The Gospel – Good News!
Everyone has some concept of right and wrong, and everyone has done something wrong even by his or her own definition. “To err is human,” says a common proverb. Everyone has betrayed a friend, broken a promise or hurt someone's feelings. Everyone has experienced the feeling of guilt.
People therefore want God to stay away from them. They do not want a day of judgment, because they know they cannot stand before God with a clear conscience. They know they should obey him, but they also know that they have not. They are ashamed and guilty.
How can their guilt be erased? How can the conscience be cleared? “To forgive is divine,” the proverb concludes. God himself will forgive.
Many people know the proverb, but somehow do not believe that God is divine enough to forgive their sins. They still feel guilty. They still fear the appearance of God and the day of judgment.
However, God has already appeared — in the person of Jesus Christ. He did not come to condemn, but to save. He brought a message of forgiveness, and he died on a cross to guarantee that we may be forgiven. The message of Jesus, the message of the cross, is good news for all who feel their guilt. Jesus, the divine human, has died for us. Forgiveness is given freely to all.
We need this message of good news! Christ's gospel brings peace of mind, happiness and personal victory.
The true gospel, the real good news, is the gospel Jesus preached. It's the gospel the apostles preached: Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2), Jesus Christ in Christians, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27), the resurrection from the dead, the message of hope and salvation for humanity — this is the gospel of the kingdom of God!
God has given his church the commission to proclaim this message, and zeal of his Spirit to accomplish the task.
In 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, Paul described the gospel Jesus gave his church. Notice carefully his words: “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
”For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.”
What Paul calls “of first importance” is the fact that Jesus is the Messiah or Christ, that he died for our sins, was buried and was raised, all according to the Scriptures. Further, he highlights the fact that there were plenty of witnesses to Christ's resurrection, lest any should doubt that Jesus was really raised from the dead.
”By this gospel you are saved,” Paul asserts. Our goal, like Paul's, should be to pass on that which we have received, that which is “of first importance.” What we must pass on is exactly what Paul and the other apostles received — that which is of first importance — “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”
All other biblical teaching hinges on these primary facts. Only the Son of God could die for our sins, and it is only because he died and was raised again from the dead that we can live in steadfast assurance of his return and of our inheritance of eternal life.
Therefore John could write: “We accept man's testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
”And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:9-12).
The gospel Jesus preached
Some people can get quite excited about Bible prophecy, it seems, but have a hard time getting excited about the central message of the Bible — salvation through Jesus Christ. God has given Christians the most precious gift possible and the responsibility to tell others how they, too, can receive that gift.
In describing to the centurion Cornelius the apostles' commission, Peter said: “He [Jesus] commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:42-43).
This is the supreme message, the good news, which the apostles came to see was the central message of all the prophets — that Jesus Christ is the One appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead, and that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name!
Most central truth
Luke wrote that Jesus reminded his disciples of the central truth of his message just before he ascended: “He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, `This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things'” (Luke 24:45-48).
When Jesus opened the apostles' minds so they could understand the Scriptures, what was it that he caused them to understand the Scriptures to contain? In other words, what is, according to Jesus, the central, most important truth to understand from the Old Testament Scriptures? That the Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations!
”Salvation is found in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved,” Peter preached (Acts 4:12).
But what about the gospel of the kingdom of God? Didn't Jesus preach the good news of the kingdom of God? Of course he did! Is the gospel of the kingdom of God different from the gospel Paul, Peter and John preached about salvation in Jesus Christ? Not at all!
Entrance into the kingdom of God is salvation. Being saved and entering the kingdom of God are the same thing! Receiving eternal life is the same thing as receiving salvation, because salvation is being saved from sin, which brings death.
In Jesus there is life — eternal life. Eternal life requires forgiveness of sin. Forgiveness of sin, or justification, comes only by faith in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is both Judge and Redeemer. And he is also King of that kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom of God is the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ. Jesus and his apostles preached the same message — Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the one and only way to receive salvation, deliverance, eternal life and entrance into the kingdom of God.
And when one's mind is opened to understand the Old Testament prophecies, as Jesus opened the apostles' minds (Luke 24:45), it becomes plain that the central message of the prophets, too, was Jesus Christ (Acts 10:43).
Let's go further. John wrote, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him” (John 3:36). That's plain language!
Jesus said: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). If there is anything we must understand from the Word of God, it is that a person cannot come to the Father, cannot know God, cannot inherit eternal life and cannot enter the kingdom of God, apart from Jesus Christ.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul wrote: “Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14).
Notice how the inheritance of the saints, the kingdom of light, the kingdom of the Son, redemption and forgiveness of sins all coalesce together as one seamless garment of the word of truth that is the gospel.
In verse 4, Paul speaks of the Colossians' “faith in Christ Jesus” and the ”love you have for all the saints.” He describes that faith and love as springing “from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you” (verses 5-6). Again, the gospel is centered in the magnificent hope of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, by whom we have received redemption.
In verses 21-23, Paul continues: “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation — if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which 1, Paul, have become a servant.”
In verses 25-29, Paul continues to underscore the gospel to which he was commissioned and his goal in proclaiming it. He wrote: “I have become its [the church's] servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness — the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
”To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.”
What the gospel is all about
Jesus Christ is what the gospel is all about. It is about his identity and activity as the Son of God (John 3:18), as judge of the living and the dead (2 Timothy 4:1), as the Christ (Acts 17:3), as Savior (2 Timothy 1:10), as High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), as advocate (I John 2:1), as King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14), as the firstborn among many brothers (Romans 8:29), as friend (John 15:14-15).
It is about him as Shepherd and Overseer of our souls (1 Peter 2:25), as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), as our Passover sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7), as the image of the invisible God and the firstborn over all creation (Colossians 1:15), as the head of the church and the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead (verse 18), as the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being (Hebrews 1:3), as the revealer of the Father (Matthew 11:27), as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), as the door (John 10:7).
The gospel is about Christ as the author and perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2), as the ruler of the creation of God (Revelation 3:14), the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22:13), as the Branch (Jeremiah 23:5), as the chief cornerstone (1 Peter 2:6), as the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24), as the desired of all nations (Haggai 2:7). It is about Christ the faithful and true witness (Revelation 3:14), the heir of all things (Hebrews 1:2), the light of the world (John 8:12), the living bread (John 6:51), the Root of Jesse (Isaiah 11:10), our salvation (Luke 2:30), the sun of righteousness (Malachi 4:2), the Word of life (1 John 1:1), declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4).
Paul wrote, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). Jesus Christ is the heart and core, the central theme, the foundation of the gospel.
One cannot preach anything else and be consistent with the Bible. Jesus told the leaders of the Jews: “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40).
Message of salvation
The message Christians are called to proclaim is about salvation, which is eternal life in the kingdom of God. To receive that eternal salvation, to enter the kingdom of God, one must come through the only true Door, the only true Way — Jesus Christ. He is the King of the kingdom.
John wrote, “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23). Paul wrote to Timothy, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time” (1 Timothy 2:5-6).
We are warned in Hebrews 2:3: “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.” The message of salvation was first announced by Jesus himself — it was Jesus' own message from the Father.
John wrote of God's own testimony about his Son: “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12).
John again showed the emphasis on the Son in John 5:22-23: “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
That is why the church is to preach about Jesus Christ! Isaiah prophesied, “So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: `See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed'” (Isaiah 28:16).
Walking in the new life to which we as Christians are called in Jesus Christ, trusting in him as our sure foundation and praying daily for his second coming, we can rejoice in the hope and assurance of our eternal inheritance.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Beatitudes - Teachings
Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 5:3).
Some interpret the above verse this way, "Blessed in spirit are the poor." They teach that poverty causes you to be blessed. This is why the Roman Church has a poverty vow for their priests. Some believe that if you want to be happy and blessed you must be poor.
On the other hand, some teach that if you walk in the reality of the Kingdom, you will always be prosperous, thinking that great gain is a sign of godliness. A poor Christian can be full of the riches of Christ and a rich Christian can be bankrupt of the riches of Christ. The things of the Spirit are always a matter of the heart.
To Be Poor in Spirit Is To Be Empty
To be poor in Spirit is speaking of our human spirit. What does it mean to be poor in our spirit? If you are poor you are empty. Before you can be filled in your spirit with God, you must be emptied of everything else. If you want to fill something, you can’t fill it if it’s full; it must be emptied first. We must be emptied in our spirit. Every day when we come to God, we must get fresh manna. We must empty ourselves and not hold on to yesterday’s manna and be satisfied with our past experiences. I may have enjoyed the Lord so much yesterday, but I can’t live on yesterday’s experience. I must empty myself and be filled with God every day. I may have experienced the heights of God yesterday, but that is not good enough for today. The Kingdom of God is in the ever present now. You cannot live in the experiences of the past; you must live in God now. "Behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). If people could learn to live in the ever present now they would begin to find it very easy to walk in the spirit. What keeps you from living and walking in the spirit now is that you look back at your failures of the past or you look to the future, thinking that some day you are going to be better, and you miss the Kingdom of God, which is NOW!!
Today, this very moment, is salvation available to us. If we sinned last week or the moment before, we can experience forgiveness now. If we were on the mountaintop yesterday, we can still experience fellowship with God now. We may not always be on the mountaintop, but we can always experience the flowing of the Spirit of God within.
Do Not Hold On to the Old Ways
To be poor in spirit also means not to hold on to the old things. God is always on the move, constantly bringing you into greater understanding of His Word. You find many people today who are proud of still being in a past move of God, still holding on to the old way and the old things. To be poor in spirit, you must empty yourself of the old things, and give up the old way. You must always take the new way and the new move of the Spirit. You can read in church history how God has used various men and women and moves of His Spirit to recover His people back to His original intention of building a tabernacle for His Spirit to dwell in. God wants to live, move, and have His being fully manifested in and through humanity. We must glean from all the past moves of God and then let Him take us on into perfection. Many of God’s people are satisfied with what they have of the past. They are full, and think the revelations they have had in the past are enough. "I am full now, God. I am satisfied being in an old move. I don’t want to change. I am happy here; I am already full."
To be poor in spirit is also to have a proper attitude toward yourself. One who is poor in spirit realizes his need for more of God in his life and is not afraid to confess it. You may be into positive confession and say, "I have all things and have need of nothing," but I have to say I need more of the reality of God in my life every day. We can give a lot of lip service to God, but if we don’t realize our need, and our shortcomings, and are not seeking to become like Him in every way, we will never know the reality of His life rising within us to scatter all our enemies.
If we are truly poor in spirit, we will realize our helplessness and our hopelessness as far as being able to live the kind of life that Jesus teaches us to live in Matthew 5-7. How can we, as mere carnal men, ever live the God-kind of life? We realize we cannot do it with our carnal nature. It is hopeless! This realization makes us feel empty and poor in spirit and causes us to cry out to God for the reality of His indwelling Spirit to stand up within us and bring deliverance from our carnal nature. As we begin to seek God, a transformation starts to take place within us and we find that effortlessly, the life of God grows within us. In a small way at first, in different areas of our life, we begin to manifest the life of God. The river of life will begin to flow in us. Let us be like Abraham, who learned to trust in God, Who gives life to the dead, and calls those things that are not as though they were. You might be dead to the kind of life that Jesus talks about here. You may not be able to walk in the abundant life that Jesus offers, but God gives hope to the dead, and He will cause His life to come alive within you.
A Prideful Attitude
"Two men went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week and give tithes of all that I possess’" (Luke 18:10-12).
We must not allow that kind of attitude to develop. We can look at others and be just like this Pharisee and thank God that we are better than they. That is a critical religious spirit, and it is one of the most damaging spirits in the Church today. This comparing ourselves with others’ weaknesses can give us a false sense of worth. Whenever you criticize or judge another person, the only thing you are saying is that you are better than that person. One who has been exposed to the light of God, and who realizes his need, could never judge or criticize another.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." This is not some place you go when you die or something you get after you die, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Living in the Kingdom is something to be experienced now. We do not experience this by natural means, ways or methods, but the Spirit of God in us will bring us into this reality. Don’t worry so much about being good, or failing; just seek fellowship with God, and day-by-day you will find yourself becoming more like Him.
The Realization of the Kingdom
The realization of the Kingdom comes when you begin to experience the Kingdom. The reality of the Kingdom is to just know that it is real. Many today know the Kingdom of God is real, but they have no experience. They may even be able to teach about it, but have little or no experience of it.
You can know the reality of good food by reading a cookbook. You can even study it, and learn all the recipes, and then teach others all about it, without any experience of the actual mixing of the ingredients and the eating of it. Most of Christianity today is like this. We know all the doctrines; we know Jesus lives in us; we know so much, yet so many are not filled with Jesus, but with resentment, bitterness, backbiting, hurts, and anger, and they do not know how to live the Christian life. Our Christian bookstores are filled with self-help books and psychology on how to be a Christian and how to live the Christian life. We even have books on how to love our wife and children! There is nothing wrong with these books or the reading of them, but I must ask this question: "If Jesus truly lives in us, why do we need them?" We can learn to be a better person, but what we need is Jesus living in us! If Jesus lives his life in us, we won’t need all the "how to" books. Please don’t be offended with these words, but examine your own life and see if Jesus is realized in you or whether you are manifesting self. The Word says, "They will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears . . . always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 4:3, 3:7).
To have the realization of the Kingdom, you must begin to experience the life of God coming alive in you, filling your consciousness with the awareness of the ability of God to live His life within you. As Jesus said, "You must be born again." Everyone who is born by the Spirit of God has the realization of the Kingdom of God. To be born again means just what it says—you must have another life (the life of God himself) born into you. You cannot be born again without something happening to you on the inside. There are thousands of Christians, especially in America, who have an intellectual gospel, and have never experienced the touch of the Spirit of God on their lives. Oh, they know and believe that Jesus is their Savior, but, they have no experience. To be persuaded that Jesus died for you and to accept him as your Savior without an experience is not enough. YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN! There must be an inner experience that takes place in your life. We must receive life from above. To enter into the realization of the Kingdom is to have the King himself born within your heart. The life of the King, the zoe life of God, the nature and character of God, must come alive within your consciousness.
The Manifestation of the Kingdom
Not many of God’s people manifest and reveal to the world the reality of God being lived in their lives. That’s what the Kingdom of God is all about—having the character and nature of God revealed in humanity.
The principles that Jesus laid down in Matthew 5-7 are not a new set of rules and regulations. Jesus did not say "To be a Christian you must try to live this way." He did not say, "You must do this and not do that." What He is saying in the Sermon on the Mount is, "If you are a Christian, truly born of my Spirit, something happens on the inside of you and you will begin to live this kind of life. This is a growing and a transforming process, not a natural learning process. My life will begin to operate and manifest within you as you put to death the old man (for this corruptible must put on incorruption). As you do this, the New Man will come forth."
We Begin With Baptism
We begin the Kingdom life with baptism. "Teach and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of (not the names of) the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Matt 28:19).
Until you are willing to be baptized, until you’re willing to go down into the death waters of self-life, you will never be a disciple, or be able to manifest the Kingdom life. You may know all about it, and even experience it to a degree, but you will never manifest it until you’re willing to die out to self. If you are not willing, just seek God and He will make you willing. Baptism and discipleship always go together. Paul said, in Romans 6:3, "So many of us as have been baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death." If you think that going down into the water changes you, without an inward reality, you are sadly mistaken. To baptize someone is not to just simply put them into the water. As you baptize, you must believe that as you are baptizing them in water, you are literally placing them into God. They must be willing, and clearly understand, that as they go down into the death waters they are placing themselves into God and they are not to come up the same. They are leaving in the death waters that old man, the old self-life.
In Whose Name Are We To Be Baptized?
Paul said, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). There are so many different doctrines about baptism, but not much teaching on the experience of it. Some teach that you must be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Others teach that you are not baptized unless you are baptized in the name of Jesus. To be baptized into the name of Jesus is to be baptized into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Word says that Jesus was the embodiment, the fullness of the Godhead. The Father dwelt within him in this fullness; the Spirit was given to Him without measure. So if you want to be baptized in the name of Jesus, that’s wonderful, because the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is complete in the name of Jesus who is the fullness of that name. If you want to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, that’s wonderful too, but if you start to fight over which way to baptize according to your concepts and opinions, you might go down into the water and not even experience baptism. You may argue over which way to baptize, by pouring water over the head or going under the water. You would be much better off to understand and experience the spiritual aspect of baptism. When you are willing to fall into the ground and die, when you are willing to put yourself aside, you go down into the water and leave the old life buried, and come up with the resurrected, transcendent life of God Himself. This happens simply by believing what the Word says. By faith we are resurrected to a new life, even the uncreated, indestructible life of God Himself. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. If you have not put on Christ, you have not been baptized, no matter how many times you go down into the water. To be baptized is to be immersed into the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The water is an outward sign of an inward reality. There is a change of heart that must take place. This is the miracle of baptism, a work of grace, done by God simply through believing.
Baptism is really termination, and germination. It terminates everything of the old creation and it germinates everything of the new creation. If you have not yet given the Holy Spirit permission to terminate you, you have not yet entered experientially into the Kingdom. You must be terminated before you enter the Kingdom of God. The Church today is not a shining burning testimony to the Kingdom of God, because of the mixture, the impurity that is allowed to remain.
Is It Possible To Live God’s Life?
Early in my Christian life, I was hungry to be like Jesus, and I asked the question many times: "Is it possible to live the sermon on the Mount?" I never found one person tell me it was possible. They told me it was a goal to reach for, but it wasn’t possible until you die! Jesus never said, "Try hard, do the best you can, and after you die you will be like Me," yet this is what most people believe. What He did say was, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like this . . ." If you truly experience the Kingdom life, then Matthew 5-7 will be your experience. Jesus said, "Blessed and happy are you if you’re like this—poor in spirit, mournful, meek, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker and persecuted." This is the character of God being reproduced within humanity. Again I must stress, this is not the natural human life. You could never be this way through natural ways or methods. This is the life of God that you have inherited through the new birth.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matt. 5:3).
Some interpret the above verse this way, "Blessed in spirit are the poor." They teach that poverty causes you to be blessed. This is why the Roman Church has a poverty vow for their priests. Some believe that if you want to be happy and blessed you must be poor.
On the other hand, some teach that if you walk in the reality of the Kingdom, you will always be prosperous, thinking that great gain is a sign of godliness. A poor Christian can be full of the riches of Christ and a rich Christian can be bankrupt of the riches of Christ. The things of the Spirit are always a matter of the heart.
To Be Poor in Spirit Is To Be Empty
To be poor in Spirit is speaking of our human spirit. What does it mean to be poor in our spirit? If you are poor you are empty. Before you can be filled in your spirit with God, you must be emptied of everything else. If you want to fill something, you can’t fill it if it’s full; it must be emptied first. We must be emptied in our spirit. Every day when we come to God, we must get fresh manna. We must empty ourselves and not hold on to yesterday’s manna and be satisfied with our past experiences. I may have enjoyed the Lord so much yesterday, but I can’t live on yesterday’s experience. I must empty myself and be filled with God every day. I may have experienced the heights of God yesterday, but that is not good enough for today. The Kingdom of God is in the ever present now. You cannot live in the experiences of the past; you must live in God now. "Behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Cor. 6:2). If people could learn to live in the ever present now they would begin to find it very easy to walk in the spirit. What keeps you from living and walking in the spirit now is that you look back at your failures of the past or you look to the future, thinking that some day you are going to be better, and you miss the Kingdom of God, which is NOW!!
Today, this very moment, is salvation available to us. If we sinned last week or the moment before, we can experience forgiveness now. If we were on the mountaintop yesterday, we can still experience fellowship with God now. We may not always be on the mountaintop, but we can always experience the flowing of the Spirit of God within.
Do Not Hold On to the Old Ways
To be poor in spirit also means not to hold on to the old things. God is always on the move, constantly bringing you into greater understanding of His Word. You find many people today who are proud of still being in a past move of God, still holding on to the old way and the old things. To be poor in spirit, you must empty yourself of the old things, and give up the old way. You must always take the new way and the new move of the Spirit. You can read in church history how God has used various men and women and moves of His Spirit to recover His people back to His original intention of building a tabernacle for His Spirit to dwell in. God wants to live, move, and have His being fully manifested in and through humanity. We must glean from all the past moves of God and then let Him take us on into perfection. Many of God’s people are satisfied with what they have of the past. They are full, and think the revelations they have had in the past are enough. "I am full now, God. I am satisfied being in an old move. I don’t want to change. I am happy here; I am already full."
To be poor in spirit is also to have a proper attitude toward yourself. One who is poor in spirit realizes his need for more of God in his life and is not afraid to confess it. You may be into positive confession and say, "I have all things and have need of nothing," but I have to say I need more of the reality of God in my life every day. We can give a lot of lip service to God, but if we don’t realize our need, and our shortcomings, and are not seeking to become like Him in every way, we will never know the reality of His life rising within us to scatter all our enemies.
If we are truly poor in spirit, we will realize our helplessness and our hopelessness as far as being able to live the kind of life that Jesus teaches us to live in Matthew 5-7. How can we, as mere carnal men, ever live the God-kind of life? We realize we cannot do it with our carnal nature. It is hopeless! This realization makes us feel empty and poor in spirit and causes us to cry out to God for the reality of His indwelling Spirit to stand up within us and bring deliverance from our carnal nature. As we begin to seek God, a transformation starts to take place within us and we find that effortlessly, the life of God grows within us. In a small way at first, in different areas of our life, we begin to manifest the life of God. The river of life will begin to flow in us. Let us be like Abraham, who learned to trust in God, Who gives life to the dead, and calls those things that are not as though they were. You might be dead to the kind of life that Jesus talks about here. You may not be able to walk in the abundant life that Jesus offers, but God gives hope to the dead, and He will cause His life to come alive within you.
A Prideful Attitude
"Two men went up to the temple to pray. The Pharisee prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week and give tithes of all that I possess’" (Luke 18:10-12).
We must not allow that kind of attitude to develop. We can look at others and be just like this Pharisee and thank God that we are better than they. That is a critical religious spirit, and it is one of the most damaging spirits in the Church today. This comparing ourselves with others’ weaknesses can give us a false sense of worth. Whenever you criticize or judge another person, the only thing you are saying is that you are better than that person. One who has been exposed to the light of God, and who realizes his need, could never judge or criticize another.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." This is not some place you go when you die or something you get after you die, for the Kingdom of Heaven is within you. Living in the Kingdom is something to be experienced now. We do not experience this by natural means, ways or methods, but the Spirit of God in us will bring us into this reality. Don’t worry so much about being good, or failing; just seek fellowship with God, and day-by-day you will find yourself becoming more like Him.
The Realization of the Kingdom
The realization of the Kingdom comes when you begin to experience the Kingdom. The reality of the Kingdom is to just know that it is real. Many today know the Kingdom of God is real, but they have no experience. They may even be able to teach about it, but have little or no experience of it.
You can know the reality of good food by reading a cookbook. You can even study it, and learn all the recipes, and then teach others all about it, without any experience of the actual mixing of the ingredients and the eating of it. Most of Christianity today is like this. We know all the doctrines; we know Jesus lives in us; we know so much, yet so many are not filled with Jesus, but with resentment, bitterness, backbiting, hurts, and anger, and they do not know how to live the Christian life. Our Christian bookstores are filled with self-help books and psychology on how to be a Christian and how to live the Christian life. We even have books on how to love our wife and children! There is nothing wrong with these books or the reading of them, but I must ask this question: "If Jesus truly lives in us, why do we need them?" We can learn to be a better person, but what we need is Jesus living in us! If Jesus lives his life in us, we won’t need all the "how to" books. Please don’t be offended with these words, but examine your own life and see if Jesus is realized in you or whether you are manifesting self. The Word says, "They will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears . . . always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim. 4:3, 3:7).
To have the realization of the Kingdom, you must begin to experience the life of God coming alive in you, filling your consciousness with the awareness of the ability of God to live His life within you. As Jesus said, "You must be born again." Everyone who is born by the Spirit of God has the realization of the Kingdom of God. To be born again means just what it says—you must have another life (the life of God himself) born into you. You cannot be born again without something happening to you on the inside. There are thousands of Christians, especially in America, who have an intellectual gospel, and have never experienced the touch of the Spirit of God on their lives. Oh, they know and believe that Jesus is their Savior, but, they have no experience. To be persuaded that Jesus died for you and to accept him as your Savior without an experience is not enough. YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN! There must be an inner experience that takes place in your life. We must receive life from above. To enter into the realization of the Kingdom is to have the King himself born within your heart. The life of the King, the zoe life of God, the nature and character of God, must come alive within your consciousness.
The Manifestation of the Kingdom
Not many of God’s people manifest and reveal to the world the reality of God being lived in their lives. That’s what the Kingdom of God is all about—having the character and nature of God revealed in humanity.
The principles that Jesus laid down in Matthew 5-7 are not a new set of rules and regulations. Jesus did not say "To be a Christian you must try to live this way." He did not say, "You must do this and not do that." What He is saying in the Sermon on the Mount is, "If you are a Christian, truly born of my Spirit, something happens on the inside of you and you will begin to live this kind of life. This is a growing and a transforming process, not a natural learning process. My life will begin to operate and manifest within you as you put to death the old man (for this corruptible must put on incorruption). As you do this, the New Man will come forth."
We Begin With Baptism
We begin the Kingdom life with baptism. "Teach and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them into the name of (not the names of) the Father, Son and Holy Spirit" (Matt 28:19).
Until you are willing to be baptized, until you’re willing to go down into the death waters of self-life, you will never be a disciple, or be able to manifest the Kingdom life. You may know all about it, and even experience it to a degree, but you will never manifest it until you’re willing to die out to self. If you are not willing, just seek God and He will make you willing. Baptism and discipleship always go together. Paul said, in Romans 6:3, "So many of us as have been baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death." If you think that going down into the water changes you, without an inward reality, you are sadly mistaken. To baptize someone is not to just simply put them into the water. As you baptize, you must believe that as you are baptizing them in water, you are literally placing them into God. They must be willing, and clearly understand, that as they go down into the death waters they are placing themselves into God and they are not to come up the same. They are leaving in the death waters that old man, the old self-life.
In Whose Name Are We To Be Baptized?
Paul said, "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:27). There are so many different doctrines about baptism, but not much teaching on the experience of it. Some teach that you must be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Others teach that you are not baptized unless you are baptized in the name of Jesus. To be baptized into the name of Jesus is to be baptized into the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Word says that Jesus was the embodiment, the fullness of the Godhead. The Father dwelt within him in this fullness; the Spirit was given to Him without measure. So if you want to be baptized in the name of Jesus, that’s wonderful, because the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is complete in the name of Jesus who is the fullness of that name. If you want to be baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, that’s wonderful too, but if you start to fight over which way to baptize according to your concepts and opinions, you might go down into the water and not even experience baptism. You may argue over which way to baptize, by pouring water over the head or going under the water. You would be much better off to understand and experience the spiritual aspect of baptism. When you are willing to fall into the ground and die, when you are willing to put yourself aside, you go down into the water and leave the old life buried, and come up with the resurrected, transcendent life of God Himself. This happens simply by believing what the Word says. By faith we are resurrected to a new life, even the uncreated, indestructible life of God Himself. As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. If you have not put on Christ, you have not been baptized, no matter how many times you go down into the water. To be baptized is to be immersed into the Godhead—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The water is an outward sign of an inward reality. There is a change of heart that must take place. This is the miracle of baptism, a work of grace, done by God simply through believing.
Baptism is really termination, and germination. It terminates everything of the old creation and it germinates everything of the new creation. If you have not yet given the Holy Spirit permission to terminate you, you have not yet entered experientially into the Kingdom. You must be terminated before you enter the Kingdom of God. The Church today is not a shining burning testimony to the Kingdom of God, because of the mixture, the impurity that is allowed to remain.
Is It Possible To Live God’s Life?
Early in my Christian life, I was hungry to be like Jesus, and I asked the question many times: "Is it possible to live the sermon on the Mount?" I never found one person tell me it was possible. They told me it was a goal to reach for, but it wasn’t possible until you die! Jesus never said, "Try hard, do the best you can, and after you die you will be like Me," yet this is what most people believe. What He did say was, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like this . . ." If you truly experience the Kingdom life, then Matthew 5-7 will be your experience. Jesus said, "Blessed and happy are you if you’re like this—poor in spirit, mournful, meek, merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker and persecuted." This is the character of God being reproduced within humanity. Again I must stress, this is not the natural human life. You could never be this way through natural ways or methods. This is the life of God that you have inherited through the new birth.
God's Great Plan
God's Betrothal & Marriage Covenant with His Bride
by Paul Jablonowski
October 10, 2009
Happy final day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth)! Jesus celebrated this feast where the Scriptures record, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7: 2,37). Tabernacles was the most joyous of all the feasts and lasted eight days. I have been blessed enough to take off from work this entire week and have been writing this newsletter and studying the subject of covenant as my family and I have been traveling on vacation all week.
This matter of COVENANT is very important to God, because covenant is how God operates with His people. Whenever Yahweh God decides to move to restore a right relationship with mankind which we lost through sin, He does it by covenant. Covenant is much more than just a contract or legal document, because it is relationship based. Rather than a legalistic set of rules and regulations, true God ordained covenant is an organic growing process of interaction between God and mankind. It is based on real life situations and concrete relationship oriented commitments. The Hebrew word for "covenant" is "Brit" and means, "to eat together, to share food, to prepare a banquet," and is further defined as "an ongoing relationship with no appointed end." (1)
The western culture and mindset does not understand this Hebraic definition of covenant. But we must start thinking along these lines of covenant if we truly desire to be a part of the Bride of Christ that God is raising up in our generation. Because the Bride of Christ is an organic relational body of people in the earth and not some religious organization. This ancient Hebrew mindset will also help us to understand the Bible much better. The first five books of the Bible (the Torah) are literally the marriage contract between God and His prospective bride! The Hebrew word for "marriage contract" is Ketubah, and the ancient Hebrew ketubah had five parts which coincide exactly with the Torah:
1. Genesis (the family history of bride and groom),
2. Exodus (the family history of the bride),
3. Leviticus (the family history of the groom),
4. Numbers (the story of how the bride and groom met), and
5. Deuteronomy (the bride and groom's responsibilities).
But in the full definition of covenant, this ketubah marriage contract was only one small part of God's betrothal and marriage covenant with His bride. There were four other covenants that relate to Yahweh's more relationship oriented aspect to His Bride which are found clearly in the ancient Hebrew wedding and in the ancient Hebrew betrothal dinner. Since Hebrew covenants are eternal and progressive building upon each other, the first three covenants were included in the betrothal dinner ceremony. The chart below shows these three covenants along with the final fourth marriage covenant which can only occur after the first three:
1. Blood Covenant includes the first Betrothal Cup of Sanctification and is a covenant of Servanthood
2. Salt Covenant includes the second Betrothal Cup of Dedication and is a covenant of Friendship
3. Sandal Covenant includes the third Betrothal Cup of Redemption and is a covenant of Sonship
4. Marriage Covenant includes the fourth Betrothal Cup of Praise and is a covenant of Brideship
As this chart shows, there were four cups of wine taken during the betrothal & wedding ceremony. Each cup represented one of the four main Hebrew covenants of servanthood, friendship, sonship and marriage. These covenants were witnessed and experienced by the Hebrew patriarchs in the same order. Adam and Noah made covenant with Yahweh which resulted in servanthood. Abraham and Moses were considered "friends" of God with the friendship covenants they witnessed. King David was in a covenant of sonship with God to inherit a throne. And Jesus drank the third Cup of Redemption during His Passover meal with his disciples to also inherit something - A BRIDE!
But Jesus did not drink the fourth cup of Praise during His last Passover meal, because He said He would not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God fully comes. This was a common Hebrew tradition after the betrothal dinner for the groom not to drink wine until the day of his wedding. The exciting part is that we now live in the generation that will see this final covenant of Marriage fulfilled! Jesus will drink this final fourth cup during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! In the ancient Hebrew wedding, this final cup of Praise was shared only between the bride and bridegroom on the wedding day. Then the cup was crushed underneath their feet to signify that no one else could share this cup except the bride and bridegroom alone.
The first two betrothal cups were shared with other family members during the betrothal dinner, but the fourth cup was shared between bride and groom alone on their wedding day to signify this ultimate covenant of intimacy. This fourth covenant can be compared to what the Bible refers to as the Covenant of Peace which was foreshadowed by Phinehas who was given Yahweh's everlasting covenant of peace. This covenant of peace has yet to be fulfilled! But it will be fulfilled when Jesus consummates covenant with His Bride just like He made covenant with the Hebrew patriarchs.
So we have an incredible opportunity to participate in the outworking of God's final covenant with mankind! This final Marriage Covenant will fully restore our inheritance which we lost through sin. This covenant of peace or covenant of marriage only builds upon the other covenants that God has made with His people. Therefore, it is only wisdom to take a brief look at these earlier covenants. Then we can look at the betrothal and wedding ceremonies and see how they reflect these same four basic relationship oriented covenants.
Blood Covenant of Servanthood 1.) Adam - Covenant of Dominion, and ---- ---- 2.) Noah - Covenant of Preservation
Salt Covenant of Friendship 3.) Abraham - Covenant of Land, and ----- ---- 4.) Moses - Covenant of Law
Sandal Covenant of Sonship 5.) David - Covenant of Government, and ------ 6.) Jesus - Covenant of Redemption
Wedding Covenant of Marriage 7.) Bride of Christ - Covenant of Peace, and ---- 8.) Yahweh - Everlasting Covenant
Notice how these covenants were revealed in chronological order through people whom God had chosen. (2) This is because these covenants are progressive, meaning they each build upon one another. Each patriarch shown above was living out through covenant an aspect of the Christ-like character that we all can walk in. Our lives in Christ will reflect the same progression. Therefore, a newborn Christian does not automatically become the bride of Christ. There is a maturity process that we each must live out to grow in the greater covenants with Yahweh. There is some content overlap in these covenants, and even some continuations such as Isaac and Jacob who confirmed the covenant that Yahweh made with their father Abraham. But all of these covenants find their purpose and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The shed blood of Jesus validates all of the covenants which God the Father initiated with mankind to restore our relationship back to Him.
One very important truth regarding the coming Kingdom, is that there are levels of authority and levels of reward based on our obedience to the light we have walked in during our life. God does not make covenant with just anyone. While the invitation is to ALL mankind, not everyone cooperates with the covenant precepts of Yahweh. It is God's desire that all of His people would be a part of His Bride body with whom He will consummate the final Marriage Covenant. But God creates these covenant principles and not us. We can obey and walk in them, but we cannot change them. Since they involve issues of the heart, we cannot judge who is a participant and who is not. God alone chooses, but we can bear witness of the fruit in the lives of those who have obeyed and taken up their cross to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. To whom much is given, much will be required. And God is the perfect judge of His people. But as individuals, how close we are to God is up to us and not God.
The first level of covenant is Servanthood. After we have accepted and confessed Christ Jesus as our savior, we are offered this opportunity to become a servant of God. Servanthood is the foundation for the other three covenants. Friendship is the next level of walking with God. Then the third major level of covenant relationship with God is that of Sonship or inheritance. And the final major level of walking with God is the covenant of Marriage in becoming His bride who will rule and reign the earth with Him in an everlasting Covenant of Peace. The truth is that not many people are willing to pay the price in order to walk in this higher covenant with God because "many are called but few are chosen." In other words, everyone is invited to the wedding, but just like in the wedding parable of Jesus, only few attend the wedding, much less pay the price to actually become a part of the Bride body in the wedding party.
The purpose of this newsletter is to stir up the believer in Jesus to seek Him with all of your heart so that you can be on that narrow path of becoming a part of the Bride body of Christ. As the Scripture says, those who will become a part of the Bride will not have any wrinkle or stain or any such thing: "Christ so loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25-27). Are you willing to give up any sin, or hindrances or earthly honor or pleasure to obey Christ and become part of His bride body? One thing is for certain, there WILL be a bride body. The only question is: who will be a part?
Now that we have established that the main point of making covenant with God is about relationship and not ritual, let's take a look at the actual betrothal ceremony and wedding customs in the ancient Hebrew tradition. This will help establish and confirm what has already been said regarding the importance of covenant in the eyes of God.
A Hebrew Betrothal Supper was the culmination of often years of already established relationship, haggling and planning between both the families of the bride and groom. The bride had the final say in whether or not she desired to marry the groom and this was played out in the first step of the betrothal ceremony. The groom and His father would come to the bride's house on that special prearranged night and knock on the door of their home. The father of the bride would inquire who was there and then ask the bride if he should let them in. When she said, "Yes," the open door for the process of covenant had begun. This can be compared to our acceptance of Christ when He knocks on the door of our hearts. Revelation 3:10 reflects this beginning of the Hebrew betrothal process when Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
After entering the bride's house, the families sat down for a dinner meal and almost immediately the first of the four cups of wine were shared together. Wine is considered the blood of the grape and appropriately symbolizes this first Blood Covenant similar to our modern day communion cup. This Cup of Sanctification involves setting ourselves apart for service unto God, and likewise all the members of the families participated in drinking this cup to symbolize their commitment to serve one another as one big family. Hence the family support for the young married couple was strong and sustaining because they were vowing to help them have a successful married life together. The very word "Betrothal" means to "Be Truthful" and a coming into the place of transparency with one another. This first cup was the first step in being truthful and trustworthy. In our lives, if we prove ourselves faithful, then we will get the opportunity to move on to the next covenant. (3)
The second Cup of Dedication was shared only after usually long and often heated discussion over the marriage contract or ketubah. This cup was also called the Cup of Betrothal and was shared only between the bride and groom and their two fathers. This was the most difficult part of the betrothal ceremony and if issues of disagreement or irreconcilable differences were going to stop the wedding, then this is the point when it usually happened. This second cup represented the Salt Covenant of both hospitality and friendship. Breaking bread and having a meal together in itself is a symbol of being in covenant with one another, but the salt covenant took it one step further. Each person mixed their own bag of salt into a common dish and dipped their bread together into this dish as they ate their meal. At the end of the meal they would each take some salt back into their bag. Their grains of salt were forever mixed in each others pouches symbolizing this eternal covenant of friendship.
The third cup, the Cup of Redemption, was shared only between the bride and groom at the end of the betrothal meal. This is exactly what Jesus did at His last Passover meal with His disciples and because of their culture, they knew He was acting out a Betrothal dinner ceremony with them. Jesus enacted out all three of the Betrothal Covenants during this meal when He also dipped bread with them in a Salt Covenant and washed the disciples feet symbolizing the third Sandal Covenant. By washing their feet, He was saying, "I give you an inheritance in my coming kingdom." This third cup of wine sealed the marriage agreement between the bride and groom and the Betrothal dinner was pretty much finished at this point. Before drinking this last cup of wine, the scribe had already finished writing the ketubah marriage contract. Once the marriage contract was signed, there was great celebration throughout the community for this engaged couple! They were legally married at this point.
The final thing that they were now awaiting before the wedding could begin was for the groom to finish building a house for them to live (John 14:2-3). And only the father of the groom could determine (from the wedding contract) when the house was ready. This would usually take about a year or two, but once the Father said the house was finished, the groom went late in the evening to get His bride who was to be ready and waiting with a lamp in her window at all times. All night long, the wedding party of bridesmaids and groomsmen would celebrate with the bride and groom. Then the bride would leave with her bridesmaids to undergo four different mikvah's or baptisms before dawn which correlated exactly with these four covenants and the four betrothal cups!
Then the next day, the community wide wedding celebration would begin with many guests and relatives invited for seven days. The bride and groom declared their marriage vows under a canopy with four poles called a chuppah (kupah). They performed the ceremony themselves saying seven blessings over each other. The final fourth Cup of Praise (Cup of Blessing, Marriage Cup, or Cup of the Covenant) was then shared between bride and groom reminding them of the Blood Covenant. Challah (kallah) bread was also eaten and dipped in salt to remember the Salt Covenant. Finally the groom would give His bride new sandals and wash her feet to remember the Sandal Covenant (sandals were used in ancient days to mark the boundaries of land inheritance). The final symbolic event of the wedding ceremony was the exchanging of rings which symbolized the eternal union of this Marriage Covenant that they had now completed. The only thing left was to consummate the marriage in physical unity. This was done in a secluded place prepared beforehand while the community continued the celebration.
The only problem with this brideship analogy is that we ALL have been unfaithful to our heavenly bridegroom at some point, and the law requires perfection. But thanks be to God, there is also a way provided in the Hebrew ketubah where a kinsman redeemer can redeem his bride! The book of Ruth is just one example from the Scriptures of how Boaz, a kinsman redeemer, redeemed Ruth who desired to be a bride. The book of Hosea also tells a love story of a Hebrew man redeeming his unfaithful wife which is prophetic of Jesus redeeming His bride: "I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD." (Hosea 2:19-20)
The exciting part, is that we now live in the Laodicean church age when this unfaithful wife will now turn from her unfaithfulness and become a cleansed bride to Jesus for all of eternity because Jesus has redeemed us according to the Hebrew law for an unfaithful wife! Jesus paid the price of death for an unfaithful wife, so that we can stand as a pure virgin before God the Father. Jesus has been longing to come back for His bride. He is awaiting that perfect time when the Father says, "The house is ready, go and get your bride!"
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)
Come Lord Jesus, prepare and then get your bride!
by Paul Jablonowski
October 10, 2009
Happy final day of the Feast of Tabernacles (Succoth)! Jesus celebrated this feast where the Scriptures record, "On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." (John 7: 2,37). Tabernacles was the most joyous of all the feasts and lasted eight days. I have been blessed enough to take off from work this entire week and have been writing this newsletter and studying the subject of covenant as my family and I have been traveling on vacation all week.
This matter of COVENANT is very important to God, because covenant is how God operates with His people. Whenever Yahweh God decides to move to restore a right relationship with mankind which we lost through sin, He does it by covenant. Covenant is much more than just a contract or legal document, because it is relationship based. Rather than a legalistic set of rules and regulations, true God ordained covenant is an organic growing process of interaction between God and mankind. It is based on real life situations and concrete relationship oriented commitments. The Hebrew word for "covenant" is "Brit" and means, "to eat together, to share food, to prepare a banquet," and is further defined as "an ongoing relationship with no appointed end." (1)
The western culture and mindset does not understand this Hebraic definition of covenant. But we must start thinking along these lines of covenant if we truly desire to be a part of the Bride of Christ that God is raising up in our generation. Because the Bride of Christ is an organic relational body of people in the earth and not some religious organization. This ancient Hebrew mindset will also help us to understand the Bible much better. The first five books of the Bible (the Torah) are literally the marriage contract between God and His prospective bride! The Hebrew word for "marriage contract" is Ketubah, and the ancient Hebrew ketubah had five parts which coincide exactly with the Torah:
1. Genesis (the family history of bride and groom),
2. Exodus (the family history of the bride),
3. Leviticus (the family history of the groom),
4. Numbers (the story of how the bride and groom met), and
5. Deuteronomy (the bride and groom's responsibilities).
But in the full definition of covenant, this ketubah marriage contract was only one small part of God's betrothal and marriage covenant with His bride. There were four other covenants that relate to Yahweh's more relationship oriented aspect to His Bride which are found clearly in the ancient Hebrew wedding and in the ancient Hebrew betrothal dinner. Since Hebrew covenants are eternal and progressive building upon each other, the first three covenants were included in the betrothal dinner ceremony. The chart below shows these three covenants along with the final fourth marriage covenant which can only occur after the first three:
1. Blood Covenant includes the first Betrothal Cup of Sanctification and is a covenant of Servanthood
2. Salt Covenant includes the second Betrothal Cup of Dedication and is a covenant of Friendship
3. Sandal Covenant includes the third Betrothal Cup of Redemption and is a covenant of Sonship
4. Marriage Covenant includes the fourth Betrothal Cup of Praise and is a covenant of Brideship
As this chart shows, there were four cups of wine taken during the betrothal & wedding ceremony. Each cup represented one of the four main Hebrew covenants of servanthood, friendship, sonship and marriage. These covenants were witnessed and experienced by the Hebrew patriarchs in the same order. Adam and Noah made covenant with Yahweh which resulted in servanthood. Abraham and Moses were considered "friends" of God with the friendship covenants they witnessed. King David was in a covenant of sonship with God to inherit a throne. And Jesus drank the third Cup of Redemption during His Passover meal with his disciples to also inherit something - A BRIDE!
But Jesus did not drink the fourth cup of Praise during His last Passover meal, because He said He would not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God fully comes. This was a common Hebrew tradition after the betrothal dinner for the groom not to drink wine until the day of his wedding. The exciting part is that we now live in the generation that will see this final covenant of Marriage fulfilled! Jesus will drink this final fourth cup during the Marriage Supper of the Lamb! In the ancient Hebrew wedding, this final cup of Praise was shared only between the bride and bridegroom on the wedding day. Then the cup was crushed underneath their feet to signify that no one else could share this cup except the bride and bridegroom alone.
The first two betrothal cups were shared with other family members during the betrothal dinner, but the fourth cup was shared between bride and groom alone on their wedding day to signify this ultimate covenant of intimacy. This fourth covenant can be compared to what the Bible refers to as the Covenant of Peace which was foreshadowed by Phinehas who was given Yahweh's everlasting covenant of peace. This covenant of peace has yet to be fulfilled! But it will be fulfilled when Jesus consummates covenant with His Bride just like He made covenant with the Hebrew patriarchs.
So we have an incredible opportunity to participate in the outworking of God's final covenant with mankind! This final Marriage Covenant will fully restore our inheritance which we lost through sin. This covenant of peace or covenant of marriage only builds upon the other covenants that God has made with His people. Therefore, it is only wisdom to take a brief look at these earlier covenants. Then we can look at the betrothal and wedding ceremonies and see how they reflect these same four basic relationship oriented covenants.
Blood Covenant of Servanthood 1.) Adam - Covenant of Dominion, and ---- ---- 2.) Noah - Covenant of Preservation
Salt Covenant of Friendship 3.) Abraham - Covenant of Land, and ----- ---- 4.) Moses - Covenant of Law
Sandal Covenant of Sonship 5.) David - Covenant of Government, and ------ 6.) Jesus - Covenant of Redemption
Wedding Covenant of Marriage 7.) Bride of Christ - Covenant of Peace, and ---- 8.) Yahweh - Everlasting Covenant
Notice how these covenants were revealed in chronological order through people whom God had chosen. (2) This is because these covenants are progressive, meaning they each build upon one another. Each patriarch shown above was living out through covenant an aspect of the Christ-like character that we all can walk in. Our lives in Christ will reflect the same progression. Therefore, a newborn Christian does not automatically become the bride of Christ. There is a maturity process that we each must live out to grow in the greater covenants with Yahweh. There is some content overlap in these covenants, and even some continuations such as Isaac and Jacob who confirmed the covenant that Yahweh made with their father Abraham. But all of these covenants find their purpose and fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The shed blood of Jesus validates all of the covenants which God the Father initiated with mankind to restore our relationship back to Him.
One very important truth regarding the coming Kingdom, is that there are levels of authority and levels of reward based on our obedience to the light we have walked in during our life. God does not make covenant with just anyone. While the invitation is to ALL mankind, not everyone cooperates with the covenant precepts of Yahweh. It is God's desire that all of His people would be a part of His Bride body with whom He will consummate the final Marriage Covenant. But God creates these covenant principles and not us. We can obey and walk in them, but we cannot change them. Since they involve issues of the heart, we cannot judge who is a participant and who is not. God alone chooses, but we can bear witness of the fruit in the lives of those who have obeyed and taken up their cross to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. To whom much is given, much will be required. And God is the perfect judge of His people. But as individuals, how close we are to God is up to us and not God.
The first level of covenant is Servanthood. After we have accepted and confessed Christ Jesus as our savior, we are offered this opportunity to become a servant of God. Servanthood is the foundation for the other three covenants. Friendship is the next level of walking with God. Then the third major level of covenant relationship with God is that of Sonship or inheritance. And the final major level of walking with God is the covenant of Marriage in becoming His bride who will rule and reign the earth with Him in an everlasting Covenant of Peace. The truth is that not many people are willing to pay the price in order to walk in this higher covenant with God because "many are called but few are chosen." In other words, everyone is invited to the wedding, but just like in the wedding parable of Jesus, only few attend the wedding, much less pay the price to actually become a part of the Bride body in the wedding party.
The purpose of this newsletter is to stir up the believer in Jesus to seek Him with all of your heart so that you can be on that narrow path of becoming a part of the Bride body of Christ. As the Scripture says, those who will become a part of the Bride will not have any wrinkle or stain or any such thing: "Christ so loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25-27). Are you willing to give up any sin, or hindrances or earthly honor or pleasure to obey Christ and become part of His bride body? One thing is for certain, there WILL be a bride body. The only question is: who will be a part?
Now that we have established that the main point of making covenant with God is about relationship and not ritual, let's take a look at the actual betrothal ceremony and wedding customs in the ancient Hebrew tradition. This will help establish and confirm what has already been said regarding the importance of covenant in the eyes of God.
A Hebrew Betrothal Supper was the culmination of often years of already established relationship, haggling and planning between both the families of the bride and groom. The bride had the final say in whether or not she desired to marry the groom and this was played out in the first step of the betrothal ceremony. The groom and His father would come to the bride's house on that special prearranged night and knock on the door of their home. The father of the bride would inquire who was there and then ask the bride if he should let them in. When she said, "Yes," the open door for the process of covenant had begun. This can be compared to our acceptance of Christ when He knocks on the door of our hearts. Revelation 3:10 reflects this beginning of the Hebrew betrothal process when Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."
After entering the bride's house, the families sat down for a dinner meal and almost immediately the first of the four cups of wine were shared together. Wine is considered the blood of the grape and appropriately symbolizes this first Blood Covenant similar to our modern day communion cup. This Cup of Sanctification involves setting ourselves apart for service unto God, and likewise all the members of the families participated in drinking this cup to symbolize their commitment to serve one another as one big family. Hence the family support for the young married couple was strong and sustaining because they were vowing to help them have a successful married life together. The very word "Betrothal" means to "Be Truthful" and a coming into the place of transparency with one another. This first cup was the first step in being truthful and trustworthy. In our lives, if we prove ourselves faithful, then we will get the opportunity to move on to the next covenant. (3)
The second Cup of Dedication was shared only after usually long and often heated discussion over the marriage contract or ketubah. This cup was also called the Cup of Betrothal and was shared only between the bride and groom and their two fathers. This was the most difficult part of the betrothal ceremony and if issues of disagreement or irreconcilable differences were going to stop the wedding, then this is the point when it usually happened. This second cup represented the Salt Covenant of both hospitality and friendship. Breaking bread and having a meal together in itself is a symbol of being in covenant with one another, but the salt covenant took it one step further. Each person mixed their own bag of salt into a common dish and dipped their bread together into this dish as they ate their meal. At the end of the meal they would each take some salt back into their bag. Their grains of salt were forever mixed in each others pouches symbolizing this eternal covenant of friendship.
The third cup, the Cup of Redemption, was shared only between the bride and groom at the end of the betrothal meal. This is exactly what Jesus did at His last Passover meal with His disciples and because of their culture, they knew He was acting out a Betrothal dinner ceremony with them. Jesus enacted out all three of the Betrothal Covenants during this meal when He also dipped bread with them in a Salt Covenant and washed the disciples feet symbolizing the third Sandal Covenant. By washing their feet, He was saying, "I give you an inheritance in my coming kingdom." This third cup of wine sealed the marriage agreement between the bride and groom and the Betrothal dinner was pretty much finished at this point. Before drinking this last cup of wine, the scribe had already finished writing the ketubah marriage contract. Once the marriage contract was signed, there was great celebration throughout the community for this engaged couple! They were legally married at this point.
The final thing that they were now awaiting before the wedding could begin was for the groom to finish building a house for them to live (John 14:2-3). And only the father of the groom could determine (from the wedding contract) when the house was ready. This would usually take about a year or two, but once the Father said the house was finished, the groom went late in the evening to get His bride who was to be ready and waiting with a lamp in her window at all times. All night long, the wedding party of bridesmaids and groomsmen would celebrate with the bride and groom. Then the bride would leave with her bridesmaids to undergo four different mikvah's or baptisms before dawn which correlated exactly with these four covenants and the four betrothal cups!
Then the next day, the community wide wedding celebration would begin with many guests and relatives invited for seven days. The bride and groom declared their marriage vows under a canopy with four poles called a chuppah (kupah). They performed the ceremony themselves saying seven blessings over each other. The final fourth Cup of Praise (Cup of Blessing, Marriage Cup, or Cup of the Covenant) was then shared between bride and groom reminding them of the Blood Covenant. Challah (kallah) bread was also eaten and dipped in salt to remember the Salt Covenant. Finally the groom would give His bride new sandals and wash her feet to remember the Sandal Covenant (sandals were used in ancient days to mark the boundaries of land inheritance). The final symbolic event of the wedding ceremony was the exchanging of rings which symbolized the eternal union of this Marriage Covenant that they had now completed. The only thing left was to consummate the marriage in physical unity. This was done in a secluded place prepared beforehand while the community continued the celebration.
The only problem with this brideship analogy is that we ALL have been unfaithful to our heavenly bridegroom at some point, and the law requires perfection. But thanks be to God, there is also a way provided in the Hebrew ketubah where a kinsman redeemer can redeem his bride! The book of Ruth is just one example from the Scriptures of how Boaz, a kinsman redeemer, redeemed Ruth who desired to be a bride. The book of Hosea also tells a love story of a Hebrew man redeeming his unfaithful wife which is prophetic of Jesus redeeming His bride: "I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and justice, In lovingkindness and mercy; I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness, and you shall know the LORD." (Hosea 2:19-20)
The exciting part, is that we now live in the Laodicean church age when this unfaithful wife will now turn from her unfaithfulness and become a cleansed bride to Jesus for all of eternity because Jesus has redeemed us according to the Hebrew law for an unfaithful wife! Jesus paid the price of death for an unfaithful wife, so that we can stand as a pure virgin before God the Father. Jesus has been longing to come back for His bride. He is awaiting that perfect time when the Father says, "The house is ready, go and get your bride!"
"The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." (Revelation 22:17)
Come Lord Jesus, prepare and then get your bride!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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