Thursday, December 15, 2011
The Dependence of The Soul by Rabon Byrd
A few years ago, I was involved in a search concerning the High Priest, and I ran across a verse in Hebrews that I had heard many times yet I had never heard it or understood it in the context of that portion of the letter. Hebrews 10:25, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." Again, I had heard this verse many times as a Christian, but unfortunately, it was always being used as a means to condemn people for not attending church. I remember having people through the years of my going to "Christian" meetings, when I would not show up for a service; express their disapproval by saying 'You know the Bible says 'forsake not the assembling of yourselves.' However, it was not until many years later that the Lord began to show me the context of that statement. It is a direct reference to Christ our Great High Priest and our being assembled or gathered within Him. I began to understand that you can be in a building together and still forsake your assembling. You can be in the same room and not be there in the acknowledgement of your being assembled as One, in One. When that is your state, you are walking in contradiction to the Truth as it is in Christ. You can be present every time a sermon is preached, and every time the door is opened and you can still walk contrary to this reality. The only way that the knowing of that assembling takes place is by the same means as it was made known in the Old Testament. It is the seeing of the One in whom we are gathered.
As I consider the Day of Atonement and the importance of that day, one thing that occurs to me as never before is the state of absolute dependence in which Israel found itself. When Israel saw their High Priest, they saw themselves gathered in that one man (by reason of the breastplate he wore) and that one man became, in their view, in their midst, the living embodiment and personification of the Salvation that at one time was hidden behind a veil, but now is made openly manifest by His appearing. It is this appearing and this seeing that will cause us to never forsake the reality of our being gathered together in Him Who is our Great High Priest.
On this Day, Israel was gathered at the tabernacle, yet because of the veil they were unable to observe that which was accomplished (when all was accomplished) in heaven (holy of holies). Of course, we know that in Christ, the veil is done away, but according to Paul, that veil remains upon the heart of man until it turns to see the Lord in His appearing. So, how is Israel to know what is now finished? How can they come to an acknowledgement of what their High Priest has accomplished? How can they become partakers and participants in this great atonement? Here we see the depths of their dependence. We see that for them to come to the knowledge of this finished work, they are dependent upon something to take place that is not within their power or capacity to make happen. They must be in the right posture, which is waiting and looking with expectation for Him, for they are dependent upon HIS APPEARING in their midst, for that work to become the abounding realization in which they shall live, move and have their being. My point is that we who are in Christ are just as dependent upon the appearing of Christ within our souls if we are to know and experience, in truth, anything of this Great Salvation of which He is the source and the abiding substance.
With that in mind, we now look at Colossians 3:1, "If ye then be risen with Christ" Although the King James phrases this using a conditional statement, most commentaries will say that Paul is speaking of a condition that has been realized or fulfilled. In other words, Paul is stating this state of union with Christ as a realized and fulfilled FACT. Ye ARE risen with Christ. Kenneth Wuest says, "In view of the fact, therefore, that you were raised with Christ. I read that one day, and the word "fact" just grabbed me and I became more aware that in Christ we are dealing with the eternally established FACT of God. We are not dealing with types and figures now; we are dealing with eternal reality.
Salvation is a fact that God not only intended to have, but NOW HAS in His Son. To me that means so much, because I am seeing my dependence on the Spirit more than I ever have to make known that fact in my heart. I read and I study, and we all do, and we see things. However, I am talking about this eternal fact of God being made known in our souls. That is an absolute necessity. It is one thing for us to be in Christ in Whom all that God has intended is realized, but it is an altogether other thing to have that same Christ revealed within by the Spirit so that what God has accomplished and realized in His Beloved Son, may become the abounding and transforming realization of our souls. I have been awakened to the necessity of that taking place, but in view of that necessity, I am more conscious of the dependence of the soul upon the Spirit of God to reveal Christ in order for us to know anything and I do mean anything of the Great Salvation we have in Him. If that does not take place, I am left with vain imaginations and opinions. I am left "with a veiled heart". However, such conjectural thoughts are remedied by one work of God: The Appearing of our Lord in our hearts.
There is no way to know this eternal fact except HE appear. Knowing, just as with the High Priest, is inseparably bound up with seeing Him. The knowing of which the New Testament speaks is not the result of academic learning and scholarly pursuits. So many times that becomes a hindrance to true knowledge. We can become so occupied with the accumulation of theological intelligence from without (external sources), that it can unfortunately become a substitute for the knowledge of God being made known by the revealing of Christ within.
This New Testament knowing is an inner acknowledgement, an intimate encounter and participation with the Person of The Truth Himself. We must understand the dependence of our souls with regard to knowing in this way. Most are ignorant of that dependence; therefore, they do not come to the Lord in the proper posture of heart.
As I considered this, I was reminded of Bartimaeus who had heard that Jesus was coming by the way. (Mark 10:46-52) When he knew He was there he cried out, and they told him to shut up. Mark 10:48, "And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." I looked up this word mercy in the Greek and it means to have compassion and pity. In the Vine's Dictionary it is stated like this, "it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources sufficient to meet the need on the part of him who shows it." Bartimaeus cries out understanding that he has a need, but he cries out to the One he knows has the "sufficient resources" to meet that need. Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah promised of God was the only one who could bring light and illumination to this blind man's state of darkness and ignorance to all that is around him. Now, in this account, we are talking about natural sight being given, but I believe it speaks beyond that to the sight that only the Messiah, the Christ of God can give us. However, who of us will confess our blindness and our ignorance to all that He has done and all that He is, and cry out "the more a great deal" for His mercy?
We cry out to God for mercy when we find ourselves in situations we deem to be impossible for ourselves, but can I be so bold as to say that if we are in Christ, we have been brought into such a situation. We have been brought into a state of being that is impossible for us to know, or comprehend, or walk in except the Spirit of Truth cure our blindness of heart by revealing Christ in us. You can have opinions and doctrinal ideas about being in Christ and what it means, but you will not know in truth this Great Salvation except this miraculous work of the Spirit takes place in your soul. Yet, I must repeat that we must cry out to God knowing the necessity of such a work.
This account says that when Jesus heard this blind man crying for mercy He stood still. I will not go into that, but this is a heart condition that will get His attention. I think it is because when someone comes to the Lord confessing that he is truly blind and that his blindness is not just an alternative way of looking at spiritual reality, that is a soul in which He can work and bring His Light and understanding. Please keep in mind that this is not a one-time occurrence. As you continue in knowing Christ, you will constantly have to come to Him confessing your blindness and ignorance with regard to Him and He will always be faithful to give sight by appearing in you as the True Light and Vision by which you must see.
After Jesus stood still, He instructed His disciples to bring Bartimaeus to Him. Bartimaeus then came to Jesus. Now in Mark 10:50 it says, "And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus." He took off his outer garment: and that says so much. I am not going to take the time now to look at all that statement means, but it shows a putting off, a casting away, a counting as loss that must take place for this sight to be given. He comes to Him and Jesus says what would you have Me do? Bartimaeus says that my eyes may be opened. That is the mercy of God for which our souls need to cry out that I MAY SEE! Not that I may preach, not that I may know more than my brother does so I can thrash him in a debate. That I may see. Just as Bartimaeus, we are dependent upon the eyes of our souls being unveiled and enlightened that we may know the reality unto which we have come as those born of His Spirit. If you read the letters of the Apostle Paul, you will see that this man understood the necessity of spiritual sight being given to the eyes of the soul of every believer. Christ, The Son of David, the Messiah, the Anointed One He and He alone can give unto us and in actuality becomes in us this sight and seeing that is necessary in the New Creation. The reality is that you cannot know this New Creation by the same means and faculties through which you have known the Old Creation.
Most of us do not come to Him knowing that we are in need of that mercy. We do not understand our dependence on the Light of His Countenance to fill our souls, because we are ignorant of the depth of our blindness. Martin Luther said, "Man sees his blindness as the highest of wisdom." We must finally confess our blindness of heart that we may be made to see.
Again, such a sight, such an unveiling is necessitated because we have been brought into and made partakers of God's eternally established fact in Christ Jesus. So, with regard to Kenneth Wuest's translation, I looked up the word "fact" and here is the definition. This is from Webster's Dictionary.
A fact is
1. A thing done.
2. The quality of something being actual, an actuality.
3. Something that has actual existence.
4. Something having objective reality.
The phrase objective reality is very important as we consider these things. For something to have objective reality means that it is not dependent upon our understanding of it, our acceptance of it, or our ignorance of it. A fact stands regardless of our opinion toward it. Our refusal to accept it or agree with it does not diminish its substantiality and validity. What God has done, what God has made an actuality, what God has made to exist and abide in Christ is not dependent upon any of those things. It is a fact. Such a reality stands untainted by our personal feelings or emotions. It is no less a reality because we have knowingly or unknowingly substituted our vain thoughts and doctrines for it. Such a refusal or substitution on our part never affects God's established work in Christ, but it does indeed keep our souls in a constant state of ignorance with regard to that work and thus it robs us of the present work of the Spirit that God desires to do within. That work of the Spirit is to reveal in us and form in us the Son who is the indwelling embodiment of that eternal fact. Our Salvation is an objective reality in that God has comprehended and summed up everything of His eternal plan and intention in the Person of Christ. He is satisfied with His finished work. In God's mind, all things are full and complete. That is so whether we ever accept it or not. In a simple phrase: God's reality demands the soul's realization.
It is with exact reference to this that Paul writes in Colossians 2:2-3, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
This word "acknowledgement" is tremendously important. These people are born again, they are in Christ, and they have been delivered out of the realm of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son. What a miraculous work of God! What a tremendous reality! However, we cannot be content in our hearts with knowing by the scripture and believing that such a reality exists in Christ. We cannot be content with our acceptance of the fact that we are in Him and He is in us as our very Life and Salvation. I think we have preached the reality and many have believed the reality, but in view of such a tremendous fact, we cannot be content with simple doctrinal agreement and we must not treat it as another theological acquirement that we have added to our own doctrinal portfolio. Such truth must cause us to turn our hearts from all else to see Christ, so that the Spirit of Truth can bring us from a mere mental agreement with regard to scriptural truths, to a soul transforming acknowledgment and encounter with the Person of The Truth. He is the Eternal Fact of God.
Paul understood that such a reality demands this inner realization or acknowledgment. I never remember Paul writing, "Just read my letters until you understand what I mean." He understood that they could read his letters until the ink faded from the parchment, and still be unable to comprehend the meaning. He knew that the same soul transforming revelation that enabled him to write the letters was essential if they were to understand the letters to any degree and more importantly the indwelling Salvation that his letters declared. Throughout his letters, we are continually confronted with the necessity of Christ being revealed in us.
As I consider the Day of Atonement and the importance of that day, one thing that occurs to me as never before is the state of absolute dependence in which Israel found itself. When Israel saw their High Priest, they saw themselves gathered in that one man (by reason of the breastplate he wore) and that one man became, in their view, in their midst, the living embodiment and personification of the Salvation that at one time was hidden behind a veil, but now is made openly manifest by His appearing. It is this appearing and this seeing that will cause us to never forsake the reality of our being gathered together in Him Who is our Great High Priest.
On this Day, Israel was gathered at the tabernacle, yet because of the veil they were unable to observe that which was accomplished (when all was accomplished) in heaven (holy of holies). Of course, we know that in Christ, the veil is done away, but according to Paul, that veil remains upon the heart of man until it turns to see the Lord in His appearing. So, how is Israel to know what is now finished? How can they come to an acknowledgement of what their High Priest has accomplished? How can they become partakers and participants in this great atonement? Here we see the depths of their dependence. We see that for them to come to the knowledge of this finished work, they are dependent upon something to take place that is not within their power or capacity to make happen. They must be in the right posture, which is waiting and looking with expectation for Him, for they are dependent upon HIS APPEARING in their midst, for that work to become the abounding realization in which they shall live, move and have their being. My point is that we who are in Christ are just as dependent upon the appearing of Christ within our souls if we are to know and experience, in truth, anything of this Great Salvation of which He is the source and the abiding substance.
With that in mind, we now look at Colossians 3:1, "If ye then be risen with Christ" Although the King James phrases this using a conditional statement, most commentaries will say that Paul is speaking of a condition that has been realized or fulfilled. In other words, Paul is stating this state of union with Christ as a realized and fulfilled FACT. Ye ARE risen with Christ. Kenneth Wuest says, "In view of the fact, therefore, that you were raised with Christ. I read that one day, and the word "fact" just grabbed me and I became more aware that in Christ we are dealing with the eternally established FACT of God. We are not dealing with types and figures now; we are dealing with eternal reality.
Salvation is a fact that God not only intended to have, but NOW HAS in His Son. To me that means so much, because I am seeing my dependence on the Spirit more than I ever have to make known that fact in my heart. I read and I study, and we all do, and we see things. However, I am talking about this eternal fact of God being made known in our souls. That is an absolute necessity. It is one thing for us to be in Christ in Whom all that God has intended is realized, but it is an altogether other thing to have that same Christ revealed within by the Spirit so that what God has accomplished and realized in His Beloved Son, may become the abounding and transforming realization of our souls. I have been awakened to the necessity of that taking place, but in view of that necessity, I am more conscious of the dependence of the soul upon the Spirit of God to reveal Christ in order for us to know anything and I do mean anything of the Great Salvation we have in Him. If that does not take place, I am left with vain imaginations and opinions. I am left "with a veiled heart". However, such conjectural thoughts are remedied by one work of God: The Appearing of our Lord in our hearts.
There is no way to know this eternal fact except HE appear. Knowing, just as with the High Priest, is inseparably bound up with seeing Him. The knowing of which the New Testament speaks is not the result of academic learning and scholarly pursuits. So many times that becomes a hindrance to true knowledge. We can become so occupied with the accumulation of theological intelligence from without (external sources), that it can unfortunately become a substitute for the knowledge of God being made known by the revealing of Christ within.
This New Testament knowing is an inner acknowledgement, an intimate encounter and participation with the Person of The Truth Himself. We must understand the dependence of our souls with regard to knowing in this way. Most are ignorant of that dependence; therefore, they do not come to the Lord in the proper posture of heart.
As I considered this, I was reminded of Bartimaeus who had heard that Jesus was coming by the way. (Mark 10:46-52) When he knew He was there he cried out, and they told him to shut up. Mark 10:48, "And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou Son of David, have mercy on me." I looked up this word mercy in the Greek and it means to have compassion and pity. In the Vine's Dictionary it is stated like this, "it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources sufficient to meet the need on the part of him who shows it." Bartimaeus cries out understanding that he has a need, but he cries out to the One he knows has the "sufficient resources" to meet that need. Jesus, the Son of David, the Messiah promised of God was the only one who could bring light and illumination to this blind man's state of darkness and ignorance to all that is around him. Now, in this account, we are talking about natural sight being given, but I believe it speaks beyond that to the sight that only the Messiah, the Christ of God can give us. However, who of us will confess our blindness and our ignorance to all that He has done and all that He is, and cry out "the more a great deal" for His mercy?
We cry out to God for mercy when we find ourselves in situations we deem to be impossible for ourselves, but can I be so bold as to say that if we are in Christ, we have been brought into such a situation. We have been brought into a state of being that is impossible for us to know, or comprehend, or walk in except the Spirit of Truth cure our blindness of heart by revealing Christ in us. You can have opinions and doctrinal ideas about being in Christ and what it means, but you will not know in truth this Great Salvation except this miraculous work of the Spirit takes place in your soul. Yet, I must repeat that we must cry out to God knowing the necessity of such a work.
This account says that when Jesus heard this blind man crying for mercy He stood still. I will not go into that, but this is a heart condition that will get His attention. I think it is because when someone comes to the Lord confessing that he is truly blind and that his blindness is not just an alternative way of looking at spiritual reality, that is a soul in which He can work and bring His Light and understanding. Please keep in mind that this is not a one-time occurrence. As you continue in knowing Christ, you will constantly have to come to Him confessing your blindness and ignorance with regard to Him and He will always be faithful to give sight by appearing in you as the True Light and Vision by which you must see.
After Jesus stood still, He instructed His disciples to bring Bartimaeus to Him. Bartimaeus then came to Jesus. Now in Mark 10:50 it says, "And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus." He took off his outer garment: and that says so much. I am not going to take the time now to look at all that statement means, but it shows a putting off, a casting away, a counting as loss that must take place for this sight to be given. He comes to Him and Jesus says what would you have Me do? Bartimaeus says that my eyes may be opened. That is the mercy of God for which our souls need to cry out that I MAY SEE! Not that I may preach, not that I may know more than my brother does so I can thrash him in a debate. That I may see. Just as Bartimaeus, we are dependent upon the eyes of our souls being unveiled and enlightened that we may know the reality unto which we have come as those born of His Spirit. If you read the letters of the Apostle Paul, you will see that this man understood the necessity of spiritual sight being given to the eyes of the soul of every believer. Christ, The Son of David, the Messiah, the Anointed One He and He alone can give unto us and in actuality becomes in us this sight and seeing that is necessary in the New Creation. The reality is that you cannot know this New Creation by the same means and faculties through which you have known the Old Creation.
Most of us do not come to Him knowing that we are in need of that mercy. We do not understand our dependence on the Light of His Countenance to fill our souls, because we are ignorant of the depth of our blindness. Martin Luther said, "Man sees his blindness as the highest of wisdom." We must finally confess our blindness of heart that we may be made to see.
Again, such a sight, such an unveiling is necessitated because we have been brought into and made partakers of God's eternally established fact in Christ Jesus. So, with regard to Kenneth Wuest's translation, I looked up the word "fact" and here is the definition. This is from Webster's Dictionary.
A fact is
1. A thing done.
2. The quality of something being actual, an actuality.
3. Something that has actual existence.
4. Something having objective reality.
The phrase objective reality is very important as we consider these things. For something to have objective reality means that it is not dependent upon our understanding of it, our acceptance of it, or our ignorance of it. A fact stands regardless of our opinion toward it. Our refusal to accept it or agree with it does not diminish its substantiality and validity. What God has done, what God has made an actuality, what God has made to exist and abide in Christ is not dependent upon any of those things. It is a fact. Such a reality stands untainted by our personal feelings or emotions. It is no less a reality because we have knowingly or unknowingly substituted our vain thoughts and doctrines for it. Such a refusal or substitution on our part never affects God's established work in Christ, but it does indeed keep our souls in a constant state of ignorance with regard to that work and thus it robs us of the present work of the Spirit that God desires to do within. That work of the Spirit is to reveal in us and form in us the Son who is the indwelling embodiment of that eternal fact. Our Salvation is an objective reality in that God has comprehended and summed up everything of His eternal plan and intention in the Person of Christ. He is satisfied with His finished work. In God's mind, all things are full and complete. That is so whether we ever accept it or not. In a simple phrase: God's reality demands the soul's realization.
It is with exact reference to this that Paul writes in Colossians 2:2-3, "That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
This word "acknowledgement" is tremendously important. These people are born again, they are in Christ, and they have been delivered out of the realm of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son. What a miraculous work of God! What a tremendous reality! However, we cannot be content in our hearts with knowing by the scripture and believing that such a reality exists in Christ. We cannot be content with our acceptance of the fact that we are in Him and He is in us as our very Life and Salvation. I think we have preached the reality and many have believed the reality, but in view of such a tremendous fact, we cannot be content with simple doctrinal agreement and we must not treat it as another theological acquirement that we have added to our own doctrinal portfolio. Such truth must cause us to turn our hearts from all else to see Christ, so that the Spirit of Truth can bring us from a mere mental agreement with regard to scriptural truths, to a soul transforming acknowledgment and encounter with the Person of The Truth. He is the Eternal Fact of God.
Paul understood that such a reality demands this inner realization or acknowledgment. I never remember Paul writing, "Just read my letters until you understand what I mean." He understood that they could read his letters until the ink faded from the parchment, and still be unable to comprehend the meaning. He knew that the same soul transforming revelation that enabled him to write the letters was essential if they were to understand the letters to any degree and more importantly the indwelling Salvation that his letters declared. Throughout his letters, we are continually confronted with the necessity of Christ being revealed in us.
Let me share with you a beautiful definition of this word acknowledgement, which I found in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. This word "emphasizes understanding rather than sensory perception and it is a perception of things as they are, not an opinion about them The truly real is timeless reality that is constant in every change The one who knows in this way, encounters the eternal and participates in it."
This is the work of the Spirit of which I am speaking. It is the work that brings our souls into the acknowledgement of our Great Salvation.
The understanding and knowing of Christ is not from without, but from within. I do not mean that we do not preach and teach the word, but I cannot nor can any other man teach you the reality that God has established in His Son, only the Spirit can teach you this established fact of God and He does it by revealing that Son in us. This is the meaning of 1 John 2:27, "Ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." It does not say that there is no need for teachers of the Gospel. The meaning is that "with regard to the learning and knowing of the Truth" man is not your source of instruction. We, as ministers, speak in accordance to the Truth we are beholding Christ to be in us. However, for the hearer or reader actually to experience the reality of that Gospel, they must turn and submit their own souls that the Spirit may do in them what is not in the capacity of man to do. We see this work that the Spirit does described in 2 Corinthians 4:6, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." Notice that this light shines IN our hearts; not "into" our hearts as from an external source, but IN our hearts. That we might know the things that are freely given of God.
1 Corinthians 2:14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." He cannot know naturally. It is impossible. Do you see how dependent our hearts are for the Spirit to reveal Him? That is the point I really want to make. We cannot know them for they are spiritually discerned. If you go to Isaiah 64:4, which is the verse from which Paul is quoting, it says, "For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." Notice it says "beside thee": only HE knows, because it is something that He has established. No man will and no man can know this reality except the eyes of the soul, which were created for no other purpose but the beholding of the Lord, are enlightened in the appearing of the Light of Life Himself. John Gill said the following in his commentary. "The gospel, nor any part of it is a human device or a human discovery. It is not after man nor according to the carnal reason of man. It is above the most exalted and refined reason of man. It has in it what eye has not seen, what ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive of it. It is true so that the things of God which the Spirit of God searches and reveals, and which men, when left to the light of his nature and the force of his reason, must have been forever ignorant of, and could never have discovered. This could never have been found out by flesh and blood. No man knows The Son but The Father, and he to whom He reveals Him. He bears witness of Him, and declares Him to be His Son in whom He is well pleased. And happy are those who are blessed with the outward revelation of Jesus Christ in the gospel, but more especially those to whom The Father reveals Christ in them, the hope of glory." Blessed are those of us who are hearing the gospel preached an external revelation. That is wonderful in itself. How uncommon it is to hear the Truth preached, but how exceedingly more wonderful it is for those IN WHOM God is revealing His Son. That is beautiful! Our souls are dependent upon that Work of the Spirit and we must turn and come to Him, knowing that dependence. We must come in submission of our hearts, and say, Lord, we are ignorant of this. We are not asking you to give us a "better" understanding because there is no improvement to what we imagine ourselves to know. Just replace it with yourself! That is what He desires to do and what our souls are dependent upon Him to do if we are to truly know Salvation as it is.
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
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
Fulfillment As From The Beginning by Rabon Byrd
Fulfillment As From The Beginning By Rabon Byrd
May 21, 2011! Do you remember that infamous date? It was plastered on billboards across America and I am sure in other parts of the world. I was an eyewitness to one of these billboards and along with the date there were the words The End of the World but it did not end there. It also stated The Bible Guarantees It. Now that date came and went, but the damaging affect that such a fallacy left upon the hearts of many people will remain for some time.
What is my point for bringing that up. Well, in my opinion, it speaks to something very wrong with the Christian religion's perspective. My heart breaks to see souls that are hungry and desirous of Christ being deviated from the present reality that Christ is in and is made unto the soul of every born again believer. Recently, my heart has been captivated with the thought of the faithfulness of our God. Our God is faithful. That is a statement with which any believer will agree. However, on what side of that statement do you fall. Is your concept of God's faithfulness summed up in the statement, "God will do and perform what He promised"? Or is your understanding and rejoicing in God's faithfulness found in this statement: "God hath fulfilled all of His promises, He has done all that He said He would do". Paul states it this way in Acts 13:32-34, 'And we to you do proclaim good news that the promise made unto the fathers, God hath in full completed this to us their children, having raised up Jesus, as also in the second Psalm it hath been written, My Son thou art I to-day have begotten thee. 'And that He did raise him up out of the dead, no more to return to corruption, he hath said thus I will give to you the
faithful kindnesses of David." (YLT) I wish when people make the statement that we need to get back to the book of Acts, they would realize that this is what is necessary. That is we need again to declare and hear the preaching of the Gospel which is the declaration of God's faithfulness in that He "HATH IN FULL COMPLETED" all that He had promised. What a Gospel!
The Gospel directs the soul properly and gives the soul the proper expectation, which is based upon fulfillment and not upon unfulfilled promises. No wonder Paul can say in Romans 16:25-27, "And to Him who is able to establish you, according to my good news, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the secret, in the times of the ages having been kept silent, and now having been made manifest, also, through prophetic writings, according to a command of the age-during God, having been made known to all the nations for obedience of faith to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him [be] glory to the ages. Amen." (YLT) It is according to the Gospel that the Spirit of Truth can establish the soul within the confines of the eternal reality in which it presently resides. However, the Spirit of THE TRUTH will work upon no other ground than the TRUTH. It is the Gospel (Christ in you being the fulfillment of all things) that brings the soul upon the proper ground for seeking God and when that soul is on that ground and in that posture, the Spirit can then guide us and carry us on into the full measure of the Truth that Christ is in us.
Notice what Paul says in the latter part of these verses in Romans. The Good News (in the Greek it is worded) even the preaching of Jesus Christ. But that preaching is according to something. According to the revelation of the secret or mystery which was kept hidden in that age of shadows, but has now been made manifest. Now, this should cause your mind to immediately go to Colossians 1. Colossians 1:25-27, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 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." This is very important to what I want to say in this article. The fullness or fulfillment that is presented by the preaching of the Gospel is stated here. He says that the Gospel he preached was according to the revelation of the mystery that was once hidden. So, the Gospel upon which the Spirit is able to work in us is that what was at one time hidden is now made manifest and is Christ in you. The Gospel is Christ in you as the fulfillment of all the promises and prophecies of God; the substance unto which that age leaned forward in expectancy. The preaching of the Gospel is the resulting declaration that proceeds from a soul that is beholding that indwelling Christ as the fulfillment of all things.
Why is this important? Because as stated earlier, the world and the Church world seems to be looking for fulfillment and consummation. However, they are looking for it in a realm in which it is never found, for fulfillment is only defined as Christ in you. That is fulfillment. Now, the question is are we knowing fulfillment and living in the light of that fulfillment presently? That is the question that must be asked. It is not has God fulfilled, but have we turned our hearts to see the fulfillment that God has wrought in and as His indwelling Son.
I want us to consider fulfillment as I believe it to be for us in Christ. I call it fulfillment as from the beginning. That sounds weird perhaps, but hopefully it will become clearer. Let me preface the proceeding words by stating that spiritual reality and fulfillment is never seen in or made known by "seen, external, or observable" things. Nothing apparent to the natural faculties constitutes fulfillment, but sadly that is where most attempt to define it or expect to behold it.
In an article it is difficult to expand the thought to much but I would at least like to introduce this so that you can take it and search these things out yourself.
In Hebrews 10:1, we read that the Law was a shadow of the good things to come and NOT the very image. That is crucial. A shadow refers to a mere copy in contrast to the reality or true and essential being. It is a copy but it is not the Very Substance which it reflects. The term very image according to Adam Clarke is the model or object according to which anything is formed. Therefore, it is said that these things never pleased or satisfied God because they were not the very image of those things. It is this Very Image that God desires to reveal in our souls and it is only as a result of that work of the Spirit of God that our souls will know or experience fulfillment and spiritual reality.
Now, with this in mind we go to Hebrews 11:3. I believe Kenneth Wuest translates the verse exceptionally well. "By means of faith we perceive that the material universe and the God-appointed ages of time were equipped and fitted by God's word for the purpose for which they were intended, and it follows therefore that that which we see did not come into being out of that which is visible." The writer is saying that the visible, seen, observable elements neither of the natural creation, nor of the Old Covenant age had natural origin. Their origin and source was not another seen thing. Therefore, the fulfillment of those seen things can never be more "seen things". The fulfillment of those things must be the coming of the unseen source and origin of their visible testimony. When was the purpose of those seen things fulfilled? It was when the very image (the unseen substance in view of Whom they were all formed) appeared. When are the seen things realized to be of no significance to us today? It is when that very image and unseen substance is revealed in our souls. We come to know and live in the acknowledgement of fulfillment when God reveals in us the reality that eye cannot see and ear cannot hear; the Eternal Source and Intention that was God's exclusive perspective before anything that was made was made and in view of Whom all that was made was made. All of the seen things of that Old Covenant Age were in anticipation of their Author and Fountainhead. Every shadow had intrinsically designed into its makeup an expectation of the appearing of The Fulfillment. They were until the coming of their Spiritual Reality and Source. Unfortunately, most seem to think that fulfillment has to do with and is measured by more external things we can or will physically see.
Now, we go to John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." This verse gives us the identity of the unseen source of the visible things spoken of in Hebrews 11:3. It is this One Who was in the beginning. The One Who stood (and stands) as the Eternal Perspective of the Father. It is in this One that God has always defined and measured fullness, fulfillment and reality. John 1:14-16, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me." Here we see John, as the final embodiment of the testimony of the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 11:13). He says this One Who comes "after" me is preferred "before" me for He was "before" me. This gives us the same picture as Hebrews 11:3. Now this is the thing that floored me and caused me to view fulfillment and fullness as I never have before. John 1:16, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."
Think of this in relation to the Word Who was in the beginning. The Word in view of Whom and by Whom all things were made. Oh, the faithfulness of our God that has made it possible for these words to be penned with regard to that Eternal Source and Origin Of His Fullness Have All We Received. It is the One Who was in the Beginning being resident and being revealed in our souls. Fulfillment and Fullness is a reality from the moment of His coming to dwell within. However, we begin to comprehend Him as fulfillment when our souls are unveiled to His presence. That is knowing and experiencing fulfillment as from the beginning. That is our Salvation: of His fullness have all we received. Salvation is fulfillment. It is not waiting for it, but being indwelt by the Person of fulfillment Himself. That is why we must not look for fulfillment anywhere other than the Christ of God Who abides within.
That is why it is by faith that we comprehend that the seen things have unseen and eternal origin; because if faith is not the dominating vision and view of our hearts, we will look at tangible and outwardly observable things and call them real. God desires to unveil our souls to the only thing that is real.
We have come to the mountain that cannot be touched. This speaks to the fact that what we have come to in Christ is the unseen fullness that was always expected. However, it is not touchable or temporal, but eternal in the Person of the indwelling Son of God. It must be understood also that this matter of fulfillment does not only pertain to the Old Covenant elements, so let me ask this question in summation. Where do you look for the fulfillment and full measure of Righteousness, Love, or Holiness? Do you look at yourself or others to exhibit the reality of those things or is your soul beholding the One Who was the essential being of those things even before there was a man to attempt to be or demonstrate those things? At one time Peace for me was defined by the absence of contrary situations, but I have seen it as from the beginning. For now peace has been and is being defined in my heart as the One Who was peace even before there was an adverse situation in which to find myself.
May our souls begin and continue to know our Salvation in its eternal context and experience fulfillment as from the beginning in the revealed presence of the Son of God.
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
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
May 21, 2011! Do you remember that infamous date? It was plastered on billboards across America and I am sure in other parts of the world. I was an eyewitness to one of these billboards and along with the date there were the words The End of the World but it did not end there. It also stated The Bible Guarantees It. Now that date came and went, but the damaging affect that such a fallacy left upon the hearts of many people will remain for some time.
What is my point for bringing that up. Well, in my opinion, it speaks to something very wrong with the Christian religion's perspective. My heart breaks to see souls that are hungry and desirous of Christ being deviated from the present reality that Christ is in and is made unto the soul of every born again believer. Recently, my heart has been captivated with the thought of the faithfulness of our God. Our God is faithful. That is a statement with which any believer will agree. However, on what side of that statement do you fall. Is your concept of God's faithfulness summed up in the statement, "God will do and perform what He promised"? Or is your understanding and rejoicing in God's faithfulness found in this statement: "God hath fulfilled all of His promises, He has done all that He said He would do". Paul states it this way in Acts 13:32-34, 'And we to you do proclaim good news that the promise made unto the fathers, God hath in full completed this to us their children, having raised up Jesus, as also in the second Psalm it hath been written, My Son thou art I to-day have begotten thee. 'And that He did raise him up out of the dead, no more to return to corruption, he hath said thus I will give to you the
faithful kindnesses of David." (YLT) I wish when people make the statement that we need to get back to the book of Acts, they would realize that this is what is necessary. That is we need again to declare and hear the preaching of the Gospel which is the declaration of God's faithfulness in that He "HATH IN FULL COMPLETED" all that He had promised. What a Gospel!
The Gospel directs the soul properly and gives the soul the proper expectation, which is based upon fulfillment and not upon unfulfilled promises. No wonder Paul can say in Romans 16:25-27, "And to Him who is able to establish you, according to my good news, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the secret, in the times of the ages having been kept silent, and now having been made manifest, also, through prophetic writings, according to a command of the age-during God, having been made known to all the nations for obedience of faith to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to him [be] glory to the ages. Amen." (YLT) It is according to the Gospel that the Spirit of Truth can establish the soul within the confines of the eternal reality in which it presently resides. However, the Spirit of THE TRUTH will work upon no other ground than the TRUTH. It is the Gospel (Christ in you being the fulfillment of all things) that brings the soul upon the proper ground for seeking God and when that soul is on that ground and in that posture, the Spirit can then guide us and carry us on into the full measure of the Truth that Christ is in us.
Notice what Paul says in the latter part of these verses in Romans. The Good News (in the Greek it is worded) even the preaching of Jesus Christ. But that preaching is according to something. According to the revelation of the secret or mystery which was kept hidden in that age of shadows, but has now been made manifest. Now, this should cause your mind to immediately go to Colossians 1. Colossians 1:25-27, "Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: 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." This is very important to what I want to say in this article. The fullness or fulfillment that is presented by the preaching of the Gospel is stated here. He says that the Gospel he preached was according to the revelation of the mystery that was once hidden. So, the Gospel upon which the Spirit is able to work in us is that what was at one time hidden is now made manifest and is Christ in you. The Gospel is Christ in you as the fulfillment of all the promises and prophecies of God; the substance unto which that age leaned forward in expectancy. The preaching of the Gospel is the resulting declaration that proceeds from a soul that is beholding that indwelling Christ as the fulfillment of all things.
Why is this important? Because as stated earlier, the world and the Church world seems to be looking for fulfillment and consummation. However, they are looking for it in a realm in which it is never found, for fulfillment is only defined as Christ in you. That is fulfillment. Now, the question is are we knowing fulfillment and living in the light of that fulfillment presently? That is the question that must be asked. It is not has God fulfilled, but have we turned our hearts to see the fulfillment that God has wrought in and as His indwelling Son.
I want us to consider fulfillment as I believe it to be for us in Christ. I call it fulfillment as from the beginning. That sounds weird perhaps, but hopefully it will become clearer. Let me preface the proceeding words by stating that spiritual reality and fulfillment is never seen in or made known by "seen, external, or observable" things. Nothing apparent to the natural faculties constitutes fulfillment, but sadly that is where most attempt to define it or expect to behold it.
In an article it is difficult to expand the thought to much but I would at least like to introduce this so that you can take it and search these things out yourself.
In Hebrews 10:1, we read that the Law was a shadow of the good things to come and NOT the very image. That is crucial. A shadow refers to a mere copy in contrast to the reality or true and essential being. It is a copy but it is not the Very Substance which it reflects. The term very image according to Adam Clarke is the model or object according to which anything is formed. Therefore, it is said that these things never pleased or satisfied God because they were not the very image of those things. It is this Very Image that God desires to reveal in our souls and it is only as a result of that work of the Spirit of God that our souls will know or experience fulfillment and spiritual reality.
Now, with this in mind we go to Hebrews 11:3. I believe Kenneth Wuest translates the verse exceptionally well. "By means of faith we perceive that the material universe and the God-appointed ages of time were equipped and fitted by God's word for the purpose for which they were intended, and it follows therefore that that which we see did not come into being out of that which is visible." The writer is saying that the visible, seen, observable elements neither of the natural creation, nor of the Old Covenant age had natural origin. Their origin and source was not another seen thing. Therefore, the fulfillment of those seen things can never be more "seen things". The fulfillment of those things must be the coming of the unseen source and origin of their visible testimony. When was the purpose of those seen things fulfilled? It was when the very image (the unseen substance in view of Whom they were all formed) appeared. When are the seen things realized to be of no significance to us today? It is when that very image and unseen substance is revealed in our souls. We come to know and live in the acknowledgement of fulfillment when God reveals in us the reality that eye cannot see and ear cannot hear; the Eternal Source and Intention that was God's exclusive perspective before anything that was made was made and in view of Whom all that was made was made. All of the seen things of that Old Covenant Age were in anticipation of their Author and Fountainhead. Every shadow had intrinsically designed into its makeup an expectation of the appearing of The Fulfillment. They were until the coming of their Spiritual Reality and Source. Unfortunately, most seem to think that fulfillment has to do with and is measured by more external things we can or will physically see.
Now, we go to John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." This verse gives us the identity of the unseen source of the visible things spoken of in Hebrews 11:3. It is this One Who was in the beginning. The One Who stood (and stands) as the Eternal Perspective of the Father. It is in this One that God has always defined and measured fullness, fulfillment and reality. John 1:14-16, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me." Here we see John, as the final embodiment of the testimony of the Law and the Prophets (Matt. 11:13). He says this One Who comes "after" me is preferred "before" me for He was "before" me. This gives us the same picture as Hebrews 11:3. Now this is the thing that floored me and caused me to view fulfillment and fullness as I never have before. John 1:16, "And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace."
Think of this in relation to the Word Who was in the beginning. The Word in view of Whom and by Whom all things were made. Oh, the faithfulness of our God that has made it possible for these words to be penned with regard to that Eternal Source and Origin Of His Fullness Have All We Received. It is the One Who was in the Beginning being resident and being revealed in our souls. Fulfillment and Fullness is a reality from the moment of His coming to dwell within. However, we begin to comprehend Him as fulfillment when our souls are unveiled to His presence. That is knowing and experiencing fulfillment as from the beginning. That is our Salvation: of His fullness have all we received. Salvation is fulfillment. It is not waiting for it, but being indwelt by the Person of fulfillment Himself. That is why we must not look for fulfillment anywhere other than the Christ of God Who abides within.
That is why it is by faith that we comprehend that the seen things have unseen and eternal origin; because if faith is not the dominating vision and view of our hearts, we will look at tangible and outwardly observable things and call them real. God desires to unveil our souls to the only thing that is real.
We have come to the mountain that cannot be touched. This speaks to the fact that what we have come to in Christ is the unseen fullness that was always expected. However, it is not touchable or temporal, but eternal in the Person of the indwelling Son of God. It must be understood also that this matter of fulfillment does not only pertain to the Old Covenant elements, so let me ask this question in summation. Where do you look for the fulfillment and full measure of Righteousness, Love, or Holiness? Do you look at yourself or others to exhibit the reality of those things or is your soul beholding the One Who was the essential being of those things even before there was a man to attempt to be or demonstrate those things? At one time Peace for me was defined by the absence of contrary situations, but I have seen it as from the beginning. For now peace has been and is being defined in my heart as the One Who was peace even before there was an adverse situation in which to find myself.
May our souls begin and continue to know our Salvation in its eternal context and experience fulfillment as from the beginning in the revealed presence of the Son of God.
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
Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com
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