The Truth about Reconciliation

Paul tells us that all things are of God who hath reconciled all things to himself by Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, that God was in Christ reconciling THE WORLD TO HIMSELF not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed unto us the WORD OF RECONCILIATION.

The word “reconciliation” means an adjustment, or to bring together two things which differ one from the other so that they can now agree and be as one. Atonement carries much the same thought. In book keeping our ledger must agree with the total income being equal to the sum of the profit and the total expenses for the year. If for some reason these two figures do not agree then reconciliation must be made, by adding a figure from one side of the ledger to the other to bring about a balance. Thus God has balanced the books on our account because we have put ourselves into debt to him through sin.

The process of reconciliation is expressed in a three fold manner which we need to understand.  The first expression is contained in the Greek word “Katallasso” that indicates that two people who have existed in a state of enmity have been reconciled and so brought together. This is a manifestation of God’s marvelous Grace towards man in that he does not impute our trespasses unto us, so the enmity is removed.

Rom 5:10 Paul says, “Even while we were yet sinners, God reconciled us unto himself through the Cross.” This change in our relationship to God is the result of a change that takes place in us and not in God. God has never needed to be reconciled to man, for he has only considered us as we were created in Christ Jesus, and so we are his children. It is man’s sense of guilt that has created the enmity between himself and God, and it is this enmity that creates at least in our minds the wrath of God, making us to be “children of wrath.” Eph 2:3-5

The second expression of Reconciliation is contained in the Greek word Apokatallaso that indicates a movement out of something into something else. Our lives are largely controlled by our mind, so the concept that has been taught, that repentance is a change of mind does not make any real sense. Why would God ask us to change our mind when he knows that we will continue to act the same way unless the mind itself is changed.

So in reconciliation we find that it is necessary for us to move the authority center of our being out of our natural mind for several reasons. One is that our natural mind suffers from a guilt complex and it is not capable of just brushing it aside. Then also our mind has produced a false sense of identity causing us to believe we are sinners having come from Adam. Finally our mind has no means of correctly identifying God, for the natural man does not understand the things that be of God.

Here then is the reason why there must be a moving of our understanding out of this natural mind altogether, into the realm of spirit called “the mind of Christ.” Paul tells us that this is the only mind that will bring the reality of true reconciliation to us allowing us to find fellowship with God. Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

SO what did God do to reconcile us to himself? Paul explains that he removed the large debt of our sins by NOT IMPUTING THEM UNTO US! The word “Impute” is actually a banking term that means “to credit to your account.” So God says I am going to balance the books as far as you are concerned, and remove the large debit that had accrued because of your sin. When he did this, the books balanced and we were reconciled to God. This was not by some phony book keeping on God’s part because Jesus Christ was the “Lamb of God that took away the sins of the world,” thus all sin has been cancelled!

This is why Paul could say,” God was IN CHRIST reconciling the WORLD unto himself. In the light of this statement we must question why Christendom continues to major on the issue of sin, continuing to lay the weight of its burden upon the people today. The Good News is that God has balanced the books and the “plus and the minus” that concerns us has been RECONCILED. Because of this, we who have been reconciled are now to be ambassadors for Christ, proclaiming the fact that our debt has been cleared and ALL MEN ARE RECONCILED TO GOD!

However, this is only the very basis of the question of reconciliation, as there is so much more that we must understand before we can comprehend the marvelous Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our debt to God is but the beginning of a work of Grace that must affect every part of our being, because everything must be reconciled and brought into conformity to God. Here we must begin with the statement Paul makes that, “ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD.” This statement is profound and must be considered very carefully.

We live in a world of opposites, such as light and darkness, heat and cold, up and down, sickness and health, life and death, love and hate, good and evil just to name a few. In Col 1:20 Paul tells us, “Having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to RECONCILE ALL THINGS UNTO HIMSELF, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.” It is therefore obvious that Paul had much more in mind concerning reconciliation, that simply the canceling of our sins. It is a fact that ALL THINGS must be reconciled IN US before we can be accredited as ambassadors of Christ.

We are told that in us, the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, for these are contrary the one to the other. Now while this unresolved conflict continues within us, it is impossible for us to live and act exactly as we may choose. For if the flesh dominates us in any given situation, we will find it impossible to do the will of God. Therefore to be free we must be reconciled within ourselves, in order to be reconciled to God.

The general concept concerning reconciliation, seems to have been misunderstood, considering it to be limited to the salvation of all men. However we must see reconciliation as a work of grace that removes the sense of duality that has invaded the life of all men. Within every man the flesh initiates responses that are contrary to the Spirit of God, thus causing a conflict. Darkness represents a lack of knowledge that results in wrong decisions being made, and these are contrary to directions that the light would make known to us. We are often in conflict over good and evil, not being sure of the true line of demarcation. So it is most evident to us that there must be a reconciliation within every one of us, before we can live and act with a singleness of mind that will please God.

The answer to our problem of duality is the CROSS of Christ. Paul says, “They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the passions and lusts.” He goes on to say, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world.” The common perception most Christians have is that the cross is the literal stake upon which Jesus died on Golgotha’s hill. However, Jesus said, “If any man will come after me let him deny himself and take up H-I-S CROSS and follow me.” This suggests to me that the Cross must be something more than that one historic event, that took place at Calvary.

We must see that the “Cross” is not just an event that has been recorded for us, but beyond that, it is also a spiritual experience that must become a reality within us today. The spiritual tool that God has provided for us to bring reconciliation into effect in our lives, is the CROSS. In view of this let us consider exactly how this “Cross” functions to remove the problem of our duality.

RECONCILIATION  WITHIN

Most people would consider the “Reconciliation of ALL” to mean that all men are now reconciled to God, and that all men will therefore return to God. While this is true it does not cover the whole process of reconciliation as seen from God’s point of view. Each set of opposites produces a conflict within every person.

Paul defines the conflict in these words, “I say this to you, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Because the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you want to do.” Gal 5:16-17. So here he is speaking about these two opposites, and says that while these are in conflict within us, we will not be free to follow the direction of the Spirit in our daily lives. Speaking to the Roman Christians he said, “For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwells no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I want to do I cannot do,  but the evil that I do not want to do is what I find myself doing” Rom 7:18-19.

This highlights the result of conflict that is caused by the continuing presence of these unreconciled issues in our lives. “The reconciliation of ALL things” spoken of in Corinthians must therefore involve a resolution to the conflict within us, caused by these opposites that persist in our lives. However we need to understand how the conflict is to be resolved. There is a profound statement in Scripture which says, “If and man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away and behold ALL THINGS are become new.” Paul speaks about being a NEW CREATION. What is this “New Creation” in which everything has been reconciled to God?

To discover the answer look back to 2 Cor 5:14, where Paul says, “For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for ALL, then were the ALL dead. And because he (Jesus Christ) died for all, they which live (now) should not live out of themselves, but out of him (Jesus Christ) that died for them and rose again. Because of this, we do not know any man after the flesh anymore (because they are dead). Even though we had known Christ after the flesh once, yet now we do not know him that way anymore.”

Paul is telling us that every man was indeed “Dead” in trespasses and in sins but that Christ died for all men, or as the Scripture says, “He tasted death for every man.” Therefore if a man is alive spiritually today, it can only be the result of receiving life from Christ who defeated death for us by rising from the dead. So now our life is no longer centred in our natural birth and its human identity, but in Christ the Son of the Living God. Paul now puts all these thoughts together and says, “If any man be in Christ (realizing he died as me, carrying me through burial and into resurrection life) he IS A NEW CREATURE, whose identity and life is C-H-R-I-S-T.)” 

Now we can see clearly how God is able to reconcile all things that are IN US, unto himself. All of the opposites that have plagued our life from the day we have been born only exist in this natural physical world. Therefore because we are now alive in Christ they no longer exists, because that person who we thought we were, DIED, and so did the life that we once lived. That one, who used to be our identity was always in conflict with those opposites that opposed our desire to do the will of God. We appreciate the Apostle Paul’s honest testimony with regard to this life of unresolved conflict, found in Romans 7.

His masterly summation of this subject begins further back in this letter he wrote to the saints at Rome. But let us pick up the thread in Chapter 5:10, where he says, “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” Our constant failure to please God continually condemned us while we lived in our false identity, but having died in Christ that identity with all its failure was brought to an end. Now our salvation is simply, that we have begun to live a new Life, and that life is CHRIST.

The consciousness of our separation from God came from Adam whose identity we had assumed. We have acted before God just as Adam did, by hiding from him behind the trees. These “trees” represent out thoughts, behind which we have sought refuge in thinking that the death of Christ was a substitute for our death, and provided us with the forgiveness of our sins, so God will not be angry with us. In Matt 15, Jesus speaks to the Pharisees who had replaced truth with their traditions, much like we did in our own religious state. They allowed a child to “buy out” his obligation to his parents, releasing him from the commandment of God that we should honor our father and mother, bearing in mind that we are all the children of God.

Then he called the multitude together and said, “Every plant (representing our thoughts) that my Father has not planted, shall be rooted up.” The Pharisees were offended by these things because they were blind to the Truth, and so they kept the people who were under them, in bondage also. Paul continues speaking to the Roman Christians by saying, “As sin has reigned (as king) bringing you into death, even so (in the same way) Grace reigns (as king) through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”  

So in Rom.6:1 Paul begins by asking a question, “Shall we continue in sin so that grace might abound?” He replies to this question by saying, “GOD FORBID that you should even think such a thing.” Then he introduces the question of Baptism to make his point. Of course he is not speaking here of baptism in water for the forgiveness of sins, but of that Baptism whereby we are Baptized by one Spirit into ONE BODY. In Gal 3:27, Paul speaks of being Baptized INTO CHRIST.

This baptism, involves being baptized into the death of Jesus Christ, and being buried with him. This indicates the absolute end of life as we had known it up to that point. Having now terminated all connection with our past life, we rise with him from that death to walk in a brand new life. In verse 6, Paul continues with the analogy and says our OLD MAN (called ADAM) was crucified with him, for the purpose of destroying that existence in which we were dominated by sin. This beloved, is the pathway of freedom. So if the “Adam” we thought we were, was swallowed up in Christ’s death, then in resurrection we rise to live a Christ life, over which sin has no power.

Despite the Truth of what we have just said, so many of God’s people continue to live in a perpetual war zone within themselves, facing conflict on every side. The reason for this “contradiction” is that they have never allowed God’s reconciliation to work in their lives bringing them into peace. What they have been taught by preachers and teachers is all that they know, and that knowledge has failed to bring them into oneness with God. Their lives have been one continual conflict between good and evil, flesh and Spirit, and Light and darkness, just to name a few.

Paul continues his personal testimony into Romans 7, saying, “I know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal and a slave to sin. Because that which I do not want to do I find myself doing, and that which I desire to do, I am unable to do.” This is the conflict with which we all identify, but at that time in Paul’s life his understanding was being illuminated by the Spirit. He continues by saying, “For I know that in me, that is in my flesh (that came from ADAM), dwelleth no good thing, for my desire is to do good, but how to do it eludes me.” He says his life is in constant conflict, because when I want to do good, evil is present to overcome my desire.

This is the cry of all humanity that echoes from the Apostle Paul as he came to grips with the reconciling of all things in himself to God. “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from THIS BODY OF DEATH, which lives in constant conflict.” Immediately he replies to his own call for help and says, “I thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” Now Paul has reached that point in his life, where the Spirit of God has brought revelation to him concerning the way to experience the peace of God. However I know many people use this testimony of Paul to prove that the conflict he speaks of, is to be an ongoing experience in our lives until we die. But nothing could be further from the truth.

If we have been reconciled to God it must mean surely that we have been made to conform to Christ, in a way that will allow us to enter into union with him. There is no conflict in God, for there is only one power in this universe, and not two as has been taught by so many. How could God reconcile us to himself if there remains some power out there or within us that challenges his authority in our lives. We must first discover how this reconciliation functions in our lives.

Paul says, they that are in the flesh, or who function out of the Adamic consciousness cannot please God. How then can we be reconciled to God if we cannot please him? The answer, is that it is impossible, and yet our natural mind has the power to hide reality from us, so that we can believe a lie. Therefore it is only Truth that can make us free.

            Paul makes a profound statement that, “All things are of (or out of) God.” I do not believe many Christians have really grasped the truth that is revealed here. The concept of a “devil” that is in constant opposition to God, looms so large in the minds of many Christians that it has distorted our true understanding of God. We have been convinced that our God is simply playing a kind of “catchup” game, being so busy cleaning up the mess that this “devil” keeps on making, that he has little time to do anything positive.

            Listen to what the Scriptures have to say, “For by him were ALL THINGS created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they are thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; ALL THINGS WERE CREATED BY HIM AND FOR HIM. He is before all things and by him all things consist.” Col 1:16. We must conclude therefore that there is really nothing in all of creation that God has not made, and made for himself. Rev.4:11 says, “Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory, honour and power, for thou hast created ALL THINGS, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Remember that at the end of creation on the sixth day God looked at all he had made, including man, and declared everything was very GOOD. However, it was in the plan of God to lower man into a level of living that can only be characterised as vanity. This is how Moffatt translates it, “For creation was not rendered futile by its own choice, but by the will of him who thus made him subject. The hope being that creation as well as man would one day be freed from its frustration and be restored to its pristine glory as the children of God.”

This restoration involves a reconciliation of those opposites that have continued to function in us despite all our personal endeavors to be rid of this duality. Paul explains how this matter is to be resolved by saying. “Having made PEACE through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile ALL THINGS unto himself, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven.”

What does Paul mean when he says he has reconciled all things in heaven and in Earth? First of all we must understand that the Heavens and the earth refer to us, rather than the physical creation. We are the heavens (the spiritual part of our being) and we are the earth. (the physical part of us.) Here is the main source of all our inner conflicts. Let us lay hold on this truth, that he made PEACE, through the “blood” (i.e. his life) of his cross so there would be no more conflict within us. However for most Christians there is still a battle that has not yet been resolved. This indicates to us that the conflict is still raging between the Flesh and the Spirit and between the carnal mind and the mind of Christ.

If we have not resolved the problem of Light and Darkness, or Good and Evil then we really have not yet touched the reality of being reconciled within ourselves. This means that the reconciliation Christ has achieved on our behalf has not yet been implemented in us, and so we have not entered into that PEACE of God that passes all understanding. Paul continues to expound the truth of reconciliation by saying that he was made a minister according to the economy of God that had been given to him for US, so that we might fulfill the word of God. He calls this a “mystery” that has been hidden from the ages and generations, but is NOW made known to his saints.

This mystery is CHRIST IN YOU THE HOPE OF GLORY. What exactly does this mean with regard to our reconciliation. The word “glory” comes from a Greek word meaning to think, and therefore to express the true honor and dignity of our being. Most Christians still consider themselves as sinners and mortal beings who were born and who will die. This does not express much in the way of glory.

We admit that our body is under the influence of sickness and disease, over which we seem to have very little control. Our emotions such as anger, hatred, lust and desire, often dictate our attitudes and actions, resulting in unresolved conflict. Reconciliation must mean that every part of our being has been brought into harmony with Christ, enabling us to express what he is. God expresses his Peace in the perfection of Christ.

But the mystery of Godliness, is that Christ walked this earth in the form of a man called Jesus, who was born of a woman, being tested in all points just as we are, yet he never sinned, and in everything he pleased the Father. He could say, “If you have seen me you have seen my Father, and I and my Father are ONE.”

One day Jesus asked the disciples if they knew who he was, because from all outward appearances he was no different from any other man. Peter looked into the eyes of Jesus with spiritual understanding that was given to him from the Father and declared, “Thou art the CHRIST the son of the living God.”

After his resurrection Christ returned to the Father to receive again the glory he had before the world began, in order to make that same glory available to us. Then he returned just as he told the disciples, on the day of Pentecost to take up residence within his people. This is the mystery that reveals how reconciliation functions in us today. Christ IN YOU is the only possible hope of God being glorified in his people.

Paul says, “YOU are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus.” Eph 2:10. This reveals to us that we must have been created IN CHRIST in the beginning, so John declares to us, “As he IS, so are we in this world.” He is the likeness and image of God and also the righteousness of God. So Paul now says that if we are to express the glory, which is the honour and dignity of our true being and identity, we must understand that Christ has now taken up residence IN US as our Life, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.

He now stands within us declaring “ I AM THE WAY.” He did not say, come to me and I will show you the way. NO, he said, I AM the way and so if we are to express the glory of our true identity that is Christ, we must become what he is, because he said I AM, is the only way to declare that glory.

We need to understand that the title, “I AM” is not the name of a person but is a state of being, expressing that our origin is out of Christ and has never changed from the beginning, and neither has our relationship with the Father. That “title” was revealed to Moses who needed to identify who it was that was sending him to Egypt to deliver Israel, and literally means, “I am becoming what I am becoming.” The truth is, he is becoming what he IS, in us.

It represented to Israel, that God would declare himself through Moses, to deliver them from their humanity and mortality, bringing them into an expression of himself. Ex 19:4-6 says, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bear you on eagles wings, and BROUGHT YOU UNTO MYSELF. Now, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And you shall be unto me a KINGDOM OF PRIESTS, and a HOLY NATION.”

This expression “I AM,” expresses the will and purpose of God to dwell in man, and in doing so, for man to reflect his image and likeness, even as it is in Jesus Christ. Because of this, Jesus was able to say, “I am the way.” This means that he had “become” the WAY in himself. For any man who is seeking “The Way,” can only discover it by becoming what Jesus had become.

He also said, “I am the Truth.” The truth is not some teaching that he brought to us, but what he himself had become. There are not many who seem to have understood this fact, considering instead that Truth is ink on paper, or verses in the Bible. No, Truth is a person and if we desire to know truth, we must become what he is.

In this sense, truth is something that has always been, and can never change for it is set in the reality of God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things that are not as though they were. Jesus connected one more thing to the concept of I AM, and that is LIFE.

Again he never suggested that life could be had, just by coming to him and asking for it. He said, “I am the LIFE.” Therefore life is but an expression of the “I AM,” therefore to have that life we must become just what he is. Every attribute of God is reflected in the, I AM and therefore manifest in Jesus Christ. He is the God of MERCY and so mercy is manifested in that state of being that is, I AM. The same can be said for Peace and every other attribute of God.

Now listen to what Paul has to say to us in 1 Cor 1:27-31. “But God has chosen the foolish ones of the world to put the wise to shame, and God has chosen the weak ones of the world to embarrass the mighty…….. But you who also belong to God through Jesus Christ, who from God is made to all of us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and salvation. As it is written, he who glories let him glory in the Lord.”  

It can be seen from the above that we must look closely at Jesus Christ to discover the mystery which Paul spoke about in Eph 3:2-7. “Have you never heard of the dispensation of the Grace of God which was given to me for you? For this mystery was made known to me by a revelation, as I have briefly written to you before, so that when you read it you can understand my knowledge of the Mystery of Christ.  This mystery in ages past was not made known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and partakers of his body and of the promise, that is given through him by the Gospel.”

   WHAT IS A JEW

  During the time of the Old Testament, Israel was considered to be the people of God and the Gentiles were as the heathen. But Israel failed to fulfill the covenant and so the kingdom was taken from them and given to a nation bringing forth the fruit thereof. Paul goes into details as to what constitutes a Jew. He says, “He is not a JEW who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh. But he is a JEW that is one INWARDLY, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Rom 2:28-29.

In the light of this definition, we must conclude that we who have entered into covenant relationship with God and have been circumcised in our heart by the Spirit, ARE THE REAL JEWS. Let us consider what Paul says about the Gentiles in the flesh.

Eph 2:11-12. “Remember, that you being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision  in the flesh made by hands. That at that time you were WITHOUT CHRIST, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having NO HOPE, and WITHOUT GOD in the world.”  

Paul’s definition of the Gentiles surely fits the description of many of those who claim to be Jews by natural birth in this our day. How incredible it is that God said to the Prophet Hosea, “I will call them my people which were not my people, and her beloved that was no beloved, and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, You are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God.” Israel who sought relationship with God on a natural level failed to qualify, but those who now seek relationship with him in the realm of spirit, being circumcised in the heart are indeed the Children of the living God.

If you have ears to hear what the spirit is saying, you should have already discovered the wonderful truth that is called reconciliation, and also the way by which it can become your own personal experience. We must remember that all these things are in the Spiritual Realm, and so must be spiritually discerned. What we are in the natural, cannot change the reality of our true being that was created in Christ Jesus.

In the beginning, when we were created Him, we had no spot or wrinkle. Having come out of Christ, we were even as he is in the likeness and image of God, and clothed in the glory of God. I want you to know you were not created in ADAM the man of dust, who was but a figure of the one that was to come, (Jesus Christ) who also was clothed in a physical body of dust, that acted like a disguise concealing his true identity.

Remember when Jesus asked the disciples who the people thought he was, and they said, they do not really know who you are. So he asked the disciples who had close contact with him who they thought he was, and Peter having received revelation from God said, “Thou art the Christ the son of the living God.” Peter could never have penetrated his dis-guise, if God had not revealed it to him. It is for the same reason that we have trouble with our own true I-dentity. Looking at ourselves with natural eyes, we will never see any more than ADAM, especially when combined with our behavior. But let Father open our eyes and we will discover our I-DENTITY is also CHRIST.

So we understand that our origin was not out of the dust, but out of GOD, created in Christ Jesus. This is so important for us to realize, if we want to enter into the reality of our being. So from the beginning there were no opposites present within us and therefore no conflict. We entered the battleground of life when we were birthed in mortal flesh through our natural parents. Scripture says, we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity, meaning we were born into mortality and that predisposes us to sin.

Most of our life is a battle against an unseen “enemy” that seeks to dictate our behavior, having a distinct bios towards wrong or evil. This battle becomes much more intense once we come to Christ, and we begin to understand what is required of us. This conflict is very well expressed by Paul in Romans 7. Now we understand that our conflict only began when we were birthed into this world through our natural parents, so the whole problem is one concerning our mortal life.

UNDERSTANDING THE CONFLICT

We are living in a world of opposites, such as righteousness and sin, good and evil, light and darkness and a whole lot more. We run into conflict when we choose one and try and ignore the other. However we were trained to make these choices when we were introduced to “law.” It was law that told us to DO certain things and not to do other things.

You may be amazed to know that it was God that joined these opposites together, and Scripture says, “What God has joined together let no man put asunder.” Yes, it can apply to marriage but just as much to all that God has joined. In the midst of the Garden of Eden God planted a tree called, “The tree of the knowledge of GOOD and EVIL.” These two opposites that are probably the basis of much of our internal conflict, were put together IN ONE TREE. It only had one kind of fruit on the tree and not two. You could not pick one fruit that was GOOD and another one that was evil, for every fruit of that tree was GOOD and EVIL.

Tell me, how can we then try and eat the GOOD without tasting the evil. You cannot, because it is impossible. Now God said to Adam, do not eat of that tree and do not touch it or you will die. But our natural mind says it is alright to “eat” the GOOD, but it is wrong to “eat” the EVIL. This is the way so many Christians live their lives, by doing that which is GOOD and refusing that which is evil.

However you cannot know GOOD unless you know EVIL for the word “Good” is a comparison word and only has meaning when compared to “Evil.” A man came to Jesus and said to him, “Good master, what shall I do, that I may have eternal life?” And Jesus replied, “Why do you call me GOOD, or to what are you comparing me in order for you to decide I am good, there is none good but ONE, and that is God.” Matt 19:16-17.

In creation it says that “Darkness” was on the face of the deep, but God commanded the LIGHT to shine OUT OF THE DARKNESS. Did you know that light would have no significance were it not for the darkness. You may turn on a light in the middle of the day and hardly be able to distinguish it because of the available light around it. But if you want to see how bright that light is take it into a dark place and then you will see the contrast.

All the stars remain in the sky both day and night but we can only see them at night when the sun has set providing a dark background. How can you define Light except there is also darkness, for again it is a term of comparison. Christians complain about how difficult it is to walk in the Spirit, because they say that the Flesh is so strong. But you would have no idea if you were walking in the Spirit unless you had a knowledge of the flesh with which you could compare your actions.

The Adamic consciousness functions in the negative realm where darkness is the “default” as in the computer. If you want “light” you have to deliberately choose it, for it is not the natural choice. Likewise flesh is the natural setting for our life, but to function out of the spirit requires a definite choice.

However, when we enter into a state of Christ consciousness we discover the reverse is true. Light becomes the natural choice for our life, and darkness must be specifically desired for it to function. Likewise we naturally respond to spirit, but flesh requires a definite choice. It is for this reason that Paul says, “Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” 

Adam once dwelt in perfect LIGHT in which there is no darkness at all, but when he took of that forbidden tree a whole new world opened up to him. But it was a world of darkness, sin and death, and now his life was filled with the contradictions that were unknown to him while he was in the Garden. The “snake” was right when it said, “your eyes will be opened,” but he never mentioned the bitterness he would suffer because of the things he would see that would enter into his life.

To move from the positive to the negative is very easy, but to seek to reverse the process requires a New Birth. The downward spiral only needs us to assume a false sense of identity, to open our eyes to that other negative world, called the cosmos. This is what Jesus spoke about to Pilate when he said, “My Kingdom of not of this world.” There is no conflict in God’s Kingdom.

Now we understand the inconsistencies in what many call the Christian life. How foolish it is to seek the help of Jesus Christ to do the good and to shun the evil. But so much of our “prayer” life is devoted to asking for help to overcome the negative aspects of our life, and strength to do what is right. It is pure foolishness to expect God to help us take apart that which in the beginning he has joined together. Then we come to a new solution to our problem, that has been suggested by people who sell books to those in trouble.

The book is called “What would Jesus do?” The idea is that every time we must make a choice we stop and think, what would Jesus do if he were here in this situation, or which path would he choose?  Having made a decision based upon what we think he would do, we follow that direction. But I do not believe Jesus lived his life making decisions like that. There was a far deeper motivation than that in his life. He said, “Lo in the volume of the book (that Father was writing in him to be expressed in his life) it is already written, I COME TO DO THY WILL O GOD.”

He declared, “Sacrifice and offerings thou didst not desire, but a body thou hast prepared me.” God is not asking us to be good, or to sacrifice our time or give him our tithe, but he wants our body. If we give him our body then HIS LIFE will control all its actions and we will perform his will perfectly. Our body is his dwelling place, for within is the Most Holy Place which is the abode of God. Jesus never made a decision based upon external circumstances, for his life was a true expression of the Father.

If we are still vacillating between good and evil, spirit and flesh, then we must be still functioning out of a false sense of identity, while at the same time trying to live as a Christian.

Every man on earth must find their identity in one of two men, either in ADAM or in CHRIST. In Adam we will remain mortals and our life will be governed by the law of sin and death. But if we are IN CHRIST, then the law of the spirit of LIFE has made us free from the law of sin and death, releasing us from the gravitational pull of “this present cosmos.”

There is no such thing as being half in Adam and half in Christ. That would only produce a religious monster that is totally confused, and would spread confusion to everyone about them. Paul says, “If any man be IN CHRIST he is a NEW CREATION, the old lusts and desires for the negative world  is passing away, and behold all things are becoming new.”   

Paul says, “God has reconciled us to himself by Christ Jesus.” Now we must remember that “Christ” is not the surname of Jesus. When we look at Jesus we are looking at a composite being, consisting of a FORM, that is the body we can actually see giving him identity in this world, but within that body God has his own dwelling place in the Most Holy Place. So now you have FLESH and SPIRIT dwelling together in perfect harmony, for he was truly the GOD MAN.

All of our struggle has been to try and reconcile these two aspects of our being, the flesh that is our outer form or mortal body that identifies us in this world, with the Christ dwelling within in the Most Holy Place, who is SPIRIT and our true identity. This is the only way we can resolve this seemingly impossible situation.

We must see Jesus Christ as our own true identity. When Peter looked into the eyes of Jesus with spiritual vision, he not only saw that he is the Christ the son of the living God, but also he saw in him a reflection of himself. John tells us, “As he is so are we in this world.” That is who we are, for he is the “mirror” that we look into, and see within ourselves the glory of God, just as it was in Jesus Christ.

This is a revelation by the Spirit and not just a verse in the Bible, that we must embrace for ourselves before it will become reality for us. But we are told that, “As we behold him we are being changed into that same glory, even by the spirit of the Lord.

THE NEW COVENANT

The religious systems of the world have made SIN the center of their theology, and then formed a humanistic solution for dealing with the problem. John records for us the truth saying, “For God sent not his son into the world to CONDEMN the world, but that the world through him might be saved." Jn 3:17. The sending of the “WORD” into the world to be made flesh had nothing to do with condemnation but to giving life to all mankind.

The word “saved” used by John is the Greek word Sozo and means, to save, to deliver from both disease and also death, and to make whole. So from God’s point of view, sin certainly was not the major issue. Jesus spoke of condemnation saying, “This is the condemnation, that Light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” Ver.19. It seems man is drawn to darkness when it is light we should be attracted to.

But our reconciliation is in Jesus Christ, so God is saying to us that he has sent Jesus into the world to declare to us our true origin and identity, and to demonstrate how life was intended to be lived. He did not live by any external law of do’s and don’ts, but he lived to please the Father who dwelt in him. Therefore he has no conflict within himself. Nothing was judged externally by natural sight or natural thinking as we tend to do, for our decision as to what is right or wrong is based upon an external law, that is either written or passed on to us by others. Here is the first great difference between our way of living and that of Jesus Christ.

Beloved we must learn from Christ how life is to be lived if we want to enter into peace within. Heb 10:16 says, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” So the external laws of Moses and the many laws the Church has added, are no longer to be the controlling influence over our lives. We are responsible now to obey an authority that is resident within us.

Can you not see that this concept completely bypasses the conflict between good and evil, light and darkness and all we are required to do is to please the Father who dwells within us. How wonderful it is to be free from the Law of do’s and don’ts, and no longer have to decide what is right and what is wrong by some external law. Because of this we understand that we have no right to judge one another, for the Father accepts total responsibility for his children and their discipline. This allows us to live in a family relationship with one another as brothers and sisters, and with Father being the head over all.

The Cross of Christ deals with our false identity and the influence it has had on our lives. Jesus Christ said that if we wanted to follow him, we had to do two things. One is that we must deny our “self,” because it has no existence in reality, for God did not created a SELF. All God created in the beginning was His Only Begotten Son, and the Sons of God who were within him. The imaginary “self” we thought we were came from Adam, and is a sinner that has got to die.

The word “deny” in the Greek means to totally disown. So this is the first condition we must fulfil before we can follow Christ. It is impossible to follow Christ while we have that false identity. Now the second condition imposed upon us is, “that we take up our cross.” For so many the cross consists of two pieces of wood joined together on which Jesus was crucified.

The religious world can only conceive of the cross as being that historic event that took place on Golgotha 2000 years ago. This concept has kept many Church people bound by frustration as they try to apply that historic event to their lives today. The result is a desire to do good but at the same time finding evil to be present within  denying them the power to do it. To change the situation we need something more than the historic event that we call the crucifixion of Christ.

 But obviously we are not intended to have to drag this literal cross behind us where ever we go. NO, the cross we must take up is a spiritual experience that will release us from all conflict and bring us into union with the Christ.

First of all, let us be clear about who died on that cross 2000 years ago. Jesus said in Hebrew 10:5,-8. that God had never desired sacrifice and offerings, or offerings for sin. So we know therefore, that Jesus Christ the Son of the living God was not offered on that cross as a sin offering. In fact, no one could kill the Christ who was a Son of God. So we must look beyond the religious ideas of man to discover the Truth that makes men free.

The human doctrines of men have hidden the truth from our eyes for many years, but now the Spirit of God is revealing that which has been hidden, thus setting us free. The generally accepted concept of the cross, is that everyone is a sinner and bound for an eternal burning hell. However because God loves us he says to us, “I will kill my son on the cross instead of killing you, and that will make me happy again. Then I can forgive you all your sins and you can go to heaven when you die!”

That is the generally accepted concept of the Cross of Christ, and I am sure that at least most of my readers would have believed that to be the true at some time in their lives. The theologians should be before the courts of heaven, charged with the defamation of God’s character.

Can you believe that our heavenly Father would demand a HUMAN SACRIFICE, even his beloved Son just to settle the debt of our sins so we would not have to die. Just think about it!! This gruesome idea of Salvation not only defies the truth Jesus said, that God did not desire sacrifice and offerings and offerings for sin.  Now the matter is compounded by making God to require HUMAN SACRIFICE.

Not even Abraham was allowed to sacrifice his son, but a substitute was found instead. No wonder the world at large finds it difficult to accept the “so called” Christian message of the GOSPEL. Let us be clear in our minds that God does not require his only beloved son to be sacrificed for sin. Rev 13:8 says “The Lamb of God was slain from the foundation (Disruption) of the world.” What exactly does this mean to us today, and what connection is there with the CROSS?

The Scripture says, that the “Lamb” was slain from the disruption of the world. What is John speaking about here? The “disruption” is the correct translation of the Greek word used here, but the translators did not understand its significance so they used the word “foundation.” What is the disruption that is mentioned here? It refers to the sin in the Garden of Eden when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and found themselves outside the Garden, living in a wilderness.

This was the disruption or the “casting down” of God’s authority in man and a change in his walk and relationship with God. The next thing we must understand is, what does the “Lamb of God” represent to us in this situation. Many imagine some sort of a religious ceremony involving a lamb that represented Christ. However that is not the Truth. The lamb, in fact represents the nature and character of God. John the Baptist saw something more than a mere man when he looked at Jesus and said, “LOOK, this is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

He did not consider that Jesus was to be offered on the cross as the SIN OFFERING, thereby taking away sin! No, he saw the perfection of the divine nature and knew that his “LIFE” was to be poured out and become available to every man. God was not interested in any DEAD SACRIFICE such as Israel offered continually. Father wanted a LIVING SACRIFICE involving the voluntary pouring out of a LIFE that we could appropriate unto our selves. Jesus said, “You must drink my “Blood" (my life) and eat my “Flesh” (the substance of what I am) or YOU CAN HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU.

So the slaying of the lamb took place when Adam sinned. It was not God that slew the Lamb, but ADAM. How wonderful is the wisdom of God to make provision for man’s sin just when it was needed. When Adam sinned he violated the nature and character of God thus slaying the Lamb. But there is more, because every man that has violated the holiness and righteousness of God since that time has also slain the lamb. So when we see the Lamb in the book of Revelation sitting on the throne elevated to supreme authority, it is said that it is a LAMB AS IT HAD BEEN FRESHLY SLAIN. The lamb has been slain by every man, causing the blood to flow right down through the ages, taking AWAY the sin of the world.

Now we can understand why God does not desire sacrifices and offerings and offerings for sin, much less wanting his beloved son to be a human sacrifice to atone for sin. Beloved every sin has been atoned for and the only “blood” that could effect that kind of cleansing is the blood (the life) of God’s Lamb.

Of course the slaying of animals and the literal shedding of blood on Jewish altars was a literal representation of a spiritual truth. But the literal blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, nor make those who offered those sacrifices perfect. Religion has remained blind to spiritual truth and remains committed to literal blood being necessary for the remission of sin, so keeping us under the law.

Is it not interesting that when Jesus spoke about his BLOOD it was not in connection with sacrifice, but giving LIFE. Nor was it connected with DEATH, but while he was living. John 6:47. “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” He did not say, but you must wait until I die before you believe on me! No he said that while he was living. Then in verse 53 he says, “Except you eat my FLESH and drink my BLOOD, you have no life in you.” Jesus is not here speaking of his death on the cross with regard to eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

After saying these things we notice that many of his disciples left him and no longer walked with him. This was all too much for their Jewish culture and the sacrificial system that they were so familiar with. Thoughts of cannibalism filled the minds of some as they tried to come to grips with these strange statements of Jesus. What does it mean to “eat his flesh and drink his blood?”

Jesus said, “I am the LIVING BREAD that came down from heaven, and if any man eat of this bread he will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my FLESH which I will give for the life of the world.” Jesus went on to say, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” The he goes on to explain what he means, “He that eateth my flesh and drinks my blood, dwells IN ME AND I IN HIM. This is the same one who said, “I am the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE. So Jesus is speaking of receiving eternal life, by eating his flesh and drinking his blood, because by doing so we have taken into ourselves the SUBSTANCE of what he is, and thus embracing his LIFE. This is not just a mind thing, but experiencing HIS LIFE pulsating through our being.

Now my religious friends will challenge this truth, because salvation and the receiving of eternal life for them, can only be achieved at the cross. Now I am not denying the cross nor am I considering it has nothing to do with our redemption, but neither do I believe that Christ became a sin offering for us, so we could go to heaven when we die.     

It is necessary that we understand who it was that died on the Cross, to release us from whatever it was that had bound us to sin and death, and not to satisfy an angry God! What is it that has dominated our lives making us subject to sin and death? The answer is simple, for it is Adam and the Adamic consciousness that has reigned as King in our lives. Because of our mistaken identity we believed we were sinners and that we are mortal, having been born and so are subject to death. We believed we came from the dust and we are going back to the dust.

We sin because of our mortality. How then can this power generated in us by ADAM be broken, so we can be free to live as true sons of God instead of living as sinners. The tyrant that has kept us bound, is not some imaginary devil with horns and a tail, but ADAM.  Mankind has believed the lie that we came out of Adam, so we have assumed his identity. So complete is this deception that we firmly believe we are mortal and stand guilty before God as sinners. 

THE PRINCIPLE OF THE CROSS

God’s master plan of salvation involved the death of the one through whom sin and death came into this world. In 1 Cor 15:45 Paul says, “The first man ADAM was made a Living Soul, the last ADAM was made a Life Giving Spirit.” In verse 47 he continues saying, “The first MAN is of the EARTH, earthy, the second MAN is the Lord from heaven.” So we have TWO ADAMS, the first one lived in the Garden of Eden and was a living soul. This ADAM, Paul says was “A Figure” or represented one that was to come, and that was Jesus Christ. Rom 5:14.

So these two Adams are linked together because one represents the other, even though the First came from the earth and the Last came from Heaven. The first man was made from the dust, but the second man is the Lord from heaven. However in Creation the MAN brought forth on the sixth day, was called “The WORD” according to John 1:1, and that “Word” became flesh and was called Jesus Christ. John also tells us that the “Word” made all things, and without him was not anything made that was made.

Therefore the Word who was Christ that was in the beginning with God and was God, was pure Spirit there being no mention of any body in his creation. It was his task to give FORM to this divine expression called MAN in Gen 1:26. So he forms out of the dust a physical form to be an expression of himself. Gen 2:7. This form is given Life by receiving the breath or Spirit of Christ, and MAN became a “Living Soul.”

It is interesting that theology has only majored on the question of S-I-N in reference to Adam and never explored his true status in God’s economy. In Gen 2: 18 we are told that, “The Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone, I will make an help meet for him.”  Then the Lord God formed all the beasts and the fowl of the air and brought them to Adam for him to name them. Names in the Bible speak of the nature of the person or animal. So the man formed of the dust was given the task of declaring the nature of all the animals.

The “animals” here, speak of the emotions and desires in man, all of which were given their nature by Adam. Thus in the garden of Eden the lion could lay down with the lamb and there was never any problem. However outside the Garden the animals were not restrained and death was the result. But in all that was made there was no help meet for Adam. The only suitable companion for Adam would have to come out from within him. Of course the same applies to the bride in our day, who also must come out of the bridegroom.

So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he took from him a rib and closed up the flesh. The idea of the “rib” represented  Rabinical  folk law, suggesting that the “rib” coming from his side would make the woman equal with the man. But it was the whole female aspect of man that was taken from him, because he was created male and female. Gen 1:27. So in this divine parable of truth we see the woman now as a separate entity from Adam, functioning in her own right.

When Adam saw her he said, “This is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh, and he called her woman.” The old English word is “WOMB MAN” or the Man with the womb. Now I want you to hear this for it is very important. “Adam called her name EVE, BECAUSE SHE WAS THE MOTHER OF ALL LIVING.” Gen 3:20. From that time every person born on the earth has come out of a woman.

Now let us look closely to the unfolding of truth in Gen 3. Here we are introduced to the serpent that becomes a dragon in the book of Revelation. Modern Theology says this is the devil and lucifer because in the Hebrew it is called the “Shining one.” The name Lucifer was used first used in the translation of the Bible from the Latin, where the word really should be “DAY STAR” or “LIGHT BEARER.” Light in the Bible always represents, understanding and the knowledge of God.

How foolish to consider that the “devil” had such illumination. But that foolishness is compounded when we try to explain this “Devil’s” origin as a fallen angel. Isaiah speaks of the “King of Babylon.” Isa 14:4. Babylon was an actual city and had a literal king who overcame Israel and also Judah carrying, them away into captivity. Babylon simply means “confusion caused by mixture.”

The Truth is that Adam is the “Light bearer.” In verse 12 the Prophet says, “ How art thou fallen O day Star, son of the morning. How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations.” It was Adam that brought sin and death upon all men, and not some fallen angel. The boasting in verse 13 runs parallel to Gen 3: 4-5. Notice verse 16 asking the question, “IS THIS THE MAN?” The answer is “YES” Adam is the man that made the earth to tremble and shook kingdoms.

The description in Ezek 28 :13 fits Adam who walked in perfect fellowship with God during the time he was in the Garden. Verse 18 is God’s judgment upon him would be “A fire that would be generated WITHIN HIM to devour all that is not God leaving him again clean and pure.” There is much more that could be said about those prophesies but this is not the main thrust of this study.

Now let us look at the setting for Genesis 3. We discover that Eve represents the soul of man, that is the womb in which we birth what we perceive ourselves to be. If we feel rejected or unloved, or have no self image, then we will birth that very person in our soul and actually become what we have birthed. How does an insecure person know how to behave as an insecure person? Because that person is birthed within us. A lack of love will result in a life size manifestation of that lack expressed as you. Of course it works in the positive just as effectively.

The “soul” consists of three things, the mind, emotions and the will. On its own, the soul has no access to the knowledge of God, for it has no ability to know God. 1 Cor 2:14. So we find Eve out there in the Garden activating her mind over God’s prohibition concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. She considers perhaps the reason for not allowing them to eat of that tree is because they may discover a knowledge that would make them as Gods. The mind is likened to a shining one or a bearer of the light and therefore wisdom and understanding. However we are told that the shining one is more subtle that all the beasts of the field. The word “subtle” means crafty, shrewd, sly and is also translated as prudent.

But Eve convinces herself that she would not die but would  gain great benefit by eating of the fruit of that tree. So she reaches out and takes of the fruit and eats. Now it is important to note that Adam who represents Spirit, was not involved at all in what Eve was doing. The whole incident was conducted by Eve alone. However now she has actually partaken of the fruit of the tree of good and evil, she returns to Adam and offers the fruit to him also.

Now Adam is forced to make a decision as to what he should do. First of all he could have said to Eve, “You have really been very foolish and you will have to bear the consequences yourself but I am not touching the fruit at all.” But consider for a moment what would have been the result. Because these two, the spirit and the soul, the male and the female, are inseparably connected, if Adam refuses to join her in her disobedience, she (the soul) would have been eternally separated from God and mankind could never have been redeemed and so fulfill the divine purposes of God.

Adam realizes that there is really only one path for him to follow, if there was ever to be a reconciliation, and that was to deliberately, and with his eyes wide open share in her disobedience by eating the same fruit. This is amazing Grace and unbounded love, declared in the darkest hour of man’s history.

Let us be sure about this for Paul says to Timothy, “Adam was first formed and then Eve, and ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. 1Tim 2:14

How few have ever considered these facts concerning the sin in the Garden of Eden. Remember that God did not call them “Adam and Eve.” God CALLED THEM ADAM, because they were one. I believe it is important for us to see the picture clearly concerning the way in which sin entered into the world. Now, having seen the reason for Adam deliberately eating of the forbidden tree, we call to mind the fact that Paul says Adam was a type or figure of Christ who was to come.

John on the Isle of Patmos was commanded to write concerning Christ, “I am the ALPHA and the OMEGA the beginning and the ending saith the Lord, which IS and which WAS and IS TO COME the ALMIGHTY.” “I heard behind me a great voice saying I am the FIRST and the LAST. Rev 1:8-11  The Prophet Isaiah said, “In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them, in his love and pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old. Isa 63:9.

Paul makes an interesting statement in 2 Cor 5:21. “For God has made him, Jesus Christ to be SIN for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” God did not make him to sin, but to be SIN for us!! Remember Adam did not sin, but willingly embraced the consequences of sin for us, in order that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Heb. 2:14 says, “For as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that has the power of death, that is the devil.” Surely beloved we ought to bow before such love and grace that has been bestowed upon us, that he would stoop low enough to become identified with mortal man, lifting us again to become the Sons of God.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ, shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, now any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Gen 2:24 says, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be ONE FLESH.” I do not think this verse is simply for wedding ceremonies. If we are to move out of our duality and see the soul united and made one again with the Spirit, we must LEAVE our natural parentage, and understand our true origin is in Jesus Christ. Then the soul like the woman in the Song of Solomon, sets out to find her lover. She says I am black but beautiful as she makes herself ready.

She runs through the town seeking her lover, asking the city fathers if they had seen him. They wanted to know what her beloved  had more than any other! But at last she found the one her soul loved, (the Spirit – Christ) and he took her into the conception chamber and there they made love. The separation was over and what God had joined together in the beginning no man can put asunder.

“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ, and now there is no more Jew or Greek, neither bond or free, and neither is there MALE OR FEMALE, for you are ALL ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.” Gal 3:27-29. So the long journey is over and the soul and Spirit have been united in love, that there may be birthed within us, the Incorruptible seed which is Christ. Hallelujah!!

But we must now explore the CROSS in the light of what Father is revealing to us today. We know that Jesus Christ was NOT a Sin Offering, for it would have been impossible for him to be killed. But Jesus himself throws some light on the subject for us, in John 3:14. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, in exactly the same way (even so) must the Son of Man be lifted up.”

So to understand what this means we need to go to Num. 21 and discover what happened there with the children of Israel. The people were becoming weary of the journey and discontent began to rise amongst them. They spoke against God and Moses saying, “ Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die in the wilderness, for there is no bread (like we were used to) and we are sick of this manna.” Remember they could have gone into the Promised land three weeks after leaving Egypt but they refused to go in at Kadesh Barnea.

God sends amongst them, fiery serpents, which bit the people and many died. Now our imagination brings up hundreds of poisonous snakes which our God of Love sends among the people so that many die. But wait a minute and think this through clearly as the Spirit gives us understanding and revelation. What are these “snakes” or flying serpents?” The Hebrew word translated “Fiery” is “Saraph,” and the plural is Seraphim, that are found in the Temple of God.

Isaiah saw them in Chapter 6 above the throne of the Lord in the Temple. They are described as having six wings, with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he could fly.  The sight of the Lord lifted up in glory in the temple so affected Isaiah that he cried, “Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips.”

This brought a response from one of the Seraphim who flew to the altar and brought a live coal in his hand and laid it on my lips saying, “Lo this has touched your lips and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged.” So this would indicate that the seraphim are associated with purifying the saints, and guardians of God’s glory.

The word translated “serpents” is the Hebrew word, “Nachash” and is used a number of times in the Old Testament. It is used of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, also used to indicate Dan’s future would be like a serpent that would bite the heels of the horses causing the riders to fall. Horses in the Bible generally refer to the anointing or spirituality, so the serpent would affect the anointing in a person causing them to “fall.”

I want you to understand, this word is not simply used to refer just to snakes, for we see the same word used of Aaron’s rod, that became a serpent when he threw it on the ground in Ex 4:3. On the ground and unrestrained it was a serpent but in Moses hand, brought under control it was a “ROD.” The word “Rod” is used to represent a TRIBE as the “branch of a nation. It is also used for the branch of a vine.

How important it is to search out a matter before we defame the character of our God by considering he would kill people because in their ignorance they spoke against him.  What could be better for Israel in their state of uncleanness before the Lord than to have the seraphs there doing their job of purifying them. However, even the “branch” of the vine, exploring its earthiness will become a serpent that will rob us of the life of God.

So God said to Moses, make out of brass, one of those things that are biting the people and put it on a pole in the midst of Israel, and any who have been bitten will not die if they LOOK at the serpent on the pole. Salvation is presented here for us as “LOOK AND LIVE.” Now to be able to look at something we need Light, or we will never see it if it is in the dark. So Light, or spiritual understanding is necessary for salvation. In God’s wisdom he has put the light of Christ in every man allowing us to “SEE” those things that are invisible to the natural mind.

The question is, what does the serpent on the pole represent? It is a type of the one who died on the cross. This means that the one who died on the cross must be the one that had been poisoning us, robbing us of life and bringing us into death. Many of God’s people in their ignorance would consider that one to be the “devil,” meaning in effect that there is some external power that is to blame for all our problems!

This is the result of the subtlety of the serpent that functions like a magician, who directs our eyes away from what he wants to do on to something else, leaving him free to deceive us. The real truth is that within the human heart, is all the energy and desire to create every evil known to man.

Here are the Words of Jesus himself, “It is not that which goes INTO a man that defiles a man, but those things that proceed out of the mouth and come forth from the heart, they defile the man! For out of the HEART proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, thefts, false witness and blasphemies.”

So no external “devil” is required to commit adultery or murder, for all evil is already resident in the human heart. How can this be? It was through Adam that Sin entered into the world and DEATH by sin, so death was passed upon all men. This is because the Adamic consciousness is passed on to us through our natural birth, because EVE is the mother of all living. To escape its destructive effect we must be “Born from Above.”

It is therefore evident that responsibility for our mortality and consequently our sins, all belong to Adam. For this reason the serpents in the wilderness are a “type” of Adam, because both brought death to the people. In answer to the cry of Israel for mercy, God told Moses to make a BRASS REPLICA, of whatever it was that was biting and killing the people, and put it on a pole in the midst of the people. Salvation would be available to all those who LOOKED at the serpent of the pole, by canceling death and giving them life.

Remember we are seeking to discover who it was that died on the cross. Paul tells us in 1 Cor 15:45 that, “The First man Adam was made a living soul, but the Last Adam was a life-giving spirit. Both men are called ADAM, but the LAST ADAM had the power to give life. But Paul says of this “Last Adam” that God made him to be “Sin” for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in HIM. How was Jesus Christ made to be S-I-N.

We know he was not a Sin Offering because scripture state clearly that God did not want any more sacrifices and offerings. So we must look carefully to discover the answer to this important question. In Matt 26:36-45 we find the veil lifted for us on a world changing event in the life of Christ. He returns to a “Garden” where once a man (Adam) lost paradise and gained a wilderness. Now we see unfolding before us an event that would restore to all mankind their union and oneness with God that originally was ours.

Jesus told the disciples to sit and wait for him as he went on further with just three of them. Then again he stopped and told the three to watch with him the events that would unfold. He began to be sorrowful and very heavy. The intensity of his sorrow brought him close to death. Then he prayed, “O my Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done.”

What was this “cup” that caused him so much sorrow and heart ache? The Mother of James and John had previously asked the Lord to allow her two sons to sit one at his right hand and the other on his left when he came into his kingdom. He asked them then if they would be able to drink of the “cup” that he would be asked to drink, and they replied, Yes. Jesus told them they would indeed drink of the same cup and be baptized with the same baptism.

That cup represented the “death” that Adam entered into in that first garden, through his disobedience. Everything that resulted from eating the fruit of the knowledge of the tree of good and evil was incorporated into that Cup, that was now placed in the hands, of Jesus Christ. To drink that cup he had to become what Adam became in the Garden of Eden. So Paul says, “God made him (Jesus Christ) to BECOME SIN for us!”

At that moment in Eden’s garden Adam became mortal and subject to death so that we might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM. So Jesus Christ the Last Adam also had to enter into a state of mortality in order to embrace death and so destroy its power. He  found himself separated from God believing his Father had forsaken him. That is why on the cross he cried, “ My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” At the same time his eyes were opened to see another, alien world. Every effect of Adam’s disobedience formed part of the “Cup” he was now asked to drink, and nothing could be excluded that he might be the Saviour of the world.

In the torment of that moment he sweat as it were great drops of blood falling to the ground. The one who was clothed with the glory of the Father now has been stripped naked as was Adam. Beloved we need to take off our shoes to view this scene, he made himself of NO REPUTATION being willing to drink that cup which was rightfully ours, but he drank it to the last dregs, becoming at that moment A LIVING SACRIFICE and the burnt offering that is wholly acceptable unto the Lord. Rom 12:1

Three times he looked to see if the disciples could at least witness his hour of sorrow but they were asleep, so he suffered alone. But the moment had come when the son of man would become subject to his tormentors, and they found no resistance at this time. For they were not now dealing with the Son of God but the “LAST ADAM.” So they could mock him and put a purple robe on him and spit in his face, but there was no retaliation, for he had become the serpent on the pole.

Adam had permeated the whole human race with his “death” as well as his consciousness that knowing good and evil had made him to be as god, thus displacing the one whose right it is to be Lord within us. Now as the L-A-S-T Adam, he was taking all of the suffering, pain and death, that disobedience had brought upon mankind to its final conclusion. Such was the bitterness of that “cup” that he drank for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

The one that was lifted up on the cross was not the Lamb as a sin offering but the LAST ADAM. God had made Jesus Christ TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin that WE might be made the righteousness of God IN HIM. But the CROSS that seemed like a total tragedy from man’s point of view was a total victory for every one who would LOOK AND LIVE. Now for every man that has been infected by ADAM, and as a result is facing a life of sin and death because of the mortality that has been passed on to us, if we LOOK at the one on the pole WE WILL NOT DIE.

How does the cross really work for us? Well as we look at the cross we see the very one dying there that has caused us to be bound by the law of sin and death, and subject to sickness pain and sorrow. As I LOOK I see that very one dying right there, so he can no longer affect my life. Seeing him DEAD means I AM FREE from that law of sin and death and I do not have to die. To me, that sounds like the best news anyone could give me. ADAM IS DEAD.

But this is not all that is involved in the cross! For as I look at the one dying there I see myself personified in Adam, for this natural man has been the willing tool of the Adamic consciousness for many years, but now in that LAST ADAM I DIED ALSO. As I look and see my “Old Man” crucified there I find myself free to serve the Lord instead of the law of sin. Now I do not have to sin anymore for the one that bound me by sin, is D-E-A-D.

It is for this reason that Jesus said, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth into him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The truth is, that the real sacrifice that redeems us was not a DEAD SACRIFICE as all of the sacrifices were that Israel offered, but a LIVING SACRIFICE.

Was the cross therefore necessary? Absolutely, for Salvation to be available to all, the death of the Last Adam had to be a public spectacle held high enough that all men would be able to LOOK AND LIVE. Then when something dies it must be buried so the Body that had been the instrument of sin, could return to the ground. This is the final end of that part of us that served sin. So Paul says, “When we were baptized into Jesus Christ we were baptized into his D-E-A-T-H.”

If there is no death then there is no release from Adam, and his life will continue to function through us. “But if we have been planted in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this that our OLD MAN (ADAM) is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is DEAD is freed from SIN.”

So now we can discover how reconciliation can become a reality within us personally. Good and evil was a part of the Adamic life which we now discover DIED at the cross, so these opposites can no longer exist. In fact all the opposites only exist in the realm of flesh, and as we have found the flesh came to an end on the cross, having died in him who became the Last Adam. Being the L-A-S-T means there is no more ADAM, so that whole realm in which all the conflict functions is now dead, so I am free.

What a wonderful Gospel we have to share with all men. The cross has brought reconciliation to us, putting an end to the constant conflict that has been considered a normal part of the Christian life. Paul tells us that we no longer are bound to yield our members as instruments of unrighteousness. Sin has no power over us for the part of us that was under law is DEAD, and now we live under Grace. “Being made free trom sin, we have become the servants of righteousness. For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son, in the LIKENESS OF SINFUL FLESH , and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.”

THE COMING OF CHRIST

It was David that subdued all Israel’s enemies, bringing peace to Israel. Then David made preparation for the building of the Temple, although he was not allowed to actually build it. So today the preparation for the “appearing “ of the Lord in his temple is this work of reconciliation. Jesus said to the disciples, “I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also.”

The place he is preparing is not up in the sky, but IN YOU. Paul says, “Don’t you know your body is the temple of God.” The word used here for temple in the New Testament is the Greek word “Naos” which refers only to the Most Holy Place. So the place being prepared is the Most Holy Place which is in you, for this is God’s dwelling place. Having now dealt with our Adamic consciousness the consciousness of sin has been removed, so this removes the veil and allows us access into Father’s house.

However Paul tells us that in the preparation of God’s dwelling place some changes must take place. He says that the “Man of Sin” must be revealed first. This term refers to Adam as he was the one who brought sin into the world, and perpetuates it by his presence in mankind. Where can we find this imposter? Paul explains about this Adam, “ Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he AS GOD sitteth in the Temple of God, shewing himself that HE IS GOD.”

How many Christians sing with great gusto, “He is Lord, he is risen from the dead and he is Lord!” But the truth is that in their life Jesus Christ has very little say about how life is lived. If we are honest many of us would have to admit that we decide what we will do and where we will go, and make great plans about the future, all without  even a thought about what the Christ may desire. So we have to admit there is someone who occupies the “Throne” in the Temple of God, and it is not Jesus Christ.

We are back again with Paul in Romans 7 battling with a desire to do good but finding another authority, refusing to allow us to have our way. This is Adam, not just content with being a part of our life but insisting on being the royal presence within, sitting in the place of authority. Now it is obvious there will be no appearing of Christ in his Holy Temple while Adam is still there. Many Christians wonder why they do not have a real sense of the divine presence within, even after praying and fasting for it.

The reason is clear, for if Christ is not LORD OF ALL he will not be LORD AT ALL. There is no way he will appear in his Holy Temple until the Throne has been vacated and we are ready to conduct a coronation service for His Royal Majesty. We will soon know if the cross has been effective in releasing us from the law of sin and death, because if we are indeed free, the Christ will appear in his Holy Temple and we will crown him King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It will be, “Not MY WILL but THINE be done O Lord.”

However do not despair, for the battle is not just up to us, but God has made provision to clean out His temple when we decide that Christ is King. Often we have not realized the subtlety of our enemy, who deceives us into believing he does not really exist, and that what we do we do out of our own volition. But Paul says, “Then shall that wicked one shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of his mouth, and destroy with the brightness of his appearing.”

The Spirit of his mouth speaks of the Power of his Word. “Who has saved us and called us with a holy, calling not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel.

So when we believe the Word God has spoken to us, that word will set us free by destroying the lie that has bound us. For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. Now we are coming to that place where we no longer live out of a duality of being, but we can say with Jesus, “I and my Father are One.” The truth being that, “As he is so am I in this world.”  

Des Walter

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