How did God and man live together between Genesis 1:27 and 3:28 before man hid himself from God? What was the relationship between man and God like before the fall? Man was completely dependent on God for everything and obeyed God in everything. After man ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he became twice bitten for he now perceived and sifted all things through the conscience realm of what he believed to be right and wrong or good and evil. Self now replaced God, so to speak, in his life. Being ruled by self through our conscience, however, presents an unavoidable problem for everybody’s conscience is different. We are taught right and wrong by our family, friends, teachers, culture, etc. What is right to one is wrong to another and since “self” now rules, conflict becomes inevitable. It is absolutely futile to try and live this way. The only answer is to return to being directly ruled by God.
To return to God, then, and not be self-ruled or ruled over by man, we must be:
1. cleansed of an evil conscience by allowing the mind of Christ to be formed in us and
2. stop eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil for it only continues to feed the carnal mind and keep us enslaved to that mindset.
Man in his primitive state knew only God and not self. That is why Jesus said, “And this is life eternal that I may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom that hast sent” (John 17:3). This is the wonder of eternal life. Eternal life is living in this higher realm where we eat only from the tree of life. Until man reaches this higher realm where he is completely caught up in God and not self, he will continue to be self-ruled and man-ruled. It really all boils down to obedience.
There are two kinds of obedience. One is based on the conscience of right and wrong. We do it because we are told to do it “or else”. The other obedience is a spontaneous response by one’s nature. The second type of obedience enables man to live in harmony with God because he is able to sense Him by his (man’s) spirit. This is what is required of us to enter into and abide in the kingdom living under God’s direct rule.
God is presently in the process of delivering us from being both self-ruled and man-ruled to bring us back to the simplicity of being directly God-ruled so that we can once again abide in the presence of God. The mind of Christ overrides good and evil so we are to live above right and wrong and be ruled by the living Spirit of God only because the mind of Christ can only accept what comes from God Himself. For example, even though it is right to tell the truth, it may not be a good thing to do. For instance, if a person has received a report that he is going to die due to a terminal illness, are we going to speak the truth of his dying or are we going to speak life to Him? Sometimes what is required is not the truth but words of life. Words of life come from the higher realm. God does not come from a place of right and wrong; Jesus took care of that. He comes from the place of life. This is a new and living way that we are to abide in. We have a High Priest who has made this way open to us. By applying the blood removing all doubt and self-condemnation, we are able to experientially enter beyond the veil into the very life of God Himself.
This is how we identify the sons of God “for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” (Romans 8:14). Living and walking in the Spirit means that we have reached a place in God where our heart’s conscience has been purified of self whereby we have the boldness to enter the Holiest of All by the blood, the life and the love of Christ for we are in Christ Himself who has taken us beyond the veil where we are able to see the Father through pure hearts having become centered in the life of God Himself. Here we are able to sense the spontaneous knowing of the will of God due to the intimacy we share with Him. There is no more the need for the law due to this intimate knowing of Him. It is written in our hearts and has become supernaturally natural for us to obey Him.
This is the higher life of living above the “do’s and don’t’s” and the “rights and wrongs” no longer taking offense or giving offense. It is where we satisfy all the laws of God by loving Him with all our mind, heart and soul and loving all others as we have come to love the new self hidden in Christ. When we really love someone, we “sense” their being; we just know what they’re thinking or feeling. It is this transparency that the Father so desires for it is what makes a relationship real and genuine for there is no more hiding or covering up due to shame. Being completely open in this way, we can see the glory of God.
There is a value to obedience that we need to be experientially taught in order to appreciate it. Righteous obedience means that we live to do God’s will; living above that which is right and wrong where we sense, feel, taste, think and know God to the point that our spirit knows His Spirit. This is the meaning of eternal life that we may experientially know Him the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.
……to be continued
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
A LIFE OF OBEDIENCE (Part 1) written and compiled by various brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ
"The areas in which we fail are due to the lack of the living word in our life. The power of the word is not in persuasion; the power of the word is life." William Hinn
Adam and Eve set the pattern being the first created in a state of nakedness coupled with innocence. God so ordered it so that in and by the fall, man would get what he lacked, a conscience. It is by the means of a conscience that man discerns good and evil. Gaining the knowledge of their nakedness and wretchedness caused them to cover themselves (fig leaves) and hide. Here we see the origin of consciousness or self-awareness that was added as a result of the fall. Conscience is the knowing of one’s self. Immediately upon their eyes being opened, they became self-aware causing them to be ashamed and to cover themselves from being exposed. One’s conscience indicates the nature of what one understands and perceives about one’s self. To perceive right from wrong is one of the faculties of the conscience. To condemn or justify is another one of its functions.
It is important to understand that before the fall, Adam and Eve were not holy or unholy; they were innocent, pure and undefiled. They were created in His image and likeness but were like a child, unproven and untried. If they had been holy, they wouldn’t have been able to sin. Being in the likeness of God means possessing a God-consciousness. The likeness, attributes, and characteristics of God came after the fall for they are not given but produced.
Man was created without a self-consciousness. Like a newborn with its mother, it is only aware of itself in relationship to its mother. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were God-conscious and only aware of themselves in relationship to God. They had no concept of right and wrong, good or evil; no sense of self-consciousness. Being God centered and not self centered, they saw themselves only in relationship to God. After the fall their "center" changed. No longer conscious of God’s presence, they became relationally independent of God and became self-centered.
What caused their "center" to be moved? Disobedience. When God introduced the law, "thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil less you die", He introduced the harsh reality of obedience vs. disobedience for it came down to
OBEY AND LIVE DISOBEY AND DIE
For the first time, obedience was on trial and became the link that kept man connected to God.
God ordained that in and by the fall, man would receive what he never had before -- a conscience. Having a conscience is a product of the fall. Their conscience having been awakened caused them to immediately feel condemned and so they covered up their being exposed and hid. They gained knowledge but lost their peace. Snared in fear, doubt and insecurity by their newly discovered conscience, they felt compelled to hide themselves from God. This was all planned ahead in the foreknowledge of God so that He could transform man from innocence to holiness.
Some students of the Bible have divided the Bible into seven dispensations:
1. The dispensation of innocence (before the fall)
2. " " " conscience (after the fall and before the flood)
3. " " " human government (after the flood)
4. " " " promise (Abraham)
5. " " " the law (Moses)
6. " " " grace (Jesus Christ)
7. " " " the kingdom (the Father- 1 Cor. 15:24)
We will be addressing only the first three having to do with government. The dispensation of innocence is when God directly ruled in the lives of men. In the dispensation of conscience, the principle of self-rule reigned. In the dispensation of human government, the principle of man ruling over man reigned.
Before the fall, there was no sin barrier between God and man. God directly ruled man. There was no intermediary. When that failed, man was immediately demoted to self-rule through the rule of his conscience. From the time of Adam’s eviction from the garden (kingdom) to the time of Noah’s departure from the ark, man was ruled by his conscience. Under this self-rule, man failed again and God judged this dispensation by the flood (Romans 2:14). The conscience was purposed by God to keep man from falling further through self-government but when the conscience became so seared, it failed to function as God knew it would so God ordained another dispensation where man would rule over man by force (Genesis 9:6). After the flood, God told Noah "who sheds man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed". Since man was no longer being directly governed by God or able to govern self, he was demoted even further by God authorizing man to rule over man. Not long after, there was the beginning of cities and nations where man’s laws ruled over society.
Even today, it is sad but true that Christians just like those in the rest of the world need to be ruled over by their own conscience and by man. Even though both governing agents fail as they must, it reveals the need to return to God’s direct rule in one’s life. In the lower states of government, man is reduced to repeating over and over again his mistakes creating havoc and
chaos due to his own confusion thereby creating a state of lawlessness which exists not only in the world but in the church. Hence, the need for God’s ordained five-fold ministry to edify and strengthen the church because man is still under the rule of man until he comes back under the direct rule of God in his own personal life. Until then, God rules indirectly through His chosen servants until we all come into the unity of the faith where it is no longer necessary for man to be subject to man for he is directly subject to God (Ephesians 4:11-16)
What we need to understand is that our conscience will never lead us to God. We have to look no further than Adam and Eve for it was their conscience that caused them to run away and hide from God due to self-condemnation having lost their God-centeredness and having become self-centered. Because of this condition, man cannot come to God without God.
If the likeness of God is to come forth in us, we must come to understand that we are out of control. Our conscience or self-rule has failed us miserably and man ruling over man is no different. We must return to God directly ruling in our lives if we want to live in His kingdom.
Before the fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed the abundance of all of God’s creation while being completely unaware of the grace, love and goodness of God. They just received it because it was all they had ever known so they didn’t have the capacity to appreciate God and His kingdom. They just took both God and His kingdom for granted. There is a lot of truth in the saying that we don’t know what we really have until we lose it.
Now it is easier to understand their nightmare after the fall. For the first time, Adam and Eve are experiencing fear, doubt and insecurity; in other words, separation anxiety from the only one they had ever known. How are they to survive without the presence of God? Think about it; it was not until they heard God’s voice that they came out of hiding. The voice of God confronted them and brought them out of hiding. When the reality of what we are is met by the reality of who God is, there is salvation.
God saves us to draw us into His kingdom but for that to happen, we must live above our conscience and out of a consciousness of God directly ruling in our lives. Kingdom life is living in His presence; being God-centered once again. This is where a true death to self occurs. If we are living our lives centered in God, we are not aware of self. Therefore, there is no "self"; there is only God. Once again, we are back under the direct rule of God but this time it is different. Now there is a deep appreciation for who He really is and all that He has done for us. We no longer take anything for granted for we now realize that it has been grace all along through faith that has enabled us to appropriate His finished work. To live, then, in the presence of God, we must go on a journey and pass through the realm of conscience and live in the kingdom above it. "And this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent" (John 17:3). KNOWING GOD IN THIS WAY IS ETERNAL LIFE.
The mind of Christ is absolutely above right and wrong; above the conscience realm. It is above good and above right. It condemns all that is wrong but does not necessarily approve of all that is right and all that is good. A "good" idea may or may not be a "God" idea. The mind of Christ only accepts that which is of God.
Most believers live in the realm of "If I do this, then God will do that" trying to keep God happy through performance. They function under the idea that as long as I am on good behavior and do good things, God is pleased with me. But as soon as a problem occurs that seems to be working against them, self-condemnation kicks in and we fall into the mindset that "I must have done something wrong" (currently or in my past). This is where the war takes place -- in the conscience.
The hard truth is this. We have been set up by God to learn by experience the value of His reigning in our lives; to come to that place where we actually desire the mind of Christ to rule over and above our fallible conscience and for our King to set up His kingdom in and through our hearts. This "knowing" in our minds and hearts causes us to experience eternal life here and now. The loss of this knowledge has been producing death in us up until now. Eternal life is not a "place"; it is a Person. The conscience has been a barrier to the Tree of Life. The will of God can only be found in the Tree of Life for the Tree of Life is the mind of Christ and the heart of the Father. Living in the "above" realm, then, sets us free from our circumstances controlling us. Instead, we walk above our circumstances.
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). Once we have been delivered from self-rule (our fallible conscience), we discover the boldness to enter beyond the veil. "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh…." (Hebrews 10:19).
There is a new and living way that is above conscience that has been made open to us by our great High Priest; our minds having been renewed unto the mind of Christ, our hearts cleansed by the blood and our bodies washed with pure water. Therefore, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful…" (Hebrews 10:23).
to be continued…..
Adam and Eve set the pattern being the first created in a state of nakedness coupled with innocence. God so ordered it so that in and by the fall, man would get what he lacked, a conscience. It is by the means of a conscience that man discerns good and evil. Gaining the knowledge of their nakedness and wretchedness caused them to cover themselves (fig leaves) and hide. Here we see the origin of consciousness or self-awareness that was added as a result of the fall. Conscience is the knowing of one’s self. Immediately upon their eyes being opened, they became self-aware causing them to be ashamed and to cover themselves from being exposed. One’s conscience indicates the nature of what one understands and perceives about one’s self. To perceive right from wrong is one of the faculties of the conscience. To condemn or justify is another one of its functions.
It is important to understand that before the fall, Adam and Eve were not holy or unholy; they were innocent, pure and undefiled. They were created in His image and likeness but were like a child, unproven and untried. If they had been holy, they wouldn’t have been able to sin. Being in the likeness of God means possessing a God-consciousness. The likeness, attributes, and characteristics of God came after the fall for they are not given but produced.
Man was created without a self-consciousness. Like a newborn with its mother, it is only aware of itself in relationship to its mother. Before the fall, Adam and Eve were God-conscious and only aware of themselves in relationship to God. They had no concept of right and wrong, good or evil; no sense of self-consciousness. Being God centered and not self centered, they saw themselves only in relationship to God. After the fall their "center" changed. No longer conscious of God’s presence, they became relationally independent of God and became self-centered.
What caused their "center" to be moved? Disobedience. When God introduced the law, "thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil less you die", He introduced the harsh reality of obedience vs. disobedience for it came down to
OBEY AND LIVE DISOBEY AND DIE
For the first time, obedience was on trial and became the link that kept man connected to God.
God ordained that in and by the fall, man would receive what he never had before -- a conscience. Having a conscience is a product of the fall. Their conscience having been awakened caused them to immediately feel condemned and so they covered up their being exposed and hid. They gained knowledge but lost their peace. Snared in fear, doubt and insecurity by their newly discovered conscience, they felt compelled to hide themselves from God. This was all planned ahead in the foreknowledge of God so that He could transform man from innocence to holiness.
Some students of the Bible have divided the Bible into seven dispensations:
1. The dispensation of innocence (before the fall)
2. " " " conscience (after the fall and before the flood)
3. " " " human government (after the flood)
4. " " " promise (Abraham)
5. " " " the law (Moses)
6. " " " grace (Jesus Christ)
7. " " " the kingdom (the Father- 1 Cor. 15:24)
We will be addressing only the first three having to do with government. The dispensation of innocence is when God directly ruled in the lives of men. In the dispensation of conscience, the principle of self-rule reigned. In the dispensation of human government, the principle of man ruling over man reigned.
Before the fall, there was no sin barrier between God and man. God directly ruled man. There was no intermediary. When that failed, man was immediately demoted to self-rule through the rule of his conscience. From the time of Adam’s eviction from the garden (kingdom) to the time of Noah’s departure from the ark, man was ruled by his conscience. Under this self-rule, man failed again and God judged this dispensation by the flood (Romans 2:14). The conscience was purposed by God to keep man from falling further through self-government but when the conscience became so seared, it failed to function as God knew it would so God ordained another dispensation where man would rule over man by force (Genesis 9:6). After the flood, God told Noah "who sheds man’s blood by man shall his blood be shed". Since man was no longer being directly governed by God or able to govern self, he was demoted even further by God authorizing man to rule over man. Not long after, there was the beginning of cities and nations where man’s laws ruled over society.
Even today, it is sad but true that Christians just like those in the rest of the world need to be ruled over by their own conscience and by man. Even though both governing agents fail as they must, it reveals the need to return to God’s direct rule in one’s life. In the lower states of government, man is reduced to repeating over and over again his mistakes creating havoc and
chaos due to his own confusion thereby creating a state of lawlessness which exists not only in the world but in the church. Hence, the need for God’s ordained five-fold ministry to edify and strengthen the church because man is still under the rule of man until he comes back under the direct rule of God in his own personal life. Until then, God rules indirectly through His chosen servants until we all come into the unity of the faith where it is no longer necessary for man to be subject to man for he is directly subject to God (Ephesians 4:11-16)
What we need to understand is that our conscience will never lead us to God. We have to look no further than Adam and Eve for it was their conscience that caused them to run away and hide from God due to self-condemnation having lost their God-centeredness and having become self-centered. Because of this condition, man cannot come to God without God.
If the likeness of God is to come forth in us, we must come to understand that we are out of control. Our conscience or self-rule has failed us miserably and man ruling over man is no different. We must return to God directly ruling in our lives if we want to live in His kingdom.
Before the fall, Adam and Eve enjoyed the abundance of all of God’s creation while being completely unaware of the grace, love and goodness of God. They just received it because it was all they had ever known so they didn’t have the capacity to appreciate God and His kingdom. They just took both God and His kingdom for granted. There is a lot of truth in the saying that we don’t know what we really have until we lose it.
Now it is easier to understand their nightmare after the fall. For the first time, Adam and Eve are experiencing fear, doubt and insecurity; in other words, separation anxiety from the only one they had ever known. How are they to survive without the presence of God? Think about it; it was not until they heard God’s voice that they came out of hiding. The voice of God confronted them and brought them out of hiding. When the reality of what we are is met by the reality of who God is, there is salvation.
God saves us to draw us into His kingdom but for that to happen, we must live above our conscience and out of a consciousness of God directly ruling in our lives. Kingdom life is living in His presence; being God-centered once again. This is where a true death to self occurs. If we are living our lives centered in God, we are not aware of self. Therefore, there is no "self"; there is only God. Once again, we are back under the direct rule of God but this time it is different. Now there is a deep appreciation for who He really is and all that He has done for us. We no longer take anything for granted for we now realize that it has been grace all along through faith that has enabled us to appropriate His finished work. To live, then, in the presence of God, we must go on a journey and pass through the realm of conscience and live in the kingdom above it. "And this is life eternal that they might know Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou has sent" (John 17:3). KNOWING GOD IN THIS WAY IS ETERNAL LIFE.
The mind of Christ is absolutely above right and wrong; above the conscience realm. It is above good and above right. It condemns all that is wrong but does not necessarily approve of all that is right and all that is good. A "good" idea may or may not be a "God" idea. The mind of Christ only accepts that which is of God.
Most believers live in the realm of "If I do this, then God will do that" trying to keep God happy through performance. They function under the idea that as long as I am on good behavior and do good things, God is pleased with me. But as soon as a problem occurs that seems to be working against them, self-condemnation kicks in and we fall into the mindset that "I must have done something wrong" (currently or in my past). This is where the war takes place -- in the conscience.
The hard truth is this. We have been set up by God to learn by experience the value of His reigning in our lives; to come to that place where we actually desire the mind of Christ to rule over and above our fallible conscience and for our King to set up His kingdom in and through our hearts. This "knowing" in our minds and hearts causes us to experience eternal life here and now. The loss of this knowledge has been producing death in us up until now. Eternal life is not a "place"; it is a Person. The conscience has been a barrier to the Tree of Life. The will of God can only be found in the Tree of Life for the Tree of Life is the mind of Christ and the heart of the Father. Living in the "above" realm, then, sets us free from our circumstances controlling us. Instead, we walk above our circumstances.
"Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). Once we have been delivered from self-rule (our fallible conscience), we discover the boldness to enter beyond the veil. "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus by a new and living way which He consecrated for us through the veil that is His flesh…." (Hebrews 10:19).
There is a new and living way that is above conscience that has been made open to us by our great High Priest; our minds having been renewed unto the mind of Christ, our hearts cleansed by the blood and our bodies washed with pure water. Therefore, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for He who promised is faithful…" (Hebrews 10:23).
to be continued…..
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