50. He called us beautiful... (John 5:19-23)
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
February 21, 2008 at
4:12PM EST
He called us beautiful..
(John 5:19-23)
19Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20For the Father
loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he (the Father) will show him (the Son) even greater things than these.
21For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so
the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22Moreover, the
Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that
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.
The incarnation is an amazing thing, so far beyond our understanding.
To be fully God yet fully man... who can understand such a thing with
the limited finite mind that is our nature. But God can bring
understanding, glimpses of truth, wisdom and knowledge thru the leading
of his Spirit as we seek to know him more and more.
A body
was prepared for Jesus (as mentioned in my thread DID I JUST THINK THAT
OUT LOUD?). Jesus had always existed with the Father, the Trinity has
always been and will always be, imo. They co-existed (what's the triple
word for that anyway?) -- Father, Son and Spirit. Like an egg with
shell and white and yolk. Like the shamrock with three leaves joined in
one stem. Just as the Holy Spirit was sent after the resurrection to
perform a specific role as comforter (one who walks beside us to help),
Jesus came to earth as a man to perform a specific role to fulfill the
will of God (even tho it cost him much).
When Jesus was on
the earth he spoke of the Spirit of God being WITH MAN, but that he
would soon be IN HIM (as happened at Pentecost in Acts). And then he
says in another place that the Spirit of God will not always strive
with man (in his sinful state). I believe that there is a distinct and
definite timeline of grace, a door that will close, an offer for a
second chance at life that will end, and the role of the Spirit of
Comforter will perhaps change after all is fulfilled and restored. idk.
I also believe that just as the Spirit performs different
roles at different times, so Jesus performs different roles, and the
Father as well. It is not such a foreign concept in my mind. We often
talk of wearing different hats in our own lives. With all that God
performs, he must don a million or more new hats a day. Just consider
his many names. He performs the role of healer and provider and savior
and the list is endless.
I believe that Jesus came to earth
as Christ laying aside much of his power and might as God. I believe he
walked this earth as a man like the rest of us (but without sin). He
did not sin willfully in anyway and he did not sin unknowingly in any
way, and he did not sin by omission of any detail concerning the
perfect will of God. He was sinless.
I believe his Spirit,
his being, his soul, his spirit man... was God and unchanged. But I
think he received the wisdom and insight of God only as much as he
sought it as a man. I think the plan of God was revealed to him as he
entered into times of prayer and study of the Scriptures. I think he
showed himself approved by God, pleasing him in every way, because in
his Spirit he sought hard after the will of the Father. I think as he
pressed himself to enter into consistent communion and intimacy with
the Father God, more and more wisdom and insight was imparted to him
(see the underlined portion of the verse above). And I think we are
granted the same right to approach the throne of God and receive the
same measure of insight to perform the will of God right where we are
today.
Before the cross, we did not have that right. But
after the cross, by way of the bridge that Christ provided for us to
get back to the throne of God... I believe we can approach the Father
and he will give to us all that we ask. I believe that because I know
that Christ is seated beside him and intercedes for us just like a
lawyer on our behalf. And thru our requests and their discussion
(Father Son and Spirit) of our right and authority purchased by
Christ... we can have all that Jesus had when he walked on this earth.
We can do anything and more that Jesus did when he was a man with
limited understanding (again, see the underlined portion above). I
think just as he pressed in closer to the Father and was given the
master plan, that we can press in and God will reveal much to us...
always in the right timing. Even Christ does not know the hour or the
day that he will go to claim his bride from the earth. Only the Father
has that information according to Scripture. There are roles and
purposes that are so far beyond our understanding, even among the
God-head.
Jesus as a man understood the character of God
thru prayer, studying and meditating on the Scriptures (Torah), and
thru the leading of the Holy Spirit. That is how he saw what the Father
was doing as he states above, that is how he knew how he was to walk
thru this life, that is how he understood the calling and commission
that he had been sent to perform. And that is the example that we must
follow in order to understand what God is calling us to perform in the
earth.
By following Christs example of communing with the
Father, we can press in and receive all things from the Father in the
name of Jesus. We are not divinity, but we are given the authority of
divinity by Christ. Just as a bride, a queen, can command under the
authority of her husband, the king -- we as the bride of Christ, can
command under his authority according to his character as his
representative, as a part of who he is.
Imagine that! It ties my brain in knots every time I get a glimpse of it.
Christ lowered himself to join himself to us. Not just for some random
temporary act of kindness, but he entered into a marriage, a binding
contract, an eternal bond with us... whores and murderers and liars and
thieves and brats and selfish betrayers, arrogant and rebellious and
ugly.
He lifted us up and called us beautiful.
He spoke our beauty into existence, and suddenly we began to change.
Just as the fall in the garden sent an eerie creaking and groaning thru
out the earth and death and decay immediately arrived in the chill of a
strange gray wind... all was reversed. Jesus spoke our beauty forth as
GOD forgave the sin of mankind on that cross and immediately something
changed... we changed... a clean and refreshing wind began to blow...
and restoration began to manifest and the Light of the presence of God
upon the earth walking with man chased away the gray chill that had
settled so thick upon us.
He declared that we are beautiful.. and everything changed.
That is the power of our God. He speaks and life springs forth from
what was dead a moment ago, What was unseen because it did not exist,
is suddenly seen and real and present. He looks at us and sees the good
things he has planned for us and he declares that that is who we are.
And the darkness releases us and flees from us. And we are changed. We
live. Not because of our own righteousness, but because he has come to
clothe us in his righteousness. He has put the ring on our finger and
the robe upon our shoulders. He has sought us out, rescued us from all
evil and from ourselves, and he has led us to this place that is so far
above the low place where we had fallen.
Married to Christ.
Stop and think about that.
It can be mumbled in our busyness or theorized in our ignorance or said a million times out loud.
But when we truly stop and remain still before him...
as the words resonate from our thoughts
and begin to permeate thru the core of our very being
soaking deep into those intimate places of our heart...
our strength begins to leave us
our breathing becomes so still and
so completely dependent upon his voice.
we listen intently and yet
we hear almost unconciously
as he speaks to us
and guides our very breath.
breathe (he whispers)
and our thoughts race
as we are humbled
as we weep for joy
as we feel as though our heart will burst within us
as we laugh and dance
as we look deeply into his face and
we blush.
