That We May Know...: 10/2/11

Friday, October 7, 2011

When The Perfect Appears

1 Cor 13:11-13

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is
charity.

What is Paul’s meaning in these verses of scripture? I believe that Paul is comparing two understandings ofSalvation. The Old Covenant understanding which was given in pieces and fragments and the New Covenant understanding which is the Person of Christ revealed in our hearts as the substance of the pieces and fragments.Those who have not come to a New Covenant comprehension of Salvation will continue to live in such a state of puzzlement and confusion. If we look at the word “darkly” which Paul uses, we will see that this is exactly what he is saying.

Darkly
en (NT:1722) ainigmati (NT:135). Literally, "in a riddle or enigma," the word expressing the obscure "form" in which the revelation appears. Compare di' (NT:1223) ainigmatoon (NT:135) "in dark speeches," Num 12:8.
(from Vincent's Word Studies of the New Testament, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)
1 Cor 13:12[Darkly] Margin, "In a riddle" en (NT:1722) ainigmati (NT:135).

The word means a riddle; an enigma; then an obscure intimation. In a riddle a statement is made with some resemblance to the truth; a puzzling question is proposed, and the solution is left to conjecture. Hence, it means, as here, obscurely, darkly, imperfectly. Little is known; much is left to conjecture; a very accurate account of most of that which passes for knowledge. (from Barnes' Notes, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 1997 by Biblesoft)

Let me stress that this is not the obligatory state of born again believers, contrary to the “we will only know the truth when we die” mentality that is in the Christian religion. This is speaking of an Old Covenant understanding being carried over into the hearts of New Covenant Christians. Under the Old Covenant, God used pieces, parts and fragments of information to speak of the Eternal Substance of His Son, but in the New Covenant, those pieces and fragments are gathered up and made known in Christ. This is exactly what the writer of Hebrews said: Heb 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. Here are a couple of translations of that verse. Whereas, in many parts and in many ways of old, God spake unto the fathers, in the prophets, At the end of these days, He hath spoken unto us in his Son… (Rotherham Translation) In many parts, and many ways, God of old having spoken to the fathers in the prophets, in these last days did speak to us in a Son… (Young’s Literal Translation)

In the Old Covenant, God spoke in parts and pieces to the fathers by the prophets. The writers point is not to say that what God said was not true or faithful, but that what He had said in different fragmented ways has now come to be fully realized in the Person of His Son. The problem is that without FIRST seeing Christ, these pieces are left open ended. Holiness and Righteousness are not correctly seen as the Nature of the Indwelling Son of God, but suddenly get defined by codes of dress and codes of conduct. So being Holy or Righteous becomes a futile and frustrating exercise of self-denial instead of the Nature of The Living Christ transforming our souls into His image.

But what is it that frees us from seeing Salvation as a pile of scattered pieces and confusing riddles? Seeing The Perfect One face to face! 1 Cor 13:10, But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. The word Perfect is from the Greek word teleios, which means ‘lacking nothing necessary to completeness’. How contrary that is to our fragmented and self centered understanding of Salvation. We are always noticing our failure to be holy or to be righteous, or to love, but that is because we have not seen Christ Who is our Holiness, Righteousness, and Love. In Him there is nothing lacking. In Him there is nothing missing. In Him there is nothing that falls short. And in Him we live, move and have our being. Why do we insist on continually gathering fragments into our “I love Jesus” basket and not just turn our hearts to behold Him in Whom all the fragments are gathered and nothing is lost.

This is the face to face encounter of which Paul is speaking in 1 Corinthians 13 and it is not a future time or event, but the Revelation of Christ IN US. Not just God revealing “things or information” to us, but God revealing THE PERSON WHO IS THE FULNESS OF ALL THINGS IN OUR SOULS. Most look for what they call “nuggets of revelation”, but Paul did not say that it pleased God to reveal “nuggets of truth” to him, but it pleased God to reveal the Son in Him. In the New Testament the words elements, rudiments, and principles are used and in each of those cases the law is being addressed. But when I began to look at the definition of these words I realized that they speak of that, which is a part of a whole. One definition said that we call our alphabet “elements” of language, but one letter does not make up the whole of our language. It is like we seek to find the “A” of God or the “Z” of God and we preach or teach a letter, but we have not yet had the Living Word, The Language of God, Who is Christ, revealed in us. Nothing of Truth can be communicated until The Truth; The Word of Truth is unveiled in our souls. That is what Paul understood when He said in Galatians 1:15-16 that it pleased God to reveal His Son in him that he might preach him. Paul knew that no ministry could take place until the Person was revealed.

The Person of our Salvation must be made known in us by the Spirit of Truth, Who’s only purpose is to reveal Christ, not in pieces, but in the fullness of His Person. What I mean is that God does not reveal Faith to us, but reveals the Son in us Who is the Author and Finisher of our Faith. God does not reveal Love to us, but reveals the Son Who is His Love in us. When He is revealed and I behold Him, Who is the One Vision of God, my soul is transformed (2 Cor. 3:18). Then I no longer seek the rules and methods to be Holy, but I look unto Him Who is My Holiness. I no longer seek to be Righteous by my efforts and works, but I look unto Christ Who is My Righteousness. Now the pieces have been defined by the Person. Here is a sure sign of growing up in Christ. We put away the pieces and lay hold of the Perfect. (1 Cor. 13:11) Paul’s prayer for the Church was not that God would show them more pieces of the puzzle, but that He would give them the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of HIM

Eph 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. That’s why Paul did not say that it pleased God to reveal spiritual things to him so that he could preach about Jesus, but that it pleased God to reveal the Son in him. God reveals the Person. Wisdom, Revelation, Knowledge, just finally comes for us to be HIM. Not different pieces of the puzzle, but a glorious Person that dwells in us and in Whom we dwell. We are not to come to the full knowledge of Faith or Love or Holiness, but of HIM. Paul never presented Salvation as pieces, but as the Indwellingerson of Christ being revealed and working in us. He never separates the aspects of Christ from Christ. How can you do that? How can you separate holiness from The Holy One? We can say that about every aspect we try to grasp as if it were separate from Him. Paul is saying the same thing in 1 Corinthians 13 and in 2 Corinthians 3:18. When we will turn to the Lord to know Him, He will be seen as the substance of all spiritual things and as we behold Him our soul is transformed from the glory of the pieces to the more glorious substance of the Person. If faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, to walk in faith is to walk in the comprehending of Christ as the substance of the things that have been hoped for and the evidence of what could at one time not be seen, but is now REVEALED IN US by the Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:9-10)

Therefore, the Church needs a face to face encounter with the I AM. No, not the I DO or the I GIVE, but the I AM. It is seeing the I AM that will transform our souls. Let’s look at a familiar example: Martha’s brother had died and she was upset that Jesus did nothing to save him. When Jesus assured her that her brother would live again, she pulled out one of her “fragments” and presented it to Jesus. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (John 11:24) Martha knew about a resurrection, but she knew it as a piece of the religious puzzle. It was an aspect that she believed and knew was true, but she had not yet come to KNOW the Resurrection. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. (John 11:25) Now, a fragment has been gathered. Now the Resurrection has been defined in I AM. I think this is one of the great fragments that still hinder Christians from walking in the Newness of Life in Christ NOW. They have been told that Eternal Life is for the future, but I will tell you as one who has had I AM revealed in his soul, that Eternal Life is NOW IN CHRIST JESUS. The I AM Resurrection and Life Now dwells in our souls and He must be revealed in us, that as Martha we will put away the pieces for the Person.

We can even look at Paul:
Phil 3:8, Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.

Paul thrived under the Old Covenant. Yet when the Perfect One appeared, Paul put away and counted as loss the fragments of the Old Covenant (“all things”) for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ. At one time the fragments were a means of boasting for Paul, but now his boasting is the Lord Himself Who had appeared in Him and Who has become the substance of those things he had at one time zealously believed. Yet now he has gone from just believing things to seeing the substance of what He had believed. When he says “for whom I have suffered the loss of all things”, he does not mean that he cast it away “for” Jesus, but the definition of the word “for” is “by reason of”. So putting away the fragments of the Old is not an option for those who have truly seen the Perfect, because the knowledge that exceeds has come in the face of Jesus Christ. Therefore, may we turn away from our pieces, regardless of how true they may be and how strongly we may believe them, and turn our hearts to see the One in Whom there is nothing lacking necessary to completeness. Then and only then can we be established upon the solid and unshakable foundation of Christ and not the fragmented and unsteady ground of our own understanding.

Christ: Our More Sure Word of Prophecy

Most believers today seem to be more that just interested in “end time” or “prophetic” issues. They seem to be undeniably obsessed with thoughts and questions of what will transpire in the months, years, decades, or millennia to come. The big question in their mind is, “What is next on God’s calendar?” I will consider that question in this article. I would like us to start with a verse of scripture that seems to be either ignored or misinterpreted in the Christian world today.

2 Peter 1:16-20

For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you thepower and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

I like the way Peter presents this to his readers. He tells them that his gospel is not made up tales and stories that he hopes will cause them to follow him or his teachings. He says that when he was with them that he made known to them the power and coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but Peter’s gospel and manner of living for that matter was not according to some whim or fairy tale he imagined. What was the basis of Peter’steaching? What was the reference point for all that Peter had said and will say? Peter was an eyewitness of the Majesty of Christ. He had seen Jesus.

Now, we know that Peter walked with Jesus during His earthly ministry, but did this constitute the seeing of Jesus? No. Because seeing Jesus is not something we do with the natural eyes, but is a work of the Spirit of God revealing in us the very same Christ who lives in us. Paul says it this way in 2 Cor 5:16, “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” Paul’s validation of Salvation was not the Jesus who walked on the earth, but the Risen Lord who brought forth by the power of His Resurrection a New Creation.

2 Peter continues and says something I would like to focus on, “We have a more sure word of prophecy”. First, let us consider what that does not mean. Peter does not mean that Jesus ensures for the believer that the prophecies for which the church is waiting will happen. He does not mean that the Church has more certain promises for a future fulfillment. So what does Peter mean when he says that we have a more sure word of prophecy? For the answer, we begin to look at basic Greek word definitions. The term “more sure” is the from the Greek word “bebaios”. This word means stable,sure, steadfast, in effect, valid. Vincent’s New Testament Word Study translates this verse, “we have the word of prophecy made more sure”. The New King James Version translates it, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed”. The New International Version reads, “And we have the word of the prophets made more certain”. Finally, the Rotherham Bible says, “And we have, more firm, the prophetic word”. If we read verse twenty we notice that Peter is speaking concerning the prophets of the Old Covenant. He says that these prophets did not speak according to their own personal convictions and ideas, but spoke as the Spirit of God moved them. Jesus tells us in John 15:26 that the Spirit will only speak of Him. Do we then think that the same Spirit of God moved upon these prophets to testify of something or someone other that Christ? Do we think that these men declared events on calendars instead of spiritual reality that find summation and certainty in Christ Jesus the Lord?

They were declaring what the Spirit of God only declares and that is the realty of Christ and Him Crucified. Barnes Commentary says of this scripture, “There can be no doubt that the apostle refers here to what is contained in the Old Testament; for, in 2 Peter 1:21, he speaks of the prophecy as that which was spoken "in old time, by men that were moved by the Holy Ghost. The point to which the prophecies related, and to which Peter referred, was the great doctrine respecting the coming of the Messiah, embracing perhaps all that pertained to his work, or all that he designed to do by his advent." These men were speaking of a reality that would be brought about by and in Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection. This brings us back to the question of what does Peter mean by saying, “we have the prophets made certain”. He is simply saying that Christ is now, for the Church, the certainty and the substance of every word that was spoken by the Old Covenant prophets. Everything that Israel looked for and desired, the Church is now made to be partakers. How? We are made to be partakers of Christ. In Him, every utterance of God finds its ultimate Amen. Of course, we read this in 2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.

Let us ponder the word all in this verse. All the promises of God, this takes in every aspect of God’s speech in time past. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews starts his letter by saying the same thing. Hebrews 1:1-2, “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son”. God did at one time speak by the prophets. He spoke through them concerning Christ, but now He speaks in His Son. Christ has now come as the effectual Word of God. God has brought forth His final and perfect utterance in Christ. Therefore, Peter is not speaking of anything future, but the sure and certain Word of The Living God Who did not return unto the Father void, but accomplished (finished, perfected) that for which He was sent (Isa. 55:11). Remember, Peter is making this comment because of his experience on the Mountain.

Matt 17:1-9

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.

There is so much to see in this passage, but I will only comment on a few points. Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus on the mountain. Peter got excited about what he was seeing and requested to build three tabernacles, one for Moses, one for Elijah and one for Jesus. Moses is the lawgiver and in him, we see the Law being represented. Elijah is the prophet of God and in him; we see the prophets and prophecies represented. Therefore, when Peter sees this, he is seeing the Law, the Prophets, and Jesus and he wants to hold on to all three. Is this not what the Church world wants today? They want to abide by the letter of the Law. They want to hold to the prophecies of old and put them as a future hope. Yet, they also want to boast of the Salvation they have in Jesus. I submit that you cannot have all three. God will not allow this. Notice the scripture says that as Peter was still speaking about the three tabernacles, God overshadowed them with a cloud.

While the cloud was covering them, God spoke saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, HEAR YE HIM. Jesus then comes to them and causes them to Arise. What a beautiful picture of the Resurrection. They were raised in the power of His Life and the authority of His Word. The Law and Prophets spoke of Him, but only the Living Word can give Life. Then when they lifted up their eyes they saw no man, they saw only Jesus. Here is the truth and reality of His Resurrection. No man lives, but by Him.

In this article, I only have the time to mention this point. God says, This is my beloved Son… Hear Him. What is God saying? More importantly, what is God summing up with this statement? God is saying in this, of all that Moses (the Law) said and all that Elijah (the prophets) declared, my Son is the More Sure Word. He is the Word in Whom I find delight. The church today wants all three: The Law, The Prophets, and Jesus, but there is only ONE Living Word and He fulfills all that ever spoke, for they only spoke of HIM. HEAR HIM. Hear Him: Now we who are in Christ have and are to apprehend the more sure Word of prophecy. Christ is the Word that sums up every utterance of God. Hear Him. He is the Word, the hearing of which brings the Faith that now is evidence and substance. This Word is not heard by repeating scripture to ourselves, but by the Father revealing His Word in our hearts. Let us hear the Eternal Word that we may walk in the certainty and partake of the reality the prophets said would come, as it has now come in Christ. Hear Him.

References:

Rom 10:17

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Rev 19:11-13

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.

1 John 1:1-2

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us).

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The Hope Of Glory

By Rabon Byrd

Hope is a very powerful thing! It is one of the greatest motivators of man. If you were to ask a group of people what motivated them to get out of bed every day, I would say that the greater number of them would give you an answer that is based upon a future hope or expectation.

God had given Israel a hope. He had given them an expectation that was for a future time. He declared it to them in ceremonies, feasts, offerings and by the prophets. Their lives were in expectation of something to come. So when THE TIME came and God finally spoke in His Son summing up in Him their hope (Heb. 1:1-2), most of them rejected Him. Why? Sadly, the expectation became more glorious to them than the One in whom their hope was fulfilled. Their hope became an end unto itself. He did not measure up to THEIR EXPECTATION.

Paul declared that the hope for which Israel waited is no longer a future and far distant anticipation for those who are born of the Spirit of God. For the expectation of Old Covenant Israel is realized in the New Covenant Israel in that He who is the fulness of their hope is in us.

Colossians 1:27

To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

For what are we now waiting or hoping? The One in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen is NOW IN US. It is now not a matter of Him coming, but of His being revealed in us. That is the need of the church today. We need to behold Him and set our affection upon Him.

Romans 8:24

For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?

The hope that is seen is no longer hoped for. Why is the religious system still looking for a time or a day to come? They have not SEEN HIM! This hope is not seen with the natural eyes, but is seen when Christ is revealed by the Spirit of God and when He who is the fulness of all hope is seen He becomes unto our soul a tree of life (Proverbs 13:12). He becomes the very life of my soul. It is the seeing (the revealing) of Christ, that turns expectation into SUBSTANCE.

Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Now we have and live by the substance of what Israel hoped for and in Him we have the evidence of what they could not see because He lives in us. When? NOW!

Now let me make it clear that I am not saying that just realizing theologically that Christ is the fulfillment of Israel's hope and promises is sufficient. I am saying that since we now know that that is so; let us set our hearts upon KNOWING HIM. Knowing that Israel's expectation has now come and is in us is meaningless if we do not lay hold upon the PERSON who is the fullness of that hope.

That would be like waiting for weeks for a very important visitor. Not knowing the exact time of their coming, you continually ask people around if the expected visitor has gotten there yet. The more you wait the more anxious you become for their arrival and you continue to inquire with those in the house if the expected visitor has arrived. After several more hours of waiting, someone comes into the room and tells you that your expected visitor has arrived and instead of greeting and having fellowship with that guest, you decide to lock the room door and go to sleep.

Now, I realize that is a silly example, but no more so than for those of us who have heard that Christ is in us and who have heard that the hope of Israel is in us, not to set our affections upon knowing Him, learning Him and growing up into Him. What ceases the expectation: SEEING THE ONE EXPECTED! Hearing that He is in us, although wonderful, is not sufficient and must not be the end of our searching. We must see the One who is in us by the revealing of the Father, and grow in the knowledge of Him. Because we are not called to be declarers of a hope that is to come, but we are called to be an expression in the earth of the Substance Who is come.

The Letter to the Hebrews often uses the word "better" to explain the more glorious realities of the New Covenant compared to those of the Old Covenant. This word better is not used in the sense that I may need a better pair of shoes or a better car. In this context, the word means "superior, more excellent". This is the exceedingly abundantly above, the much more of Salvation. He says we (the Church) have a better hope, a better covenant, better promises, a better resurrection, etc. What makes it better? What makes it abundantly above? What makes it much more? He is not saying that Israel had a multitude of future promises and now we have much better future promises. He is not saying that they had a good covenant, but we have a much better one because we do not have to kill animals and eat unleavened bread. He is saying that they are better, more excellent, abundantly above, and much more because Christ is now come as the substance and fulness of them and that very substance now dwells in His House, His Church, His Body; which Body we are.

Israel's expectation, because it was not according to what God had truly said, but what they believed to be true became vain imaginations. It is so with the religious system today. The expectation of the religious system is not based upon God's Word, but upon their beliefs and imaginations. When hope is taken beyond the true object of that hope that hope becomes foundationless and inevitably will become based upon false ideas and imaginations. The church world today would seemingly rather hold onto the fairy tale expectation of heaven than to turn their hearts and see the substance of heaven in the face of Jesus Christ. Most would rather hold to their dispensational theory of the end time instead of seeing the One who is the fulness of all prophecy and the end of all time. As I have already stated, we are not to declare a hope to come, but we, the Body of Christ, are called to make manifest the substance that is come.

This hope is not separated from us by dispensations or future happenings, but by the turning of our hearts (soul) to SEE HIM who is in us.

2 Corinthians 3:16-18

nbsp;Nevertheless when it [the heart] shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The only thing that will keep this expectation, which is Christ in us, from being an anticipated future event, is the turning of our hearts to behold Christ who is the excellent Glory. Then and only then will our souls be transformed and made at liberty to know the Great Salvation that He is made unto us. May we set our affections upon Jesus that we may be brought from the glory of waiting on His coming, to the excellent Glory Who is come, and is now in us. So we can declare as the Psalmist, "And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is IN THEE". (Ps 39:7)

Scripture References:

Prov 13:12

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.

Jer 17:7-8

Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

Joel 3:16-17

The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.

Rabon Byrd is a Bible Teacher, writer, and editor at the C.M.I. Bible Research Center in Leslie, Arkansas. For more Christ-centered writings, audio and video teachings from Rabon and fellow laborers in Christ, visit cmintl.org or rabonbyrd.blogspot.com. Feel free to email him at rabonbyrd@ymail.com

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