In my previous posts I've written mostly about the schism which occurred within man when he was separated from the perfection of his unity with God and the unity within himself because of that divine connection. It has already been established, in my point of view, that this separation entered man when the Adam fell out of fellowship with his Creator when he followed satan’s voice instead of God’s. You can read more about that in the archived March 22, 2014 post, Three Lives? Revisited. But now, I’d like to close out 2014 with the answer God provided for man to be restored to such a wondrous position with Himself.
One thing caused the separation, and only one thing can restore it, and it all has to begin at that point. Just as the separation occurred at once in one life-changing event though the effects of the downfall increased with time, so does the restoration occur with one life-changing event increasing over time as we receive understanding and begin cooperating with Him in the process. It’s our choice, just as it was Adam’s choice to follow a strange voice.
What is the One Thing? The Word says concerning Jesus: the fullness of the Godhead dwelt in Him bodily and we are complete In Him. It is Jesus Himself, The Volunteer who provided the way to bring us back into Unity with The Father. Is this oversimplifying the process? Perhaps a bit, but as we know every journey must begin somewhere and that’s usually with a choice. After all, the great fall of man came with one man’s choice and the reality of it became mankind's journey into the increasing darkness of it. Our adversary hides himself in that darkness because that's what he is-Darkness-and it's what he has used successfully to keep man from the Light of Truth.
The choice to receive and follow the One who made the way for the restoration of our perfect unity with Him has to begin somewhere, and the true beginning came at the birth of Jesus when He offered forgiveness and the full benefit of sonship to anyone who would receive it (because the work was as good as finished when He was born into the earth taking on the form of man). And the great part of this is that it’s our choice and all we have to do to begin a new life journey is to believe and receive His offer! We are not forced to follow His way, but He graciously provided it so man could be restored to even a greater place than the first Adam enjoyed in his beginning. God fully intended him to grow in understanding in all things--growing into maturity of who he was really created to be--a living, breathing, powerful son of the Living God including the benefits, rights, authority and responsibility associated with such an exalted position.
If you read Psalm 8 you’ll discover that even the angels desired to know more about man. They wanted to know who this created being was that God Himself visited him! After all, their understanding was limited to what they knew, that all of His created beings came to Him. They had never seen God Himself go any where at anytime to seek out anyone before--much less spend time with them enjoying their company! I mean really, what a deal! That understanding makes the following scripture concerning God's relationship with Jesus very enlightening!
...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. (my emphasis)
How interesting! The person God sent to restore mankind's oneness with Him enjoyed the Presence of the Father with Him! Sounds kind of like Adam's relationship with God in the Garden of Eden. Though Adam failed when temptation came, the Last Adam didn't. Jesus spoke a number of times, about only doing what He saw the Father do, and only saying what He heard the Father say thereby successfully living out what Adam failed to do. See these confirming scriptures in John 5:19-20 and verse 30; John 8:28; John 12:49. And the following is very telling, but seldom quoted with the answer Jesus gave the scribe who asked what was the first (and greatest) commandment. Mark 12:29 follows:
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: (my emphasis)
Most of us are familiar with the rest of the answer, but seeing it all in context is quite revealing. Mark 12:28-32 follows:
28 And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord 30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. 32 And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:Looking at these scriptures in the light of the subject at hand puts things in even greater perspective. The LORD God is ONE even though He is Three in One-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-and there is no schism in Him, in Them, in what they think, say or do. Jesus clearly explained that He was one with the Father in thought and deed in John 17:21-23 and desired also that we would be one in them so it must be possible.
That God desires us to be one with Him and has provided the way to restore the heritage of sonship to us is truly mind boggling to consider! To say it takes time to mature in the wholeness offered to us is a complete understatement, but none-the-less true! To perhaps say it better, I'll borrow a popular phrase from a character in Toy Story: It will take "infinity and beyond!", but we have that kind of time with God if we'll just choose to start the journey while we're still here having the right and privilege to do so.
There's so much more to say about this and I hope to be able to share more in later posts. Hopefully, it won't take as long as it did to start on this one. I trust He will lead us all into that higher and better way of sharing in His way of seeing, speaking, doing and living, while keeping us within the realms of His grace and truth leaving behind all harshness and religiosity.
Living "a higher and better way" reminds me of what my mother use to say when waking us in the mornings, "Rise and shine!" Funny though, how that expression is from the Word in Isaiah. Since Jesus is the Light of the World, and His promise to us is that if we follow Him we won't walk in darkness, it makes me all the more want to "Rise and shine!" So, I'll close with that Truth in the Word which we all can receive by faith from Him.
Living "a higher and better way" reminds me of what my mother use to say when waking us in the mornings, "Rise and shine!" Funny though, how that expression is from the Word in Isaiah. Since Jesus is the Light of the World, and His promise to us is that if we follow Him we won't walk in darkness, it makes me all the more want to "Rise and shine!" So, I'll close with that Truth in the Word which we all can receive by faith from Him.
Isaiah 60:1-2 kjv
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and *his glory shall be seen upon thee. (emphasis, mine)
* His glory is His Presence with us! And in the light of what we've been looking into in this post, it means so much more.
Second Closing: I just had to add this. My favorite movie clip of all time...sometimes people are not too happy with the way our light shines!
Second Closing: I just had to add this. My favorite movie clip of all time...sometimes people are not too happy with the way our light shines!
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