Think about this for a minute….. The revelation of the Word of God…..Make manifest the Word of God. All the Word has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus, the Son of God. The blessings and cursings are exposed now as the Word of God or as the revelation of Son of God, Jesus Christ, because He is the Word.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen, (Revelation 1:7).
As we studied the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ, we saw the activity of the Word being made manifest on the sons of men…… There is one thing all creatures that are created will and have experienced is death….
But then what did Jesus mean when He said this in John 11:25-26: Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though He may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?
John 8:51: Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death.
Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Was Paul alive and did he die naturally or spiritually when he wrote this scripture? How did he die and still write the scriptures for us? In what manner?
When we die to Adam’s race in the spirit, we then are reborn into the sons of God as scripture states in John 1:11-13, He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Not only did the Word become flesh and dwelt among us, beholding His glory, full of grace and truth…. but now His Spirit full of grace and truth resides in our flesh….. because we are now the children of God growing into the sons of God in Christ Jesus.
The image of Christ in symbols as written through out the Word is the Lord’s character revealed. Remember what Jesus said if you have seen Me, you have seen the Father…….in John 14:9. The very character and essence of God is revealed through the Word of God. This Word of God is growing His children into the sons of God by the power of the Spirit…
So the image is of Christ coming from us and not our old nature’s image…. for that old image is dead. Yet, Paul stated in the letters that He dies daily too. So this is the way of the cross and growth of Christ in us.
So as we are celebrating the Babe in the manger, helpless but mighty for He is the King of all, let us not settle for just His birth in the flesh, but let us reveal His birth and growth in us….today… and the Holy Spirit’s work in us into the sons of God. Our Heavenly Father wants a family in Spirit and Truth.
We do not give gifts to each other as if we were still babes, we give each other gifts as to the age we are now. We may celebrate His birth, but He is no longer a baby….. He is King of kings and Lord of lords…. and His dominion will never cease and always increase. So should we in Him.
This is our King, Christ, the Lord Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. His delight is in the fear of the Lord, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist, ( Isaiah 11:2-5).
He is no longer a babe, but Judge of His creation because the Word of God judges the hearts of men. For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing, even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart, ( Hebrews 4:12).
This is the Babe, the Word of God, incarnate. He has grown into the Son of God and has completed His work for His kingdom as the Lamb of God, now He is King and Ruler over all.
As He also says in another place: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered, ( Hebrews 5:6-8).
So, if the Spirit of God now dwells in us…. Are we not also going to grow from children into the sons of God through the suffering and death of our flesh? What we want versus what is the way of the Lord? Is that what Paul meant as he said he died daily? All his dreams, his agendas…. Jesus, as well as Paul, and many other saints, were forsaken by the brethren at very hard times.
Is it not written in Isaiah 11—-He will not judge by His eyes or word of mouth, but by the Spirit of the Lord? Are we not to do the same? Alas, we need the anointing of the Holy Spirit to obey? We are to judge by righteousness and humility…. Poor in spirit, not necessarily poor in finances, but poor in pride and self righteousness. It is written in James 2:5, Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him? Is this the only way of the Lord? If we call ourselves followers, then we shall walk His way!
But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason. He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You. And again, I will put My trust in Him. And again, Here am I and the children whom God has given Me, ( Hebrews 2:9-12).
But Christ as a Son over His own house, who house we are if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm to the end. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden Your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tested Me, tried Me, and saw My works forty years. Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, they always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways. So I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest.
Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily while it is still called ‘today’, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end, while it is said, ‘today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, ( Hebrews 3: 6-15.)
These scriptures are about the grown up Babe…… He is our Lord and Savior and the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord…..So we do not loose our confidence in our faith…..It is important not to get swept away by tradition and forget the True Reality of the Living God in our midst. Let us make sure we celebrate HIM!
Our worship is not of tradition but in the Spirit and Truth now….. No other way is acceptable to our God. If we are His children growing into His sons, then we will be about our Father’s concerns and have put aside the childish things….. Armies do not let their weapons down, how much more should we be on guard not to get swept away by the deceitful pressure of the world’s spirit.
Tradition usually starts because a certain time God moved and this was so glorious that we think if we do the same thing over again the results will be the same….. Rarely does that happen…. Pretty soon all the traditions are for our flesh…. hoping that it will be a special time like last time….. We have gone back to a place because the last time it was so wonderful and yet, it was God’s grace all over the whole day….We forget that the day is the Lord’s. If He does not get the glory for the beauty of the time, then it will never be the same again, in fact, sometimes it looks like the blinders are taken off…. We wonder why we even went there at all! Traditions can become ruts that make us do the same things over again hoping God’s hand will show up…. It won’t and it puts a burden on us to do everything perfect just like last time……hoping that it will be great again…..It turns into works of our flesh instead of faith. We tend to look for the feeling and goosebumps instead of how He showing us Himself….. love, blessing, giving, righteousness, forgiveness. Let us be looking for HIM!
It is better to stop the traditions and see what God has in His plan for His day and others hearts. Life in Christ is the best adventure for He is in our midst doing something in secret, waiting for us to seek what He is up to! Love is poured out in our midst every second……Let’s look for Him today and not be too busy in our inn for our King.
Be on guard against the world’s spirit and rejoice in the God who is with us then, now and forever…..He is worthy. He always has loved us with an everlasting love….. Hey, His love never fails.
Christmas means to celebrate Christ! So let us celebrate Christ and leave the traditions alone….. See what He has planned for you as you look for Him as the Gift in the Tree of Life.
Selah!
