2Co 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (ESVST)
In the last post I talked about light and darkness in a “new light.” OK, that was an intended pun. If you haven’t read it, check it out. Here is a quote from the last post:
Religion is trying to be something you already are.
The Penal Substitution proponents will insist we are all nasty, evil creatures trying to be better (or else). That is not true. That is a lie. That is a deception. That is actually opposite the truth of the finished work of Jesus:
2 Cor 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore (because we all died in Christ and are therefore “in Christ), if (not conditional but conclusive if) anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. (ESV emphasis and italics mine)
And of course this passage:
Rom 6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (ESV)
So in this “new light” what about the apparent “conflict” inside us? So many still struggle with so much stuff. Religion says that is just the way we are. I can say that I used to believe that lie and I did struggle with alcohol for a long time as a “Christian.” I worked and worked to make me better and just kept falling on my face. Paul clearly states in Romans 7 that falling on our faces is a natural outcome of living by the law. As he said to the Galatians we fall out of Grace and into the law. We struggle and struggle with no hope in sight. Again religion says that is our lot in life until we die and the grim reaper sets us free. That doesn’t sound like or feel like or look like Jesus on a cross, does it?
So in the revelation of the finished work of the cross we “see” the good news of Jesus, our inclusion in the family, our new creation, our new nature and the love of God as our Father.
I wonder if the conflict we sense isn’t an evil nature trying to rise but a good nature being suppressed?
The human flesh condition in and of itself can be selfish. I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. We are animals on some level and have the desire to survive. God made us that way. It isn’t our fault that we have the animal urge to survive. All of this is good and normal and expected and harmonious until…We eat the wrong fruit!!!
When we eat from the tree of good and evil we become our own masters. We become slaves to ourselves. We are feeble creatures that actually have very little ability to provide for ourselves and protect ourselves. Listen, God made lions with teeth and fangs. We have molars and incisors. We weren’t made with teeth and claws but our reason and cunning are worse than any fangs. We weren’t made with brutish power and might but our manipulation of others with the power of knowledge is more devastating than any woolly mammoth. We are fiercely independent at the expense of everyone else on planet earth. Even when we get a glimpse of a beautiful dependent relationship like marriage we apply the “too good to be true” filter that comes from the world and religion.
But we don’t have to be that way. The truth is we are all restored and reconciled. We aren’t just those carnal, independent creatures of survival. We are all filled with the fullness of God himself. The universe in all its expanse is in God and He is in us. We are in perfect union with all the power of creation. We are plugged in to provision Himself. We are no longer living in the shadows of perfect relationships we are inseparably joined in a perfect relationship. We are being transformed in our minds to the truth of our union. We are being metamorphed into agreement with Jesus as our true nature. We are stepping into our new creation reality. That should be joy for every person. That joy should be the natural conclusion to an expected outcome. That should be where we land because gravity takes over. But then religion steps in.
Religion denies these truths of our regenerate, born from above status. Religion is trying to undo what Jesus has already done.
I believe this is where our conflict lies. Our internal struggle isn’t against good and evil but truth and lies. Our DNA produced by this mystical union tells us God is perfect goodness and Jesus is our model and the Holy Spirit is His embrace with us. We just know He is that good. Our internal orchestra is a harmony of relationship. Our resting resonance is love expressed in union. Or most basic foundation is a God who is love. We are joined to love Himself in Jesus. “All of mankind was joined to God in Jesus” is our anthem reverberating in our very core.
Religion tells us something different. Worldly circumstance demonstrates something different. The deception breaths life into an old dead nature that insists “too good to be true” is a fake. We react to this stimulus instead of trusting The Truth, Jesus. That is our conflict. Inside we are good. Outside we are told we aren’t.
The good news is we are no longer human. We are like Jesus. When we are aware of our union, of our new creation, of our new nature, we are reacting to a new stimulus. The lies are outside trying to get inside. The truth is in us. We are children of light trying to work through a blanket of religious and worldly darkness. We move past “seeing to believe” into “believing is seeing.” This is why we need a kiss. This is why need to surrender to His embrace. We need to live from our intoxicating union.
When we embrace this new reality, this new understanding… that was born before the foundation of the Earth and made complete 2000 years ago…we “wake up” in the light of revelation with a new perspective. Everything is brighter and better. Everyone is lovely. We begin to “see” the beauty in everything. We are walking in a beautiful illumination.
1Th 5:5 For you are all children of light, children of the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. (ESVST)
1Pe 2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. (ESVST)
We need to wake up to this reality. Every person we meet is a new creation in Christ. They may not know it yet. We get to share that truth. This is why verses like this work:
1Jo 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (ESVST)
I don’t normally include “convicting” stuff in these posts so let this be a test of sorts:
1Jo 2:8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. (ESVST)
When we wake up to this beautiful illumination we stop hating our brothers. We don’t wish punishment on anyone. We don’t exclude anyone. We are all in the light of the truth of Jesus. Everyone we meet is a brother or a sister that may not know they are a child of God. They may not know that they are filled with the fullness of God. They may not know that they are mystically joined to the creator of the universe. We get to share with them this beautiful illumination.
Yay God!
Lance
alancetotheheart 