John 1:16-17 (Amplified) says, "For out of His fullness (abundance), we have all received, all had a share and were all supplied with, one Grace after another and Spiritual Blessing upon Spiritual Blessing and favor upon favor and Gift heaped upon Gift. For while the Law was given through Moses, Grace (unearned, undeserved favor) and Spiritual Blessing and Truth, came through Jesus Christ."
Most everyone can quote John 1:1-3,14 (Amplified), which says, "In the beginning (before all time), was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being." Verse 14 says, "And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled, fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile among us; and we actually saw His Glory, His honor, His majesty, such Glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of Grace, favor, Loving kindness and Truth."
Most of us probably know both of these scriptures by heart and can easily quote them, but do we truly understand them in our spirit? If these scriptures are True (and they are), then we know that Jesus and the Word are One and Jesus and the Father are One. 1John 5:7 (Amplified) says, "So there are three witnesses in Heaven; the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are One." Hebrews 4:12 (Amplified) says, "For the Word that God speaks is alive and full of power, making it active, operative, energizing and effective; it is sharper than any two-edged sword; penetrating to the dividing line of the breath of Life, soul, and the immortal spirit, and of joints and marrow of the deepest parts of our nature; exposing and sifting and analyzing and judging the very thoughts and purposes of the heart. And not a creature exists that is concealed from His sight but all things are open and exposed, naked and defenseless to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."
Let's, by faith, look at what the above scriptures are telling us. We continually converse about Jesus, as being the Word made flesh, especially as Christmas approaches. We read about this from Isaiah and honor the Baby in the manger, but do we truly understand this while reading God's Word today? God's Word tells us that Jesus and God's Word are One and this is Truth still today. We're not talking about "just another book" or The Bible. It's God speaking to us by Jesus, Who is the Living Word and when we read it, we're actually listening to Him speak to us, by faith.
It's not the physical Bible you're holding, that is Holy, but it's the Word that is inspired by God, that is Holy. We confess and believe that, "The Word became flesh," but we've allowed it to lose it's life, when Jesus ascended to the Father. The Word is still alive and is now made flesh again, in the Body of Christ (the Church). The Word (Christ Jesus) is living in us, like it did in the flesh and blood Body of Jesus. It's speaking through us, just like it did in the Body of flesh that was Jesus.
You receive Revelation Knowledge from on High, when you read the Word and hear the Word. Romans 10:17 (Amplified) says, "So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." When we hear by faith, we're not simply reading a word, but we're hearing The Word, Jesus Himself. Some only understand the letter of the Word, while others understand the Spirit of the Word. Jesus told His followers in John 6:63 (Amplified), "It is the Spirit Who gives Life (He is the Life Giver); the flesh conveys no benefit whatever (there is no profit in it). The Words (Truths) that I have been speaking to you are Spirit and Life."
Even though we're born-again and have the needed education and ability to read, doesn't mean we can receive the Revelation of the Word, because it is Spirit. This is one reason we have so many different people, represented in today's Church. We're divided by some of the teachings we hear. Some are Spirit and Life, while some have no benefit in them at all, because they've come simply by the flesh. I can teach you from God's Word, but only He can give you the Revelation of that teaching.
Listen with your own spirit, what Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) is saying to your spirit. Paul received a Revelation by Jesus Himself (remember that Jesus and the Word are One) and Paul is speaking by Revelation when he writes to the Church. Jesus said that, "The Words I am speaking to you are Spirit and Life" and just because Paul is giving voice to them, doesn't mean they're not Jesus speaking to us. Paul had been demonstrating the differences between the old and new covenants. He had been teaching about the priesthood, sacrifices, and traditions that people were commanded to follow under Law. In order to qualify to receive from God under the old covenant, the people had to follow the Laws.
Through Jesus, Paul reveals the new covenant and the new priesthood of God's people, saying, "Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things hoped for." It's not the Law or ritual, not the sacrifices or the priest who still has to atone for his own sins, before he can be accepted. It's not observing the Sabbath, like those in the old covenant did, but it is "Now faith" that we receive from our new High Priest and covenant. This is the covenant of Grace and not the letter of the Law. It's Jesus Who is alive and full of power and sharper than any two-edged sword. Jesus and Jesus alone, Jesus by His Word, can reach beyond the intellect and reach into the very spirit of a man and woman. He can divide the soul from the spirit and separate even the joints and the marrow of the flesh and bloody body of a man.
It's no longer by Laws, that we govern the flesh, because the flesh cannot reach the spirit. God's Word (Which is Spirit) governs from the spirit of man, to the Spirit of God and this Spirit is Jesus, the Living Word. We must read the Word by faith, because it's only by faith we can hear it. Paul finishes Hebrews 11:1 (Amplified) saying, "Being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality, faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses."
This is the difference between just reading the Word and hearing the Word. One is the senses and the other is Spirit and Life. It's the same Word when it's only written, but it's Jesus the Living Word, when we receive and see it through faith and in the Spirit. The greatest fellowship I have in Jesus, happens when I go through His written Word and He speaks it to my spirit. I don't only have the education to renew my mind, but I have the Revelation to in it's Truth.
This is something personal that happens in my walk with God and I write what I receive from Him. You must take what I write and go to Him, in order to actually see it by faith and walk in it by Revelation. The entire New Testament is Revelation Knowledge, but it must be Revelation. Jesus will show it to you, if you will by faith, perceive as real fact, what it not revealed to the senses, according to Hebrews 11:1.
Your senses cannot perceive Spiritual things, they must come into your spirit by Revelation. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, must make Himself (the Word), "Alive and active and sharper than a two-edged sword and divide from soul and spirit, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him." Remember that Jesus is alive, and because He is the Word, the Word is alive as well. Don't just read the Word with your mind, but hear it with your spirit by faith. Listen to Him, as He speak His Truths to you.
No comments:
Post a Comment