Author Archives: Mark Sankey

A New Creation

19 Tuesday Aug 2025

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A New Creation

(Rom. 3:22, 10:11-17, 1 Cor. 1:30, 2 Cor. 5:17, Eph 2:4-9, Heb. 11:6)

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  How do we get into Christ?  It is by faith.  Faith itself is a gift and work of God.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  The Greek rema refers to a spoken word.  We know that the written words in the Bible, as inspired by the Spirit, can be heard by the spirit of a man.  The word of God itself carries the ability to open a heart to hear.  So why is it that, as I experienced as a young man, that we can read, memorize, and be taught the words in the Bible and faith does not occur?  The actual presence of the Holy Spirit makes all the difference.

It is all a work of God, by the Spirit.  When faith comes, we have no basis to boast.  I searched the scripture for the following thought which I read somewhere.  Of God are you in Christ Jesus, it is the gift of God lest any man should boast.  The closest actual Bible passage I found is the reference from Ephesians 2.  Please read that for yourself.  I think it is safe to say the thought I shared is true.  It is a work of God that we are in Christ.  It was His intention, before the world existed, that He would gather a people for and to Himself in His Son.  As we believe into Christ, His history becomes ours.  His death, His resurrection, His ascension, becomes our story.  Our life is bound with His, by the working of God.  Then we can bear witness, give a testimony as we might say, of what He has done in our lives.  His story becomes our story.  Our story is wrapped up in His.

This is the gospel, the good news.  In Christ, all things become new.  At the first instance of receiving the Spirit, we may know unbridled joy.  At some point we all will experience that if we follow Jesus.  It touches our emotions but does not begin there.  The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  When we first receive the kingdom, we taste all three.  As we go on, and are growing in grace, we know more and more.  We are led further and further into the kingdom.  Our hunger for it increases.  We have tasted the new creation and we are wrecked, crucified, for this world.  The old things pass away.  That is the work of holiness, that we are separated to God.  That is His work, a changed heart.

The new creation is in Christ Jesus.  The Son was with our Father at the creation of the cosmos, the universe.  All we see was created by, through, and for the Son.   He worked with the Father.  Who can explain such things?  No one.  By faith we know that the world was created by God.  He created it out of who He is.  That is why David could write Psalm 19.  Another assignment for you.  As wickedness increased in the world, because mankind was dead in trespasses and sins, God sent His Son in the form of a man, Jesus.  God was beginning the work of the new creation.

As I pondered the new creation one day, it came to me that the new is in reverse of the old.  In the first creation, the universe, the earth, the plants, the animals were all created and then man.  Adam was the finish of the natural creation.  First the natural was created, then, in Christ, the spiritual, the new creation was begun.  When Adam was formed, the Lord already knew He would draw Eve out of Adam’s side.  So with Christ, the church, His bride, was born out of His side.  Jesus Christ is the first born from the dead, the first born of a new creation.  When He returns in fulness, we will see mankind resurrected, made new and we will see a new heaven and a new earth. Now, while we honor the law and the prophets, Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, and all those of faith, may we move fully into all that Christ is in the new covenant.  He has fulfilled all and is gathering us all into that one new man.  He is doing the new thing He spoke through Isaiah and others.  The Spirit is the river that Ezekiel saw and was led into until it was over his head.  Let the Spirit lead you deeper into Christ that His currents would carry you into all he has purposed for you.  Along the way, you will lose the old and Jesus will make all things new.

Repentance

21 Monday Apr 2025

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Repentance

Metanoia is the Greek word we translate repentance.  It means a change of mind.  John the Baptist preached repentance as he prepared the way for Jesus.  And Jesus said the same as He began His public ministry.  It strikes me that the beginning of it for any of us is to hear God speak to us through Jesus.  It may begin with the prophets, with reading the Bible, but at some point we realize it is Jesus that we need to listen to.  Before we change our behavior, we realize some behavior, sin, is not what we want.   As I have struggled with sin, I have said, “Lord, you didn’t make me for this.”  And I have also prayed, “Lord, what is my problem?”  Our old nature or, as a pastor called it, our self-life, dies hard.  It is stubborn like a tough weed.  I have found that we can talk to the Lord, and better yet, pour out our heart, over it.  We can grieve.  O’ur failures and the grief that comes is part of Jesus work on the cross for us. The very grief of our failures is something He bore on the cross.  He has carried our griefs and sorrows.  Thank you, Lord Jesus.

I heard a message in which the pastor led us to a simple prayer.  Purify me, Lord.  The Lord hears and responds.  The first step is a removal of guilt and shame as we draw near to Him.  He is always faithful to welcome us into His presence when we stray.   Remember the Father’s response to the wayward son who was returning.  While he was still far away but had decided to return, to repent, the Father ran to meet him and restore him quickly.   No purgatorial type  of time lap here. I think it matters that this was a wayward son.  Without debate this one knew the Spirit, was a child of our Father, our Abba.  He was restored quickly with joy and given authority.  May we note the hardness of the elder son who had wandered more seriously even as he ‘served’ in our Father’s house.  He had lost heart connection.  Who had wandered more seriously?

Beholding Christ, we are changed.  Eternal change is a work of the Spirit from the inside out as we say.  An encounter with Jesus, the living Christ, brings us to know the love of God.  We then want to respond and please Him.  It includes a change in our emotions, thoughts and will.  The Spirit will bring us through situations and testing so that we will see who we are, that He has called us to be His in every part of our lives.  He is our redeemer,  the One who loves us and brings us home.  Think of that son who left home, wasted his life, and woke up one day to return to his Father’s house.  He is welcomed home with a hug, a robe of righteousness and authority.  He responds by serving in His Father’s house with joy.  Repentance is a matter of growing to know the heart of our Father and guarding our hearts from offense and growing cold.  It is continual and a process.

Prayer and Fasting

08 Saturday Mar 2025

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Prayer and Fasting

The title starts with prayer.  As believers, as disciples we recognize the importance of prayer.  Prayer touches everything in our spiritual lives,  It is our connection with God.  Jesus prayed.  Prophets and kings prayed throughout the Old Testament period.  Without thinking about it, I realized I was moved to write this as we begin Lent.  Just last night, I was at the Wednesday night gathering at the church where I am connected.  While worship and prayer go on in the auditorium, small groups meet in side rooms.  When I got back to the apartment building where I live and I mentioned being at church, one of the residents said, “Oh, for Ash Wednesday.”  That was not a thought all day or night.  In the particular church I was at, it was ironic that Ash Wednesday was not mentioned but someone brought king cake which was a delicious coffee cake.  That is made as part of Mardi Gras, that very earthy celebration, which originally meant something else.

Without apology or criticism of others, I have never followed the practice of Lent.  I found it outward.  I have practiced following Christ, taking up my cross, and suffering loss of self.  If anything, I have erred into self-effacing habits, harmful ways, forgetting the mercy and grace of Jesus.  He loves me, He loves us, and gave Himself for us that we might live and walk in a way that attracts others to this awesome, beautiful Christ.  Keith Greene wrote words to a song that said, “Make my life a prayer to You.”  Some might say that is too nebulous but I those reading this understand Keith’s prayer.  Prayer is communion with our Father.  That is part of what Jesus came to bring us.  It is an essential part that He modeled perfectly.  Our prayer life grows and matures.

Jesus lived a life of prayer and fasting.  Consider that Jesus walked this earth for about 33 years before He raised the first born of a new creation.  For 30 years He was preparing for a ministry that in three years changed the course of history.  God so loved the cosmos, that means the entire universe, the entire creation.  In His resurrected form He was not readily recognized by Mary in the garden or by the disciples when He later met them on the beach in Galilee.  You will have to search out your Bible to read these accounts carefully.  The same was true on the road to Emmaus.  The resurrected Jesus Christ was new, so new He was not readily recognized.  Now we know Him by the Spirit.  Develop a life of prayer and fasting.  He wants to spend time with you and enjoys you spending time with Him.

Out of the Old, Into the New

10 Tuesday Sep 2024

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Out of the Old, Into the New

(Heb. 1:1-4, Phil. 2:5-8, Heb. 8:13, John 5:30, 8:28,38)

Over the last 2000 some years, since the Son of God appeared in the likeness of a man, many have attempted to wrap their brains around this mystery.  It is simply not possible for the natural mind to explain what is a mystery and a marvel.  Jesus is the full expression of our Father in heaven.  In humility, and in truth, He called Himself the Son of Man.  We capitalize that to honor Him but He did not carry around a sign with capital letters.  In His 33 years here as a man, He remained a mystery.  I think the one person who had the greatest insight was His mother, Mary.  I have thought she said what she did at Cana because that is how it was in their household as Jesus grew.  If they had a need, Jesus would pray, would listen, and His Father, God, would show Him what to do.  Some of us think He acted on His own.  He plainly said He did not do it apart from His Father.

Something changed sometime before the wedding at Cana.  Jesus had submitted to water baptism and was anointed on another level as we read.  After being tempted severely while fasting, He began a public ministry like no other.  He was prepared to do amazing miracles and had learned to do works as His Father showed Him to do. If we search the stories of the prophets and kings of Israel and Judah, no one comes close to Him.  He is so much greater, so much wiser, so pure and undefiled by any sin.  He is full of grace and truth.  Yet He spoke with Elijah and Moses and three disciples saw the transfiguration.  Jesus wanted to give them a glimpse they would never forget.  That scene would enable them to endure things later.  While the shadows and types of the old covenant provide insights into the glory of Christ, nothing can touch the wonder of a revelation of Him, by the Spirit.

Some would call the old covenant the first.  That is fine but it puts it on a par with the eternal covenant established before the foundation of the earth, even of all of the cosmos.  The eternal covenant was displayed at that table when Jesus said “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”  Nothing compares to the new covenant for it is ratified by the blood of the spotless Lamb of God.  New wine poured into an old wineskin will cause it to burst.  The new wine will then spill on to others.  That is what happened at Pentecost.  The old could not receive it and by 70 AD the temple had been destroyed.  The old wineskin burst.  Those who did not receive the new were found empty of life.  If you want to be a new wineskin, leave the old behind and come fully into the new. For until the Spirit was poured out, the fulness of God’s purpose could not appear.  Jesus appeared so that the Father could birth many more like Him.

The old should be honored.  The Lord gave the law, the feasts, the ordinances of the tabernacle, and the temple.  All of these are swallowed up in Christ.  He is the sum of all spiritual things.  He is the full revelation of the Father.  The shadows of the old do provide pictures of Christ and the tabernacle shows steps into the presence of God.  The substance is Christ.  How long do we remain in the old and not press into the life of discipleship and follow the Lamb?  Some are following the feasts and the Hebrew calendar.  It has a value in instruction.  Some assign moments and gatherings on that calendar.  Why are we still circling this mountain?  All the promises, all that the Lord would do, is found in His Son, in Jesus Christ.  We are on this path to be found in Him, to know Him who is our life.

As this knowledge of Christ increases, we grow as sons, as mature ones.  We see that He is making all things in our lives new.  That new life is to flow to others, just as it did through Jesus.  That is not heretical.  It is in line with His words that greater works would we do because He has gone to the Father.  He has received all authority and the Spirit which He poured out.  We learn to cooperate with our Father.  Our Father is a creator who makes all things new.  May we walk in that so that life flows wherever we go.

Son of Man, Son of God

27 Monday May 2024

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Son of Man, Son of God

(Phil. 2:5-9, 2 Pet. 3:14-16, Heb. 1:1-3, Matt. 11:28-30)

One of the amazing, wonderful aspects of God’s love for us and the Good News is that the Son of God took on humanity.  He became fully one of us.  Do we fully believe He is God incarnate, God taking on human flesh?  Paul wrote He emptied Himself.  Peter acknowledged that Paul wrote things hard to understand.  He may not have meant Paul’s words to the Philippians in particular but we can all admit that we cannot of our own thinking explain the incarnation.  It must be believed and known and comes by a revealing by the Spirit.  If we hunger for it, the Lord is pleased to open our eyes.

Many discuss the concept of the three persons of the Godhead.  Our words fail us.  The Lord is the Spirit.  The Father and the Son are one.  Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.”  He used the name that God used for Moses, and those who were blind to the truth were incensed.  He offended their understanding, their identity as spiritual elites. The Bible includes other statements of Jesus identifying Himself as God.  I know that people of good intention have written on the subject of explaining, or considering, the Trinity.  That is of value.  Yet, I would rather help people to meet Jesus for themselves and to go on following Him.

The best comment I have ever heard concerning Jesus’ dual nature was at a Denny’s.  Jesus shows up wherever hearts are seeking Him.  A group of men were having breakfast and fellowship.  I spoke to the elder of the group about these issues and he responded, “It is a mystery and a marvel.”  That is the best, simplest, and yet, profound comment I have ever heard to describe the nature of the Son of God who is the Son of Man.  We understand, He had to be man to represent and literally die in our place so that we might have life that will never die.  And He had to be born as a man by the Spirit so that He would be void of Adam’s sin.  Yet He was tempted in every way as we are but overcame by following the truth.  Back to a mystery and marvel.  My limited mind cannot explain it.  I believe He is all I need spiritually and by the Spirit I receive grace upon grace.  I do not have to, nor can I understand it all.

Jesus most often referred to Himself as the Son of Man.  I have found myself in a word study of the various words used for child and son throughout the New Testament.  John prefers to use the Greek word teknon regarding believers as His children. I understand that word to imply a “born one.”  With true faith in Christ, we are born again to a living hope.  Jesus Christ becomes our hope for all things spiritual, in this life and the age to come.  John also uses the Greek, huios, which infers a mature child, a son, who is prepared to have and exercise authority.  John uses that word when he refers to Christ.  True authority is always in submission to a higher authority.  The Son of Man was subject to earthly authority as well as to our Father in heaven.  It is a mystery that He was always in subjection to His Father as a man, like us, and He knew His purpose, as the Lamb without blemish.  No one compares to Him.  No one.  So, God gave Him all authority and all are now subject to Him.  All means all.  Do we believe that? We are not in control, He is.  When we try to control a situation, we get in the Lord’s way, and typically, we will get stressed.  Jesus calls us to come to Him when we are stressed, or burdened.  There, with Him, we find relief and rest for our souls.  And, He says, to take His yoke on us.  That means we get joined with Him and we learn to walk with Him and handle things in our life His way.  And what did He say in the middle of that passage recorded in Matthew?  “For I am gentle (meek) and lowly in heart.”  Jesus is the full expression of God and His nature is not proud and controlling.  God is meek and lowly.  And He is all powerful.  Jesus set that aside to come as the Son of Man.  And He invites us to join with Him as sons alongside Him.

Adam Is Dead, Jesus Christ Is Alive

25 Monday Mar 2024

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Adam is Dead, Jesus Christ Is Alive

(Gen. 1:16-17, Rom. 8:1-14, 2 Cor 5:14-17)

We often hear that Adam and Eve fell.  We might say that is true, but it is more than that.  They died, in their ability to fellowship with God.  By fellowship, we mean they were removed from His presence, from closeness, or intimacy with Him.  Their failure to listen and follow God’s instruction brought about great loss.  It was the start of the fact that humanity, apart from Christ, is dead in disobedience and sin.  I reread a message I had read a long time ago.  The writer clarifies this that Adam died.  The Lord had said if they ate of that fruit of knowing the difference between good and evil, they would certainly die.  They died spiritually.

Paul describes Christ Jesus as the last Adam.  When He died, Christ died for all, and all died.  That addressed physical death.  He destroyed the devil who had the power of physical death, because of the failure in the garden.  Christ restored spiritual life that we might have fellowship by the Spirit.  In Christ, God did a great work and cut it short in righteousness.  Jesus life on earth was the most intense battle of human history.  It culminated at the cross and exploded in the resurrection.  In about 33 years, the Lord God violently and beautifully turned all of human history from death to Life.  And that life is in His Son, Jesus.

That is why Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”  Many still have trouble with this “exclusive” sounding statement.  The truth is that Jesus is God’s Son, His gift to the world so that all may come to God.  We must receive Him.  This is not a formula but we can be helped with different suggested prayers.  After the initial reception, the new birth, we may, and most do, experience joy, peace, or some other emotion in a way we have never known it before.  That is a birth, a beginning of a spiritual life.  Some do not ”feel” anything immediately but become more and more aware that Jesus is alive and active in their lives.  We can find no set pattern in the new birth but we know when we have been born of His Spirit.

While Christ died for all, we must receive His life, we must receive the Spirit.  The man Jesus has left this earth as we know.  He said it was better for Him to leave so that He could pour out the Spirit on all flesh.  When we receive Jesus, we receive the Spirit.  We get the whole package, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  He is Holy Spirit.  Not some religious spirit that makes us spiritual.  We all have a spirit but that spirit must be made alive by the Spirit of Christ.  This is that same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead.  Like Him, the Son of Man, we were raised together with Him, so that we might learn to walk as he walked.

As we seek to understand the time in which we live and learn to walk by the Spirit, the word “replacement” shows up in controversy.  Has the church replaced Israel?  We miss the point of the resurrection.  Adam was finished and “replaced” with Christ.  Perhaps that is not the best way to express it.  Rather, when Jesus was raised from the dead, a new creation began.  He is the first born from the dead.  He is the first born of a new creation.  He is the first of a new race of man.  Therefore, we can see that in Him, no sense of earthy culture or identity exist.  Spiritually, He is completely heavenly, no longer bound by any earthly restraints.  It is not so yet with us.

We, who live in this world are not yet in resurrected bodies, but in our spirits, we are each, and together as His body, a new creation.  We are His body and interdependent on one another to fulfill all His purpose in the earth.  If we think we can operate independently, we are deceived and can find ourselves in trouble if move out of relationship.  To be sure, we must see that we are members of the body that is Christ.  We are branches of the vine that He is.  Our mental analysis cannot comprehend such truth.  Jesus said, I am the true vine, and you (we) are the branches.  Abide in me, He says.  By the Spirit, we experience that.

Sons Are Led by the Spirit

29 Thursday Feb 2024

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Sons Are Led by the Spirit

(Heb. 2:10,11, Rom. 8:14, Gal. 5:16-18, Prov. 20:12)

Recently, I heard a message that resonated strongly.  One of the themes was our identity.  We are children of the living God.  Yes, we have all sinned.  We all miss the mark.  Only One, the Lord Jesus, the Christ, never missed.  He was led by the Spirit and followed perfectly.  Wait, you say, He was the Son of God.  He was and is but He had emptied Himself and humbled Himself so that He might fully identify with us.  He was a man filled with the Spirit, and was born without our sinful nature.  A mystery is over this man Jesus.  He was filled with the Spirit while in the womb.  Later, He was anointed for the greatest ministry the world has seen.  But we cannot use words to define who is.  He is a mystery and a marvel.  A greater marvel is that we are sons, being brought to glory.

In the greater “church” we can take the words from the pages and apply them without the Spirit.  How do we know?  The fruit does not match the truth.  It does not smell right, to our spirits.  We may see legalism or license.  Which church is perfect?  None.  But do many churches have truth?  Yes.  By truth, do we mean correct doctrine?  I ask, what is that?  A set of principles only, or life-giving words?  Do we see life and fruit?  Are we growing in the knowledge of the Lord?  Do we see disciples?  Are people knowing the effect of the cross and repentance and then become more spiritually alive?

Are we being led by the Spirit?  Do we know the One who inspired those to write those words that are compiled in the book?  Our brother, Frank Viola, wrote a book where he mentions the fact that Paul wrote other letters that we do not have.  It is clear that he wrote a letter to those in Laodicea that we do not have.  Why?  I don’t know.  If we asked the Lord would He shed some light on that?  Will we seek Him or do we debate among ourselves correct doctrines?  Those debates only reveal our limitations to understand what we cannot fully know.  Yet, some of the controversies among believers today are simply foolish and more about trying to preserve a framework, or denomination.  We ought to care more for the house not made with hands that the Lord is building.  It is composed of true disciples who are living stones. They are one with Him.  They are His bride.  His church has no other definition.

We say this life in God is about a relationship.  The written words we have compare it to a marriage.  I would say to you that in this life, which is a vapor, that relationship is the closest to entering the kingdom of God.  But that is because I am wired more like John than like Peter, or Paul.  Other pictures that we have of the kingdom are just as important.  I could say I am also wired a bit like some others in the household of faith.  See Hebrews 11.  Among them, who was perfect?  Faith in, and of, the One who is perfect, is our victory.  This is the victory which overcomes the world, even our faith.  I will not give the reference so that you search it out for yourself.

Each one of us is unique.  No two of us are alike.  Are you grateful, accepting of who God made you to be?  Are you accepting with thanks the life He wrote for you before the world was?  I continue to consider the words of Ps 139.  Allow the seasons where He holds you still in some areas.  In this life in the Spirit, His leading may have you wait for Him to prepare you and others for the next chapter.  Led to wait?  Yes, His ways are higher than ours and past finding out.  Submitting to the loving direction of your heavenly Father is always a good plan.  We are like soil that needs to be prepared to receive.  I am seeing that the gifts God brings us include people.  From a kingdom perspective, relationships are not about us but about Jesus.  This does not mean we do not enjoy one another’s company.  Our family members can be enjoyed and we can help each other to grow in Christ.  We are allowed to have fun.  But, can we have too much fun?  We know the answer.

He creates the hearing ear.  His sheep know His voice.  Let Him who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says.  We refer to that still small voice but do we believe it?  The hymn writer penned that He walks with me and He talks with me.  Yes, we have filters that can distort His voice.  Ultimately we must trust Him and not lean on our understanding.  This life with Him, this walk, is a walk led by the Spirit.  It is a righteous walk, free from sin which means when we sin, we repent quickly.  Lord, pour Your grace on us all.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

23 Saturday Dec 2023

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Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

(Matt. 28:19, John 14, 17:20-23)

I began to think about this phrase.  When I searched for it in the Bible, I found it only appeared in one place in that exact form.  Of course, the three persons are mentioned often in different ways.  Our concept of the “trinity” fails to touch the mystery of our God.  Are we settling for some version of Him, or are we pressing in and pressing on to know Him, as He is?  When He does not meet our expectation, do we begin to look for other answers, other solutions?  He is ever desiring us, and drawing us to know Him.  Life is not so slow and ponderous that we can stop to decide which “person” we are crying out to.  Let Him decipher that groan that is too deep to utter.  A fervent cry of “God, help me,” is a powerful prayer.

It is His Spirit, Holy Spirit, who is here now!  And some still discuss cessationism.  Stop!  I mean that. STOP!!  We do not control Him.  We need Him as the ever-present conductor of our lives, individually, and together.  Without His fullness, we leave room for religious spirits.  The fruit of the Spirit includes self-control.  That means the Spirit’s control, not our own reputation-protecting, “good” behavior.  We must allow the Father to be our gardener as Jesus, the Son, taught us.  He would go deep and get at the roots of our troubles.  It is the Spirit who searches the deep things of God and He is the One who searches us.  See Psalm 139.  It is a continual process as we will submit, surrender, and recognize the altar is His cross where we were crucified.  Will we submit daily to the Spirit’s working?

We will not get this perfect.  May we seek Him in our gatherings and fellowship.  We have many forms and traditions.  If we take a critical view, we miss the life-giving flow of the Spirit.  As Jesus spoke to His own little flock concerning His departure and the Holy Spirit’s coming, He spoke about dwelling places.  God wants a place to dwell among us.  And He comes in His fulness.  The Father and the Son, in all that they are, want to dwell with us.  This is more than a visit.  He wants to stay!  He provides all that is needed.  It is for us to say yes.  He says for us to keep His commandments and that He, Jesus, and the Father, will make their home in us.  We know that His commandment is that we love one another.

We can take great encouragement that His desire is for this unity among us.  As we stay tuned in to His Spirit, we remain in a place to be drawn closer.  It is a daily process.  The singleness of His purpose is seen in His work in our lives.  Years ago, I heard the three persons of God expressed as a divine runaround.  The Spirit reveals and glorifies Jesus.  Jesus directs our attention to the Father, saying He is greater than Himself.  The Father commends the Son, saying He is well pleased in Him.  The Father gives all authority to the Son and gives Him the Spirit which He pours out on us.  Receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus says.

So it is the Spirit who dwells with us.  He is the Lord.  He is God with us.  He will take what Jesus gives Him and give it to us.  As we allow Him to work in us, fruit will come.  First the flower and eventually the fruit.  Be patient while He works.  Don’t be too introspective.  It can be like watching grass grow.  We can become frustrated that it is not happening fast enough.  If we find ourselves so, He is more patient, more gracious.  He is never frustrated.  He would work among us so that we would continually confer honor on one another.  Even as the Father, Son, and Spirit do.  Love covers, hides, a multitude of sins.

I found my way back to John 17.  The thoughts here are so high, only God can answer the thoughts Jesus prays.  That we would be one with one another as He and the Father are one.  That singleness of heart, mind, will, and action is so beautiful, so wonderful.  We know it cost Jesus everything in this life so that God might fulfill Jesus’ prayer.  He was on His way to pay a price we cannot comprehend.  The inestimable value of the life of the Son of God was laid down.  After the prayer of John 17, He went on to the garden and prayed again.  His humanity was exposed for us to see.  Now He is highly exalted restored to the place He was with our Father before the world was.  The Father, the Son and the Spirit in one accord.  May we be so also, one with them, and one with one another.

Old and New

19 Thursday Oct 2023

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Old and New

(Rev. 21:5, Luke 9:51-56, 2 Cor. 3:4-18)

“Behold I make all things new,” says the One who sits on the throne.  Those are words Jesus Christ spoke to John when he was still in exile on Patmos.  John’s new thing would include release from the island and more peaceful days in Ephesus.  At that moment did he even think he might be released?  Tradition tells us he lived with Mary in a house in Ephesus, fulfilling one of his commissions from the Lord, to care for her.  Simply being present can be a powerful expression of love.  So John was present with Mary.

We do well to stop and think about the real context of Jesus’ days upon the earth, rather than only our theological concepts.  Jesus days were real, they were raw.  For many of us, our walk with Him has been so.  We should be grateful for those who have grown up in godly atmospheres and choose to serve His people.  They step into the raw and help clean up messes.  If we walk in compassion as Jesus did, we are positioned to participate to truly help.  The greatest help comes in cooperation with the Spirit.  By the Spirit, Christ Jesus, enters the scene through one of His own and makes something raw, new and beautiful.  We may find that the most beautiful expressions of love can look very raw.  Think of the cross.

We are learning to live and walk and serve by the Spirit.  Ministering a healing, a miracle, is an example of serving.  When we think we have done a work of power, may the Lord humble us so we let go of the glory.  We see works of power, healings done through Elijah and Elisha.  Other prophets were mainly messengers.  I appreciate messages and songs that note the power displayed through Elijah and honor the spirit of Elijah.  Yet, I want to be filled with the Spirit of Christ.  I would never speak critically of Elijah.  He was an awesome man of God.  The disciples referred to him when they were ready to call down fire on a city that did not receive Jesus.  Our Lord Jesus responded that they did not know what spirit they were of.  He came to save lives, to make all things new not to destroy.

We tend to wander back into the law and prophets but they cannot bring life or make things new.  Of course, we find a revelation of Christ in the law and prophets.  However, the new covenant has replaced, and is replacing, the old.  Nothing new and life giving is found in it.  It points us to Christ Jesus who is the life giver.  The law itself, written in stone, is a minister of death.  It shows us we are dead and need a savior, One who gives us never ending life, by the Spirit.  We need to press into Him, alone.  Paul waits to be executed and writes to the Philippians that he has suffered the loss of all things regarding his natural and religious life.  He looks to be found in Christ having no (that means zero) righteousness of his own, which is from the law.  By this he means the entire law.  I have read the law, that which Moses wrote or dictated to scribes.  It all moves us to the One, to Christ Jesus, in whom all righteousness is fulfilled.  He summed it all in loving one another, preferring one another.  Who loves like Jesus loves?

Love is the fulfillment of the law.  The law drives us to the throne of grace where we find mercy and grace.  It is His life in us that enables us to love.  May we increase in love.  Pursue love and earnestly desire, seek after spiritual gifts.  Those gifts are the impartations of the Spirit of Christ.  The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is the author of every new thing.  He is the Creator.  He is the life giver.  He is the teacher of all truth.  He brings to mind the words of Christ and reveals Him in greater and greater measure.  Then newness will spring forth from our innermost beings.  Then we are changed.  The new comes and old things pass away.  They will be remembered no more.  That is the victory, the life that God has promised and gives.  Receive His grace today.

The Preeminence of Christ

26 Tuesday Sep 2023

Posted by in The Riches of Christ

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The Preeminence of Christ

(Eph. 1:17-23, 4:10, Rom. 14:17, Dan. 10:4-10)

I have recently heard the phrase of the title mentioned by two different followers of Christ.  I would first remind us that Jesus is the Christ.  I write this because I hear some cast the Christ apart from the man Jesus, or add some other distortion to His person.  I have heard it said that He is a mystery and a marvel and I appreciate that simple statement.  I think it is a great way to express the truth.  It is a mystery that God took on human flesh.  Let us not be distracted by words and our inability to comprehend the wisdom and love of God to display his immeasurable love by sending His Son.  He left heaven yet was always aware of His Father’s presence with Him.  We could continue sharing about His time on earth among mankind but most important that we grow in knowing Him as He is today.

God has highly exalted Him, this man Jesus, and given Him a place and a name above every name and authority.  No one compares to Him.  We are called to make Him our Lord, but I have found that I first simply acknowledge that He is Lord.  He alone is worthy to rule.  And I am wise enough to know that I must receive His Spirit, be filled up continually with that Holy Spirit, and let down my resistance to His working in my life.  By the Spirit, His kingdom, His rule, is expressed in and through us.  The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.  His lordship is made known in and through us by the Spirit.

Some among His people are concerned about an increased emphasis of the Spirit in our day.  The real problem throughout the church has been our own doubts and fears of things getting out of control.  The Corinthians were out of control because they were dealing with their earthly, carnal natures.  It takes time for us to grow.  Patience with those under our spiritual care is critical to an atmosphere of grace.  But we must never allow the deception that we can continue as we came and not grow.  The letter to the Romans acknowledges that some are still practicing corrupt lifestyles.  Paul took the time to teach them and bring them to Romans 12.  He beseeches them to present their bodies a living sacrifice.  That word, beseech, is a strong word.  Dictionary meanings include to beg earnestly or urgently.  We could say implore.  Paul’s heart was in it.  The Spirit is patient yet earnestly after us.  He pursues our hearts relentlessly.

Why this pursuit?  The Spirit is after Christ’s bride.  She must be clean, spotless, without wrinkles.  We might despair and say, it’s not possible.  Remember the thief on the cross.  He is welcomed into Paradise.  It can take a lifetime to be truly clean.  We want to bypass the work of the cross.  We all want to avoid pain.  We must each know Him for ourselves.  No other way can be found.  He is a personal savior, and He is the savior of His body.  He is the preeminent Bridegroom.  He, by the Spirit is perfecting us together.  May we submit to Him and one another along the way.

He has provided one way to be perfected, to mature.  Beholding Him we are changed.  We do learn some things through counseling and wisdom through others.  Ultimately the only change comes in the secret place, shut in and seeing Him, the One who is seated on the mercy seat.  It will expose our weakness and any dark corner in our hearts.  Daniel saw Him in His glory.  His life was committed to the Living God so that he was ready for the vision he had.  He wrote that no strength remained in him and he repeated that thought.  The Spirit made it clear that Daniel was emptied.  Daniel wrote his goodness was turned into corruption and he was in a deep sleep on his face.  It took a touch from God and a moment of trembling to restore Daniel. The call remains to seek His face.  That call is repeated throughout the Bible.  He alone is worthy of our attention.  He is glorious.  He alone sits far above all rule and authority.  He is worthy of our lives.  And His perfect love casts out fear.