of Israel, the people of the earth will have access to the city.
Revelation 8:1 (ESV)
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
There is a pause before the great tribulation begins. This may signify the unspecified time for the gathering of the body of Christ. No one but the Father knows when that day will come.
Those filled with the Holy Spirit will be taken away from the world before the great tribulation timetable resumes, just as the Holy Spirit departed from Jesus before His death on the cross.
Jeremiah 35:15 (ESV)
I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them persistently, saying, ‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and do not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ But you did not incline your ear or listen to me.
Hearing the word of God is different from listening to the word of God. Hearing is a physical phenomenon of the flesh. It doesn’t require much thought or change. Listening is a heart phenomenon that involves transformation. The seed of the word is received and begins to take root.
Luke 2:47-49 (ESV)
47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?”
Mary told Jesus that she and his father were in great distress. Jesus answered she should have known he would be in his real Father’s house. I imagine Mary knew exactly what Jesus was saying. He knew his Father was God, just as she knew.
Jeremiah 33:25-26 (ESV)
25 Thus says the LORD: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, 26 then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
Heaven and earth will remain after Jesus returns to sit on the throne of David. The rainbow signifies an everlasting covenant God has made with the earth to never destroy it again.
God has made an everlasting covenant with Israel as well. There will be a remnant that will receive His mercy and favor.
Jesus as a baby was wrapped in the swaddling clothes of our flesh. He entered the mortal life of man, which included our world of of death.
He was wrapped in the grave clothes of our death and placed in the tomb of the dust of our earth. He laid down His life to enter ours. He picked up His life again, but bringing His life of a man into the fullness of the new creation of heaven and earth. This is the new thing He is doing, the new thing He has done.
If we give our life to Him, we can enter that new creation when we are resurrected by His word. He calls for us to come, first in word and then in a body like His joined in eternal fellowship and life with Him.
