Trevor
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- Aug 10, 2019
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I received this thought or (revelation) this morning and felt it might make an interesting debate
Matthew 8:22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me , and let the dead bury their own dead." Where did this statement originate? The garden of Eden. Originally Adam and Eve enjoyed the company of the Lord as they walked together in the garden in the cool of the day, this was a garden of Truth, a garden of Life, nothing evil resided there. However, God had given Adam a command; He was free to eat from all the trees in the garden, but he must not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when he did, he would surely die. When he did? not if he did? That's telling. But then the Lord did a strange thing, he allowed Satan in the guise of a serpent to enter the garden. God, being omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, had to know the consequences of this, the consequences being, a new direction for Adam and Eve. Eve was, it could be said, naive, she had never heard a lie because lies, up until then, had not entered the garden. So when Satan tempted Eve with lies, she could only believe him. Adam, on the other hand, might not have known what a lie was, but he did understand a command, which choosing Eve over the Lord, he broke. God, being omniscient, allowing the serpent into the garden, had to have anticipated, even orchestrated this outcome, The penalty for Adams disobedience, was eviction from the garden and that included access to the tree of Life. Without access to the tree of Life, Adam was dead (spiritually) The Life of God that kept the whole world functioning continued to keep the evicted couple functioning also, but the tree of Life that gave Life to their spirits, was back in the garden and God had placed cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of Life, denying the couple access.
We hear many well meaning Christians today, beseeching young vulnerable Christians to behave in an appropriate way and obey the teachings they give, to please God and when they inevitably fail, berate them as weak or rebellious, causing them to question whether they are Christians at all? Let's go back to the opening scripture; "let the dead bury their own dead" In the ministry of Jesus, there were occasions when he brought people back to life. Did he say to them "Come on, bring yourself back to life", and then berate the carcass when they couldn't? No, he gave life back to them, and they lived. Before we come to Jesus we are spiritually dead, we can no more give life back to our spirits that a carcass can put flesh back on the bone. How we are reborn, is, we give ourselves, our dead selves, to Jesus, and as he brought Lazarus back to life from the dead, so he does us. Lazarus could not bring himself back, neither can we. We are brought back to life by our saviour, he starts by feeding us the milk of the Word. Our brothers and sisters can't do it. As in the world, the only one who can feed us our true breast milk is our mother. In our faith, it's the helper, the counsellor who does it through the Word and only he knows the strength of the Word we need, and as we grow, only our counsellor knows the strength of the food we need to eat, and by the time we are grown; 1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Matthew 8:22 But Jesus told him, "Follow me , and let the dead bury their own dead." Where did this statement originate? The garden of Eden. Originally Adam and Eve enjoyed the company of the Lord as they walked together in the garden in the cool of the day, this was a garden of Truth, a garden of Life, nothing evil resided there. However, God had given Adam a command; He was free to eat from all the trees in the garden, but he must not eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for when he did, he would surely die. When he did? not if he did? That's telling. But then the Lord did a strange thing, he allowed Satan in the guise of a serpent to enter the garden. God, being omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent, had to know the consequences of this, the consequences being, a new direction for Adam and Eve. Eve was, it could be said, naive, she had never heard a lie because lies, up until then, had not entered the garden. So when Satan tempted Eve with lies, she could only believe him. Adam, on the other hand, might not have known what a lie was, but he did understand a command, which choosing Eve over the Lord, he broke. God, being omniscient, allowing the serpent into the garden, had to have anticipated, even orchestrated this outcome, The penalty for Adams disobedience, was eviction from the garden and that included access to the tree of Life. Without access to the tree of Life, Adam was dead (spiritually) The Life of God that kept the whole world functioning continued to keep the evicted couple functioning also, but the tree of Life that gave Life to their spirits, was back in the garden and God had placed cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of Life, denying the couple access.
We hear many well meaning Christians today, beseeching young vulnerable Christians to behave in an appropriate way and obey the teachings they give, to please God and when they inevitably fail, berate them as weak or rebellious, causing them to question whether they are Christians at all? Let's go back to the opening scripture; "let the dead bury their own dead" In the ministry of Jesus, there were occasions when he brought people back to life. Did he say to them "Come on, bring yourself back to life", and then berate the carcass when they couldn't? No, he gave life back to them, and they lived. Before we come to Jesus we are spiritually dead, we can no more give life back to our spirits that a carcass can put flesh back on the bone. How we are reborn, is, we give ourselves, our dead selves, to Jesus, and as he brought Lazarus back to life from the dead, so he does us. Lazarus could not bring himself back, neither can we. We are brought back to life by our saviour, he starts by feeding us the milk of the Word. Our brothers and sisters can't do it. As in the world, the only one who can feed us our true breast milk is our mother. In our faith, it's the helper, the counsellor who does it through the Word and only he knows the strength of the Word we need, and as we grow, only our counsellor knows the strength of the food we need to eat, and by the time we are grown; 1 John 2:27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him.
