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Thursday, May 4, 2023

The mystery of the wisdom of God (part 4)

1.      Jesus Christ took on flesh in order to give man life

Jesus said quite emphatically; "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (John 10:10).

Before the advent of Jesus Christ man only had a temporary existence, in order for him to have life and live forever, he had to partake of the tree of life, but was banned access to the tree of life after choosing to partake of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so God drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

But now, due to Jesus Christ coming in the flesh we have been admonished saying; "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others" (Ephesians 2: 1-3).

Since Adam and Eve partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man has been walking after the imagination of their evil heart, deciding for themselves what is right and what is wrong. The spirit in man was disconnected from the Spirit of God and being carnally minded signifies that man  was an enemy of God because, the natural carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

So in order for God to maintain a relationship with man He chose certain men such as the patriarchs and the prophets and gave them His Spirit to communicate with Him and to stand between Him and man. He later chose the children of Israel and gave them His laws and statutes which were a copy and shadow of the reality until the time of reformation.

Now the way Jesus Christ gave man life it is through His resurrection from the dead. Since when Jesus Christ died all humanity died with Him, when He resurrected from the dead all humanity resurrected with Him also and so we have been duly admonished saying; “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

But unfortunately, this is only the period of gestation and one needs not only to be conceived but also to be born again; The new birth however, begins only when the individual has Jesus Christ living in them through the Holy Spirit and so we have been duly instructed saying; “He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:10-13).

And so, it is not simply the matter of, in Him we live, in Him we move and in Him we have our existence but principally it is to have Jesus Christ living in us, and so the cycle of life in the new creation is, Jesus Christ (the Word) is in the Father, humanity is in Jesus Christ, but one requires Jesus Christ to be in them in order to have access to the Father.

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To be continued

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph

 

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