Real Christianity- A new Religion, or an alternative to religion?

Who Died at the Cross?

I read a powerful statement recently in the writings of one of my favorite authors, T.A. Sparks, who lived in community and ministered in regular Christian life conferences in Great Britain between 1930 and 1970.


He wrote, "Whenever a man or a people comes under immediate government of God (which means to live under the direction and empowerment of the Holy Spirit) in relation to His eternal purpose, they will have this one thing brought home to them: It is that in themselves "dwells no good thing" (Rom. 7:18). There is much prayer for revival and much effort for the deepening of the spiritual life. But the only answer to this is a new knowing of the Cross, not only as it pertains to sins and a life of victory over them, but as Christ supplanting (replacing) the natural man."

On the cross, not only was Jesus Christ offering Himself to pay for our sins, but He was offering Himself as our substitute. When He died, in God's mind, He died not only for us, but He died as us. As Paul says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live..." (Gal. 2:20)

To come to Jesus Christ in faith is to come into an inward union with Christ. We recognize Him as our substitute to God, our representative before God, and our life in God. When we do this, we aren't playing psychological make believe. We're agreeing with God. For God has sent His own Son to become our substitute, our representative, and our life.

It all starts with the cross and our apprehension of what occurred their by faith. At the cross, God put us to death in Christ. Our self-loving hearts recoil from such a word, but this is the clear affirmation of the Scriptures. "Or do you not know that you have died with Christ?" Why do we recoil? Like Cain we're still trying to get God to accept us and our offerings. God will not. God will never accept man's best efforts, not even when those men are Christians. When the source of the living is man, it's man's life that's expressed. It's godless effort, and utterly rejected by God. How does that make you feel?
Check yourself. Most people who don't see how utterly rejected and contemptible they are apart from Christ never embrace the cross. We can't imagine hell, much less that apart from Jesus Christ that God would surely send us there. Our belief that our best efforts make us more acceptable in the eyes of God only provoke Him all the more, because He opposes the proud. We too must reject our best efforts by embracing the cross as the place we died to God.

Don't misunderstand this point. It's not that we have no value as God's creatures who display His glory and are made in His image. But our value to God is just that... that we bear His image and display His glory. Apart from bearing His image, the only way we will display His glory is through eternal damnation. But the good news is that through Christ, God has made a way of redemption and salvation that is an infinitely more satisfying display of His glory by making us one with His image... "Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God."

I recently had a couple of discussions with a few Mormons and J.W.s about this very thing. They imagine that God is pleased with our good works and displeased with our sins. So, in this view, Jesus's death erases our sins so that we can be rewarded for our good works. But in doing so they rob Jesus Christ of His glory of being our complete Savior, whom we do not help in the least. It is fully His grace from beginning to end that must save us.
But how many Christians are "Mormons at heart", looking to Jesus to cover our sins while looking to ourselves to please God? No! Jesus Christ is our complete righteousness, not only taking away our sins, but taking the "old man" into death. So how then do we live?

We live by this faith, the faith of the Son of God. We must not merely add Christ to our living, or attempt to add to Christ's life by our living, but to make room for Christ to be our life. We should be dead to our own desires, good intentions, best efforts, good ideas, etc. Though while we live on in the body we can not escape from them, but we dare not live on the basis of them. All things must be governed by His Spirit. Does the idea, intention, or desire come from us, or from His Spirit? "Live by the Spirit and you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh".

What does this mean? We must get acquainted with the Life of His Spirit. We must saturate ourselves with the Word of God which is able to divide between soul and Spirit. We must remember that His blood cleanses our conscience from dead works to serve the Living God, for we will no longer simply feel a need for cleansing from sin, but from moving, living, desiring anything apart from the Life of Christ Jesus. The Living God is served by Living Sacrifices, those who are offering themselves up to live in the Life of His own Son.

What lies ahead for those who take this path? A great deal of suffering and greater experience of the Lord Jesus Christ as our life. "God gives us the Cross, but the Cross gives us God."

Remaining Blessedly Unoffended

"Blessed is he who is not offended at me." is Jesus' reply to a disallusioned, suffering, isolated man; a man who had served the Lord faithfully, and even more... a man who was suffering because of following the Lord. (Matt. 11:5-15)


Jesus was healing multitudes of unbelievers. "The blind see, the deaf hear, the poor are hearing the good news." But seeing and hearing Jesus do these things for others didn't change the situation he was in. He was still sitting alone in his darkness, seeking assurance, asking Jesus "Are you the savior I was waiting for, or should I look elsewhere?" But for this faithful suffering follower, Jesus would do nothing. He would send him only this word, "Blessed are you if you are not offended at me in the way I handle your life." This is a difficult test that those who follow the Lord must sometimes face.

How can we put this in perspective? First, we must realise that the whole of the Christian life is found in remaining in our union with Jesus Christ. Our Lord was crusified and raised in order to become a "life giving spirit" 1 Cor. 15; in other words, Jesus is now our indwelling source of spiritual life, making us partakers of the divine nature. Our entire Christian life consists in practically participating in the indwelling life of Christ to share that life with others.

What is more, God now handles our life for this one all consuming purpose: that we who posses the indestructible eternal life of Christ within us may be conformed to His glorious image by practically living in our spiritual union with Christ. Year by year, month by month, day by day, even moment by moment, God is hand picking our circumstances and handling our lives for this one purpose. Which means this: Everything in our lives is working FOR our practical communion with Christ and the display of that life for His glory... not against it.



So what's our problem? I would suggest two things, that are closely related: 1) We don't live by the Spirit. We don't abide in our spiritual union with Christ crying, "Abba, Father". 2) We develop reasonable expectations of how God should treat us because we are his children. The offense surfaces in a multitude of ways: "If I were truly saved, this wouldn't happen to me..." or "I must have missed God's will when I married him, or our marraige wouldn't be like this", or "How could God allow that to happen to me?" or "I know God heals, but why isn't He healing me?", etc. The troubling thing is, all our offenses can seem reasonable, at least to our mind, so it's very important that we understand the heart and ways of our heavenly Father.

God's word to us in every trouble is this, "I AM GOD. I have ways and purposes that do not center around you individually. I am with you and am using even your sufferings to reveal my glory. I am aware of your suffering and pain. I take no delight in the pain, but take great delight in the union of love we share that is so powerfully displayed as you wait for me. I know you have questions and expectations of me I haven't met. Here's my word to you. Surrender your expectations of me to act according to your plans. Trust in me. Cling only to me and relinguish your expecations and evaluation of me. But only remain in your union with me; believe that I AM WHO I SAY I AM; do not take offense at my dealings in your life... and you WILL be blessed! I am working for your blessing, now and forever. Believe that."

Like any good parent, God does not hesitate to act for our own good, even when that good purpose means allowing cold, dark, isolating circumstances with only a word, "Blessed is he who is not offended at me." What parent doesn't have to offend their children out of love... even if they kick and scream?

After we've made the journey into discovering how to live in union with Christ, our great temptation is to refuse to relinguish expectations, to take offense at man and God.(Remember, it is God who directs the afairs of men. Don't forget that John was in prison because a man put him there. John expected this, but what he was having difficulties with what that and Christ Jesus himself was leaving him in prison for now.) We all need eyes to see that only from the vantage point of the cross and ressurection and our eternal glory with Christ can our present circumstances make sense. We need a living faith to embrace our life in ETERNITY in the midst of our temporal circumstances. If we will simply "humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, casting all our anxiety upon Him, because He cares for us" and get out of our fleshly reasonings and grumblings by taking our stand with the Spirit, and cry, "Abba, Father" until that attitude of trust, love, surrender, hope, and fellowship saturate our vision of life, we will indeed be blessed, unoffended and abiding in Christ.

God's vision of the Chrisitian life for us is eternal fellowship in union with Christ. We can partake of that even now no matter what circumstances we may find ourselves in by taking our stand in our union with Christ and crying "Abba, Father". As we do so, we will experience the witness of the Spirit in our spirit confirming our sonship with God, which thereby allows us to have the practical enjoyment that we have become heirs of God and coheirs with Christ. We will have this blessed fulness of heart... if we suffer together with Him. Saint, don't suffer apart from Christ. Give up your offenses at God's handling of your life. Surrender your unmet expectations. If the hand of God has allowed suffering in your life, suffer together with Christ that you may have the "fellowship of sharing in His sufferings." We must trust God in our sufferings and seek to find Him in fellowship in the midst of them.

God is ruling over our circumstances and working in them to make us like Christ. We follow a Lord who went to the cross and requires us to join Him on that road. The question for us is "Are you offended at Him?" Beloved, "Blessed is he who is not offended." Amen.

The Cross and the Highjacked Planet- A meditation on 2 Cor 5:17

Imagine, if you would, that you have the great privilege of viewing human history from the vantage point of an angel from near the throne of God. As you take a moment to scan the horizon of the material world, you glance across the myriads of galaxies to behold the vast display of the glory of the Creator. With your angelic vision, distance is irrelevant. Whatever you fix your gaze upon becomes immediately present.

The worship turns to uneasy concern when, in a medium sized swirling galaxy, rotating around one of it's less significant stars, you notice a small, pea sized planet that is dramatically out of step with the the rest of the universe and the Throne Room of Heaven... something you've never imagined was possible until now... something in God's creation not doing His will. Unthinkable! Unimaginable!

It turns out that this planet had a pilot, a guide and director made to represent God Himself, who was given a charted course to lead the planet into the most beautiful display of the glory of God. But something went terribly wrong. The planet was secretly boarded by malicious hijackers. The pilot initially resisted the hijackers, but somehow it seems that the hijackers actually enlisted the pilot to willingly join in their suicidal rebellion against their Sovereign Creator. The pilot and the planet were hijacked by the enemies of God.

The course of the planet was now horribly clear. The hijackers intended to use the planet to fly directly into the very Throne of God, turning the planet and all it's passengers into a missile aimed at eliminating the good rule and direction of the Lord in His own creation. What's worse, it seems, at least from your angelic perspective, that nothing could be done to stop this wicked attack. God's own appointed ruler for this planet had betrayed the Lord, the passengers, and the planet.

To your angelic mind, there seems to be no resolution. God however is not limited to angelic ways of thinking. As you ponder the horrible possibility of this evil challenge to the authority of God, you look back to the hijacked planet and see a most inexplicable wonder; the Son of God has gotten on board the runaway planet as one of the passengers.

To the other passengers, He appeared as one of their own. But inside this passenger lived the Son of God. As it turns out, although no one had fully realized, the Lord God Almighty had created the passengers unlike any other life form. They were created to contain Him. So it was possible for the Divine Son of God to place all of His Divine life inside the material world inside of one of these passengers. This unique passenger's name was Jesus Christ.

Once on board starting from the rear of the planet, He immediately walks straight to the cockpit. All the hijackers recognize that a new pilot had arrived. The gig was up. When He took control of the cockpit, what do you think He might do? You may be surprised. Instead of stearing the planet back onto the original coarse, the glorious Lord plunges the planet straight down into the ground, terminating everything that ever opposed the will of the Lord- the original pilot and all the passengers, the hijackers, and all the wickedness that lived in their hearts- gone forever in an explosion of fire and putrid black smoke. In His own death, as the pilot, the entire planet died. The old creation had passed away.

But after a short time, something wonderful happens. Up from the ashes of the newly destroyed creation, the Lord of Glory rises up. Unlike the wicked hijackers and the passengers, the Lord of Glory had the power of an "indestructible life". But now, the Lord was somehow different. At first it wasn't clear how, but then you recognize it. He's still one of them... He's not only divine, but He is a raised and transformed passenger. He is forever part of the creation as a passenger. Yet now, His divine glory, instead of being veiled was fully manifest through His passenger life form. The creator had become one with the creature. Creation? Yes, but a new creation made out of the resurrected life of the Son of God.

But a closer look reveals there is still more. Could it be possible? What looked at first to be the singular reemergence of the glorious Son of God from the wreckage of the old creation, become clearly something more. Yes, it was the Glorious Son of God shining through His passenger life form... but not just His own passenger life. Because the new pilot entered the planet from the back, as He made his way forward to the cockpit, he touched passengers from every row. Though it was not plain to the eye, in His touch, He was planting the seed of His indestructible life inside of other passengers. Now, because His life was placed inside of them, there now appeared in Him hundreds of thousands of passengers raised up in His indestructible life. His divine glory is now being displayed in myriads of passengers raised up in a corporate display of the awesome beauty of the divine life of the Son of God.

Then, from the depths of the Son of God and innermost being of all those sharing His life, one unified shout arose that reverberates eternally in the ears of angels and saints alike, "If anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation! Behold, the old is gone and the new has come!"
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The Lord Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the leper, made the blind see and the deaf hear. Most however misunderstand the meanings of the miraculous; then and now. Many then and many today chase Jesus with the misconception that He came into this world to fix our old lives and make them better.

What does Jesus say? Less than a week before His death, a group of Gentiles asked to see Jesus. He responded in a peculiar way. He said, "Now has the hour come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." John 12:23-24. Do you realise what Jesus is saying?

Here is the eternal Son of God, having lived on the earth for over 30 years, having healed multitudes, having raised at least 4 people from the dead, having taught in such power that even His enemies were silenced. And Yet our Lord looks back on His entire ministry and says that up till now He is FRUITLESS. Why? He alone was dwelling in the eternal life of the Father. He would have to die to give that life to others. His miracles were simply signs of the Life He was dying to put inside of us; the indestructible, saving divine Life of Jesus Christ.

When He died, He died as the head of the old humanity. He was the Last Adam. In the eyes of God, Adam's race ended on the cross of Christ. The death sentence for the race who conspired to hijack the planet earth was fully carried out. God's solution for the old creation was the cross.
Jesus Christ did not chose to fix the old creation with His power, but to use His power to carry it up to the cross and terminate it that it may not linger on in God's eyes forever. When taunted, "Come down off that cross and we will believe in you" Jesus continued to hang there until His work was finished. Rather than come down and rule in the old creation He chose to rule over the old creation in the New Creation.

We who believe in Christ have been placed into His death to this creation. We are now raised up with Him. The new creation race is a resurrection race. We now posses resurrection life in Jesus Christ who dwells within us. That life is a life of righteousness, holiness, joy and peace which flows from fellowship with the Father. Although our Father does still heal and give signs and wonders, we err to think His purpose is ever to fix the old life. His healing wonders are signs of a new creation, pointing us away from the temporal towards the eternal. God has no intention to fix what He has already terminated. He does His work in accordance with His work at the cross, not in contradiction to it. So too now, we who know the Lord and posses His life ought to more fully cooperate with that Life, praising and thanking our Father who has loved us with such gracious love. We should be wholehearted to press on to know Christ, and Him crucified as our very own life as we live in the power of His resurrection and sharing in the fellowship of His sufferings. The grain of wheat has died that He may not live alone in the bosom of the Father, but that we may join Him in His life there. Let us then live in union with Him.

"How do you know?"- Thoughts on Subjective Aspects of Assurance in Evangelism

"How do you know?" It's an oft asked question in response to any truth claim these days, especially gospel truth. Claims to have a definite revelation of God, especially a definate revelation of God that is exclusive to other claims.

How do you know what you believe to be true is absolutely true, really true? In today's postmodern culture people are sometimes less persuaded by the typical frontal lobed responses that set about to convince by rational arguments to "prove" that the Bible is supernatural, that the text is reliable, that Jesus was either liar, lunatic or Lord, etc. It's not that those aren't good reasons for faith. They are. All those responses have there place, but it's really not answering the question that many are asking today.

These days, people have very little certainty about anything. Even "scientific" truth has changed frequently. New discoveries are causing long standing theories to be adjusted or replaced. Historical "truth" is usually written from the perspective of those who conquer, etc. Post-modern people understand that what seems to be true is very often a matter of ones perspective. Since our perspective is severely limited, whatever they may believe to be true is only what they believe to be true at that time.

So even though Christians have great proof for the Bible, the resurrection, etc. it doesn't seem to have a lot of impact on post-moderns (though it should never be abandoned and DOES have it's place). Why? Post-moderns don't believe PROOF! Can you believe that? They have seen proof UNPROVEN so many times, when they hear our proof, they may believe we have an excellent case... from our perspective, but others have looked at the same "evidence" and had an altogether interpretation, blah, blah, blah. AAAAHHHHGGGHHHH! Know the feeling?

Does it drive you crazy when people respond to the gospel, "Well that's true for you, but not everyone." ? Don't worry, it's not just their response to the gospel. That's the post modern response to EVERYTHING. And it's not a response just to drive the evangelist crazy. Post-modern people are freaking out, trapped in their own knowledge of the limitations of their own perspectives. They can't deeply believe anything and it's driving them crazy too.


Is there something we're missing? Are there aspects of Biblical revelation that we're missing that perhaps God may have specifically designed to awaken the hearts of people trapped in the suspicion of the limitations of human perspective, so much so that they are AFRAID to believe anything too strongly? I believe there are.

A few random observations:

1) Jesus Christ said, "A man speaks of what he has seen and heard. You are from below and speak as from this world. I am from above and have told you what I have seen from My Father." Jesus has come to rescue us from our blindness. Jesus came directly from God can speak of His experience with the Father. We can only know what we've experienced and even when we have "spiritual" experiences, we're never quite sure what we're experiencing. At best we're bumping around in the dark. Jesus however comes to us saying that He has come into this world "from above" and can speak from experience of ALL THINGS eternal. And His life, death, and resurrection give proof that He was in fact speaking truth. "No man spoke like this man."

Jesus Christ would sometimes seek to humble the mind of the proud by showing them how limited their experience and perceptions were. Could it be that our post-modern friend's realization that our human perspective could never be the source of assurance of eternal reality is actually an ally, not an enemy, to the Gospel?

The problem that enters in is that they've been playing make-believe for so long that they've usually they are quite confident that everyone else is bluffing too.

2) "How do you know?" "Well," says the apostle Paul, "No one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." 1 Cor. 2:11 So the Postmodern replies, "Right, so nobody can know." Paul continues, "We have received the Spirit of God so that we may know the things that God has freely given to us."

How do we know? Not by logical deductions rooted in human reasoning. We know by revelation of God's Spirit. God gives us His Spirit, so that we have a direct and real perception of the reality of God in Jesus Christ that is not due to human observation based on physical senses and human reasoning. It comes directly by the Spirit of God shinging the light of Christ in our heart through the gospel so that we truly perceive eternal realities. Once we were blind, but now we see. We see God's perspective by God's Spirit in union with our human spirit which operates by faith.

"So what is it that keeps God from giving you this revelation by His Spirit?" you may ask.

3) Jesus said subjective assurance of His divine reality is possible only for those who are willing to believe and obey. But to those willing to trust and obey, assurance is promised. "If any man is willing to do God's will, He will know whether My teaching is of God or are my own." (Jn. 7:17) and "He who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves ME; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him." Jn (14:21) The ultimate issue is trust and surrender. God hides the truth from those unwilling to see it, but reveals it to those who are willing to surrender to it. The light is shining for all those who are willing to open their eyes and come out from hiding in darkness.

If you aren't willing to obey, you can at least see now that what Jesus said is true, "Here's the verdict: The true light came into the world, but men loved darkness because their deeds were evil." When you become willing to obey, you'll know too. "He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Are you following Jesus? No? Then you are in darkness. Humble your pride, forsake your own way, and call on Him to forgive and save you... then you too will know.

"They in Us that the world may believe"

I used to read Jesus' words "They in Us that the world might believe that you sent me" and hang my head in shame over the mess we've made of the church. A different denominational building on every corner is not what Jesus died for or what will cause the world to see the reality of the Lord Jesus. I can't count the number of times that the multitude of denominations has been brought up as an objection to the gospel when I'm talking to unbelievers. While I'm not completely immune from feeling disturbed about the man-made mess "churchianity" has become, I have found some real hope and joy lately in Jesus' words, "they in Us...".

Isn't it encouraging to believe that the Lord honestly intends to bring us into such an experience of Divine fellowship while we're on the earth that people would begin to believe that "Jesus really does bring people to God"? The Lord intends for us to be living in such a real experience of the reality of God that unbelievers would become convinced that God is real... not by our efforts or programs... but by our living IN GOD.

What is it to live in God? It's what Jesus was doing before the incarnation as the eternal Son of God. He was living inside His Father by the Holy Spirit. It's what Jesus did in His inner man while living on the earth. He said, "Do you not know that I dwell in my Father, and He in Me?" His body was on the earth, but His inner man was dwelling in the presence of His Father. And that is what He's dying to create inside of us... a spirit to spirit experience of fellowship with God.

And this fellowship is a corporate thing. "THEY in us". He's bringing us into fellowship with God together. We need one another to experience the fullness of God. My experience as a believer bears this out. I can honestly say that every step towards a more authentic experience of Christ has required or resulted in a more authentic experience of His body. I can't count the number of times I've gone to the Lord in prayer and He's changed a bad attitude I had towards another person, or felt prompted to encourage someone, or reminded of an opportunity to serve, etc. Just maintaining my personal fellowship with Christ in a living way has been the path that has brought me into deeper experience of body life. As the head directs and coordinates the body, so Christ coordinates us with one another.


Although I'm still not crazy about denominational fragmentation and greedy televangelists, I'm encouraged to pursue a greater experience of "They in US" by continuing the pursuit of Christ with others. We share One Lord, One Spirit, One Faith, One God and Father and are baptized into One Name. A bunch of people living together in the experience of this reality is what the Lord wants the world to see. It's what the Lord died for and what He lives for... inside of you and me.

A Rememdy for Cancer in the Body

In the past year 3 people in my direct family have been diagnosed with cancer. While on the phone with my father-in-law, it occurred to me that to ask, "What exactly is cancer?" My father-in-law is not a doctor, but perhaps that's why I could understand his explanation. "Cancer" he explained, "is when cells in the body begin to destroy healthy tissues in the body. The get some wrong information that confuses them and they begin to feed on and destroy the healthy cells in the body."

That explanation has become the foundation for some reflection about the body of Christ. I believe that we've become our own worst enemies. Anything that makes us turn against one another with malice or a heart that is "biting and devouring one another" is similar to cancer. We "throw the baby out with the bathwater" and destroy healthy cells in the body of Christ.

The days we live in are full of complexity. The "church" abounds with many things paraded as Christian, backed up with a verse or two from Scripture, that are far from being an authentic expression of Jesus Christ. It's a compromise with the "spirit of the age" born out of unbelief at best, and downright ungodliness at worste. If the body of Christ refuses to discern diseases it will die of "spiritual AIDS", which is one portion of the battle we face today.

This is complexified however by the fact that in our desire to be discerning, it's entirely possible for us to go to the other extreme and become a "spiritual cancer cell" in the body and turn against the body of Christ by failing to recognize the body in truth. One passage that I've found especially helpful in this regards has been Phillipians 4, especially in light of the circumstances that this church was experiencing. The church was on the verge of self-destruction because two of the leading saints were embroiled in a dispute of some sort. People were taking sides or feeling caught in the middle. An atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust was creeping in and eroding the vitality of the corporate expression of Christ.

It's in this light, we're told to "Rejoice in the Lord always," and to focus upon on "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute... etc." and to throw off anxiety and to pray instead of worrying.

How is this a rememedy for "cancer in the body"? First, recognize that the battle is to captilize on the circumstance to get us focused on problems to take our eyes off Jesus and to erode our joy in Him. We must keep our eyes upon Jesus and express the joy we have in Him. Then, we must be in prayer, not anxiety. Anxiety is rooted in fear and unbelief, which is the exact opposite of the Spirit of Christ. The solution? Prayer in faith and thanksgiving. Lastly, instead of looking for hidden agendas, half truths, wrong motives, etc. we need to put our energies towards looking for Christ expressed in one anther.

There's plenty of bad to be found in one another, hence the accuser of the bretheren is rarely without something to suggest to our heart to enlist us in his wicked work of destroying the body of Christ. However, if we will keep our eyes on Christ, keep our hearts engaged with Him in prayer, and focus on appreciating His reality in the body, however small, we will begin to see significant healing in Christ's body. Not only this, we'll be full of the light of Christ's truth and presence instead of the darkness of "evil suspicions" and accusations or "fretting about evil doers, which leads only to evil doing". We will be in the light, which will also allow us to see more clearly diseases in the body that should be addressed vigorously, with truth, love, and power. However, we'll be able to move in cooperation with Christ, working FOR the body and not be turned AGAINST the body of Christ.

Peace to you, Andy

When God first Knew Me

I often hear Christians speaking about their initial experiences of God; how he saved them, set them free, changed their lives, etc. But have you ever thought about God's first experience of you? What's God's testimony of His experience of us. Where were you the first time God ever met you?

I called on the Lord Jesus to save me when I was 19 years old, about 2 AM in my dorm room. I remember well the sense of God's reality, so fresh. I was born spiritually that night. My eyes were opened to the depths of my sin and the beauty of God's grace to save me by Christ. Like I did with my newborn children, God held me close. I knew He was there and everything would be just fine from then on. That was definately the first time God was ever so real to me. Was that it? Was that the first time God met me?


Or perhaps it was at my natural birth. I was "made in Japan", or a least that's where I came off the assembly line (my father was in stationed overseas in the military). I'm sure God was always there, even when I wasn't aware. Was that the first time God met me?

I guess we could go back to conception. After all, the Lord does tell us that He "knits us together in our mothers womb" and that His eyes "see our unformed substance." Was that the first time God met me? When I was concieved?

Hold on for a second. The life I received when I called on Jesus to save me and be my Lord. What kind of life was that? That life was Eternal life. It was the very life of the Son given to me as my own life... for eternity.


Eternity. That's a big word. Transcending all time. In and beyond time itself. Before the beginning and after the end of time. That's the nature of God's life. It's eternal, timeless, transcendant. Before angels or "let there be light", the God the Father, the Son and the Spirit possessed a single life, eternal life.

God the Father before creation beheld His Son and determined to display the Son in the creation. He determined to make humanity in the image of God so that we could contain God's life, like a glove is in the image of a hand to contain a hand. We are created to be vessels containing Christ, expressing the very likeness of God in the creation. "Want to see what God our creator is like? Look at humanity, my image bearers" was God's original thought.

That helps me understand something that God tells me in His testimony of His experience of us: Before the foundation of the world, He never conceived of us apart from His image. Question: Who is the image of God? That's right, Jesus Christ. Before God created, He chose us in Christ. We were known God God in Christ as those marked out to possess His Son as our own life, even as the Son posseses the Father as His own life. God first knew me when He foreknew me. His first sight of me was as one who shares the very life of the Son of God. "He who has the Son has the Life. He who does not have the Son does not have the life."


He loved us in His Beloved Son with the very love He has for the Son. The first time God saw us, we were holy, blameless and free from accusation. We were in Christ.

God's never moved away from that way of looking at us. The only way He ever knows us is the us "in Christ". In otherwords, if a person is not in Christ, God doesn't know them in a relational sense. Jesus Christ said at the final judgement He will turn the damned away with the words, "I never knew you. "The apostle tells the Galatian church, "Now that you have come to know God, or have come to be known by Him." God only ever knows believers as He first knew us when He "foreknew" us in Christ, as those who partake of the life of His Son as our life. Praise the Lord!

By the measure you use...

Jesus Christ came not mainly to give us new commands but to give us a new source of divine life within. I'd like to suggest that one reason Jesus gave the "Sermon on the Mount" was that Jesus was revealing His own inner life to us as the foundation for preparing His followers for the experience of "church life."

We should keep in mind, whenever Jesus taught, He wasn't teaching merly aspirations. Jesus Christ was revealing Himself and opening up His own heart about His true nature, His experience, His inner mentality, a wonderfully eternal and divine mentality, which He received through his fellowship with His indwelling Father. Jesus is laying a foundation for us to understand, experience and express that same fellowship in the world. "This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!"

Jesus says, "Love your enemies and do good... Be merciful as your Father in heaven is merciful. Do not judge or condemn and you will not be judged or condemned. Pardon and you will be pardoned. Give and it will be given to you... For by your standard of measure, you will be measured in return."

Relational church life faces one of it's most significant challanges right here, at the point of how we measure others and ourselves. Highly committed believers end up unable to live very long with one another because we become weighed down with critical judgements, unreliquished offenses, etc. Ironically, we (myself included... as a "special needs" member) have a hard time "being merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful" not because we're not committed Christians, but seemingly because we are. We care! ... so we criticize and take offense at those who don't care as much as we do... or so our twisted logic goes.

We can't bless our enemies or one another when we're judging, criticizing or holding on to an offense inwardly. God's Spirit is hindered by these attitudes. God's Spirit is not the source of these attitudes. These attitudes hinder our experience and expression of God together.


A few things that have been light and life to me recently:

1) If the divine reality is lacking in the church life, it may be that we're using the wrong measure, and simply receiving back what we're dishing out. If a group is drying up or fizzling out rather than experiencing the grace of the Kingdom "poured out in good measure and running over", it's at least possible that this is part of the issue. As believers get serious about living out their faith, we tend to raise the bar of expecation up a few notches higher for ourselves. Unfortunately we can end up using that same raised bar on others, and sometimes end up clubbing them with it. Jesus saw this tendancy and addresses it head on.

2) We can't use "no measure" toward ourselves or others. We simply must allow God to adjust our measure. We must allow God's Word to seperate between that which finds its origin in our own souls verses that which is truly Spirit.

3) Jesus raises the bar so high, we'll never be able to use it to club someone else. Several times, Jesus examines a false measure and says, "even sinners do that." (Hint-if people can do it without God's Spirit, it's not a good source of "measure" in God's kingdom.)

4) Jesus's measure? His Father's own display of mercy towards His enemies (which at one time included us). The Father's divine life is enemy loving, offense pardoning, mercy showing. His ways are higher than ours. This is the measure we should use. We must have a revelation of our desperate need of God's mercy. Then we need to realize that God not only wants us to receive His mercy, but to experience His mercy as a divine reality flowing out of our own hearts through union with Him. We can't fake it. It's just not human. Turning to the Father to open ourselves to Him to make room for His Spirit in our hearts by calling on His Name for mercy, not merely for ourselves, but through us, if we would do this, we would soon find an increase of divine reality in our fellowship together.

5) We must use this measure mainly on ourselves or we'll miss the reality. Our natural tendency when we blow it is to want other believers to be gracious towards us, but what if they're a bit harsh, distant, or critical towards us? Use the measure... on yourself. Before we start picking specks out of our brother's eye, we must first deal with our own reactions and let Mercy deal with us. Turn to the Father for the flow of His mercy in your heart. Release the offense. Pardon them. Be merciful as your Father is merciful.

"Well what about the harsh way they treated me?" Pardon, and you'll be pardoned. "But I didn't do anything wrong! They hurt me. I didn't do anything to them." O yah? They hurt you? Where? Perhaps your pride? Did you ever think that you need to be pardoned also? Pardon them before God, and you'll be pardoned also. The Light of life shines as we're willing to see our own need for God's mercy. Once you've gotten this plank out of your eye, you'll see clearly and know what God wants you to do (if anything).

The commands of Christ are not something we can do apart from Him. Jesus teaches His standards to serve as an "escort" into the Divine life He supplies within. "The willing is present with us, but not the doing." The only "doer" of the Christian life is Jesus Christ Himself. If we merely redouble our intention to "do the commands of God", we will fail. Jesus has come to give us a new kind of spiritual life. We must turn our wills to the Lord Himself and call on Him for the flow and supply of His life giving Spirit, who alone is finds it quite natural to love, pardon, and show mercy.

Falling Off the Platform

What happens when God's people try to carry and sustain a movement of God from a platform?

When the people of God were attempting to transport the ark of God on a platform, Uzzah reached out his hand to touch the Ark and sinned. Uzzah's sin was not just his own sin though, but the sin of the whole people of God who had failed in their priestly role to carry the Ark of God's presence upon their own shoulders. Uzzah was set up for failure when God's people put the ark on a platform instead of their own shoulders.

So we too, when our public ministers fall, we too share the responsibility. It is inevitable that things on platforms fall. The ground we walk on isn't smooth. But God never intended to have His presence carried by our machinery, but to rest upon us; not things we've built and constructed, but to rest upon our shoulders. God does not intend to dwell upon a stage while we observe, but to dwell in our midst while we walk with Him together, holding fast to Him, lifting Him up, and humbling ourselves under the weight of His glory.

To meerly nod our head in agreement will not change anything. It's time to take up the reality of the priesthood of all believers and corporately lift up Christ alone and head for the New Jerusalem.

Commitment or Christ- Where's your faith?

Let's start with a question. Why is your commitment to Christ so important to you? Think for a second and let your heart give you an answer. How important is your commitment to Christ to you? Why?

Without realizing it, we have a strong tendancy to have FAITH in human commitment- our own, and consequently other's- which is one reason we pressure ourselves and others to "be more committed." The Christian life however is lived "boasting in Christ Jesus, having NO CONFIDENCE in the flesh". The harder we try to live by the power of our own commitment the farther we move away from the reality of living by the power of the Holy Spirit. How can we tell the practical difference? Let me illustrate.

Remember the "Rock", Peter? The night our Lord mentioned He was being betrayed to His death, Peter swore up and down that he was going to follow Jesus even if it meant that he would be killed. Peter had great confidence in his commitment to Christ. Remember the Lord's response? "Peter, this night you'll deny you even know me 3 times, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. When you are restored, strengthen your brothers."

Peter did in fact fail, like we all do, when our faith is in the strength of our own commitment. But then comes the sulking, the disallusionment, the sifting of our hearts. We're ashamed and shattered, but instead of quickly returning to the Lord in the confidence He's all we need, we stay at a dark distance. We need him, but we are afraid we can't hold on to Him once we return, so we linger. Could it be that we're being held down because we've mistaken faith in our own commitment for faith in Jesus Christ?

Contrast this with Brother Lawrence. When he stumbled into some sin, he would say to the Lord, "Lord, that is all I can do apart from you." Then he would immediatly turn to the Lord to resume fellowship with Him in joyful confidence that God brings him into the fellowship of His own dear Son. This is the blessing of having a relationship with God based on the Solid Rock of Christ, rather than the shifting sand of our own commitment.

Jesus is not building His church on the blocks of our commitment to Him. In fact, our trust in ourselves must be shattered before He can lay a foundation on which He can build. Jesus is however very confident in the effectiveness of His intercession on our behalf sealed with His own blood.

By God's grace, like Peter, we too need to come to a wonderful but painful revelation. We all SUCK at living the Christian life. I'm terrible at it, so are you. But you know what? God has never failed to welcome me back into fellowship because the blood of His Son is so precious to Him. He will never turn away any who come to Him through Christ. Jesus IS the way to the Father. We come to the Father through Him, not our own commitment.

Our faith is never more fully in Jesus than when we have absolutely NO confidence in our ourselves. God gives us the relationship of His own Son as a gift. Oh what a gift!

Simply Jesus

What began in simplicity and power as a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ soon became complicated. In the beginning I found the Word of God leaping off the page into my heart, giving me life directly from God. I found my life and heart inexplicably reoriented, refreshed, and cleansed as I spent time in prayer enjoying God's presence. That's how it started; in simplicity, with life coming from a fresh relationship with God in Christ.

It soon got complicated. Someone told me I needed to read the Bible every day and pray every day. Then they showed me how. I learned there were at least 14 different methods to study God's word. I learned about memorizing Bible verses. I learned how to make a "prayer list". I learned I was supposed to join an official "church" where there was a seminary trained pastor who would baptise me, run a Sunday school program, and teach me the Bible as I attended faithfully and brought my friends, tithed, etc.

Somewhere in there I began to take the practices I was learning and using them to evaluate my relationship with God. I began to try to "build an intimate relationship with God" which sounds like a good goal, but let's just say I discovered I had some "issues" that began a downward spiral. What "issues"?

Well, what if I asked you honestly, "Tell me about your relationship with God? How close to God are you?" Stop. Consider. Do you have good feelings? Negative feelings? What comes to mind? A list of things you should do and haven't or a list of things you shouldn't have done and but did anyway? Those issues.

Can I share with you God's wonderful answer to our "issue". It may even be good news. If you believe in Jesus, right now YOU have the same relationship with God as Jesus Christ. It's a gift eternally. That is God's answer for us... NOW, to enjoy forever. God has seen all our attempts to obey His standards, He sees our desire to learn His thoughts, He listens when we pray, etc. and sees all of our attempts to "build a close relationship with God". He comes to us, and makes a deal. "I'll do you a favor. Let's set all your efforts to build a relationship with me aside. I'm going to give you MY SON'S relationship with Me. I'm going to give you His place in my heart. The love I have for Him; it's Yours. I'm am a holy and righteous God; My Son is everything I delight in, so I'm going to give you Him as your righteousness. One last thing, My Son and I really enjoy a thrilling exchange of love in the Spirit. I'm going to join His Spirit to yours in an eternal fusion. You can now give up on establishing your own intimacy with me. I'm going to allow you to experience My Son's intimacy with me... as a real experience of His Spirit pouring His love out to me through you. Okay?"

Jesus has eternally enjoyed living in the bosom of the Father. In fact, He's completely One with His Father. And God adopted us as SONs... that means He's given us Jesus Christ's relationship with God for our eternal enjoyment. Wow! We can now enjoy Jesus Christ's relationship with God as our very own. Although our enjoyment and experience of this relationship can fluctuate, the relationship itself never changes. So, as the Word says, "Since you've received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk in Him"... crying with the Son's own Spirit "Abba, Father".