As the Psalmist says, "We are fearfully and wonderfully made and that we know right well," which basically means that we are totally UNIQUE in our physiology and make up, like no other creature on this earth. We have abilities and attributes that no other creatures on the earth have. It is also true that we were created spirit in the beginning, being in the likeness and image of God. It is the mystery of this spiritual life that allows us to function to all other creatures on the planet. Our bodies are tuned like a musical instrument, that when it functions as the creator intended, our whole body operates in perfect harmony.
For this to become realized, the Spirit representing the heavens must rule over the Body (The Earth). We need to remember that this is a divinely appointed principle.
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven(1) to give light upon the earth, and (2) to rule over the day and over the night, and (3) to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
MOON LIGHT REPRESENTS THE REFLECTED LIGHT OF THE CARNAL MIND THAT FORMS THE BASIS OF ALL RELIGION.
In effect we discover that the creator has assigned the SPIRIT to be Lord to rule over our earth, otherwise called our Body. But most people have never understood this principle, or that God is in any way involved in the function of our body. However, we are reminded by the Apostle Paul in 1Cor 6:19 that your Body is the TEMPLE OF GOD and IT DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU. The word “Temple” is a translation of the Greek word “NAOS” referring to THE MOST HOLY PLACE, which is the dwelling place of God.
God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15:18, “In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.” In this covenant the “Promised Land” is a spiritual reference to our body that has been functioning under an alien authority known as the natural or carnal mind. This has caused our body to be a BODY OF SIN, because the carnal mind is an enemy of God, and is not subject to the law of God. Further more, this mind encourages us to do whatever we desire to do, so that we fulfil all our desires and lusts, causing our body to become the expression of the carnal mind, instead of expressing Christ. The promise to Israel through Abraham was that they would possess the literal land of Canaan for God told them that it is yours so go in and take it and everywhere you put your foot that will be yours. Now in the same way it represents God’s promise to us that we are to possess our Land, which represents our body. We need to remember that we are the Heavens and the Earth from the spiritual point of view.
In the case of Israel there were seven nations already living in that land and God told them to drive those people out and take over the land. Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 10:6 that everything that happened to Israel was recorded as examples for us so that we might not make the same mistakes that they did. For we have a similar situation in our body, for there are seven nations already settled in our body which represent the different aspects of our carnal nature. But we also are told that we are to take control of our body and drive out those nations that represent the flesh, because God says “I have given it to you.” We have never really possessed our body, for it has been under the control of an alien power. The carnal mind convinced us that we are simply a mortal human being, assuming control over our body. But when we, actually possess this body it will become the BODY OF CHRIST
All of “Nature” is under the direction of the creator, in whom God has personally written his laws governing their function the earth. So a newborn horse begins to walk not long after being birthed. The birds fly without lessons in flying, and the dog’s bark and act like dogs without instructions. Man is the only creature that spends several years of life, just trying to learn how to walk and talk and function on this earth. Man is born as a helpless baby into this world needing parents in order to survive. For some, they need 20 years and more just to become equipped to function intelligently in this world.
Does this not tell us much about our life here on planet earth? Could we not conclude that God created MAN to live in another world for which we were specifically created, the world of SPIRIT? But we were born into the human race so we immediately began to adapt to our environment by being programmed for this physical material world, believing that this world is indeed the world of our true reality. But listen to the voice of the Apostle Paul in Rom 12: 1-2,
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your spiritual worship. And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God, concerning your body, and the purpose for which I made it available to you.
God is the major partner in the enterprise of our life, “For we are laborers together with God.” Just consider for a moment, how God joins with a mother to bring forth a new life within the womb, bringing the parts of that little body together when there was nothing there. Every time God desires to bring forth another one of his children into this world he simply uses a woman’s body, forming a partnership with her as “Laborers together” to bring it to pass. The woman is not expected to produce the child but simply to allow Father to use her womb, in which he will bring forth another of his children. The woman only has to do her part while Father does his part.
How few women are conscious of being a LABORER TOGETHER WITH GOD, in one of the greatest miracles on the earth today, giving birth to a new life? So many women only have memories of morning sickness, pain and suffering, instead of remembering what should have been the greatest experience of joining with God to produce the miracle of life itself. How many young people consider they are, “Laborers together with God” in their studies to fit themselves for the vocation he has planned for their life. The great majority of people on this planet live without any thought that God may have a personal interest in every one he has put on this earth. The saddest thing that we can face in life as we get old, is to think about what perhaps we could have been, or we could have done, but we never consulted our heavenly Father.
We are by our culture and ethics, together with the already developed nature of parents and siblings, who’s “Learned Responses” were quickly transferred to us. If our parents never truly learned LOVE from their parents, then usually the children will be brought up having a similar deficiency. Anger is a “Learned Response,” the same cheating and lying, so as we witnessed those who to succeed using those attributes, we decided to include them in our own path of life. Out of all we see and observe during our formative years, we chart the course of our own life, based upon the choices WE have made.
Life on this earth for us rests upon a series of decisions that we make voluntarily. In creation we were given a mind, an image, and a likeness all of which we received from God our FATHER. This was established in that first MAN created in Gen 1:26 who was the only son God ever created. However, he was a corporate man out of whom all of mankind has come, being created IN CHRIST JESUS, God’s only son. Eph 2:10. The Image and Likeness related to the nature and character of God, that he incorporated in all of mankind through creation. In that mind that we received in creation, was all the knowledge of God, but for so many, such knowledge has never been accessed. It is as if some curtain has been drawn across the life we had in God from creation, preventing us from remembering what we once knew. As a result of our ignorance of spiritual intelligence, mankind decided to gather their wisdom and knowledge from the TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, that God warned would produce DEATH the day you access it.
Let us consider where sickness and death have their origin. In the Garden of Eden there was NO SICKNESS OR DEATH for nothing ever died there. This Garden is not Literal but is Spiritual, representing a consciousness of God’s presence within every one. In our inner “Garden” there is no lack of any kind, for in his presence there is fullness of Joy, and nothing that defiles can enter in to bring discord to the atmosphere of Father’s Love, Joy and Peace. We are not told how long Adam enjoyed that perfect communion and fellowship he shared with God in the Garden. However, we know that a time came when Adam’s relationship with God was broken, and Death cast its ugly shadow over the Garden. Let us look at the issues that brought about such a tragedy.
We go back to Genesis 1:26 to be reminded that MAN is the product of a Word God spoke. This indicates that the MAN fulfilled the total expression of what was in the Mind and the Heart of God, when he SPOKE that creative Word, “Let us make MAN.” This man was in the Likeness and Image of God, which means that God established his nature and character within the Man. This would also cause a sense of guilt in the man if he violated the nature or character of God, and would result in a break in relationship. So we read that the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and while he slept the female part of his being was separated from him. This experience opens for us the Adamic Dream World, for this chapter in Genesis cannot be considered to be LITERAL for it is an Allegory.
The reason for this is the fact that it is impossible to divide spirit. There is no such thing as “Half a spirit,” and neither is there such a thing, as a Male Spirit or a Female Spirit, for spirit has no gender. God is spirit, which is both male and female, and so he could bring forth out of himself a son, without having to find a woman to assist him in producing children. James 1:18 States, “Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creatures, or of the God kind of people.” In Acts 17:28 Paul says, “In God we LIVE, and MOVE, and have our BEING, as certain of your own poets have said, for we also are his OFFSPRING.” Man is the product of whatever God is, just think about this! So God told Adam in Gen 1:28, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” This was not said to Adam and Eve, for she had not appeared as a separate entity at that point in time.
We may well ask the question, why was this female part of Adam taken from him to become a separate entity. My understanding was that first of all God wanted to reveal to us what is the role that the Soul or the female part of spirit would play, and how it would function. The removing of the female part of spirit did not take place in creation but later, for in Gen 2:7 the Lord God, who was the MAN created in Gen 1:26 brought forth a manifestation of himself giving him a FORM or a body made from the dust of the earth. However the form (Body) had no life in itself, but the Lord God breathed into the nostrils of that man the breath of life that he received from God. This is the Man who was put in the Garden of Eden with the charge to take care of it and to guard it, who also walked with God every day in the Garden of Eden in intimate fellowship and communion. The body that Adam had at that time was the same as the man who walked out of the tomb on the day of resurrection. That body was spirit in manifestation, for the spirit was in control of the body, and every cell was energized by the spirit and functioned accordingly.
In the world today our body is under the control of the Carnal or Natural mind. The original mind given to man in creation was the Mind of Christ who is spirit. That mind contains all the knowledge of God and all the wisdom of God and is programmed for righteousness. But the woman taken out of Adam in the allegory of Gen 2, was separated from Adam having become a LIVING SOUL. This soul consists of the MIND the EMOTIONS and the WILL, but due to the separation from Adam who is Christ, this Mind has no input from the spirit so it became Natural or Carnal. Such a mind can never know God, for it functions through five natural senses, through which we establish the realities of our life. None of these senses can reveal God to us. Under the control of that mind we wander in the darkness of ignorance for we are unable to know God who is spirit. Also our body that was spirit in manifestation originally (Gen 2:7), now became flesh and blood and became subject to every sickness, disease and death that is in the world.
The reason for this is because we do not hear the energizing voice of the Living God, which has the power to recreate the cells of our body.
However, the Mind of the Living soul now took over control of our body, causing it to become a BODY OF SIN according to Rom.6:6. This Natural Mind assumed control allowing us to do whatever WE wanted to do, to satisfy the desires and lusts of the flesh. Our body became the vessel, to fulfil our personal desires, because we believed that our body belongs to us to do whatever we wanted to do. Then our emotions also played a part in affecting our body, for when they do not function in harmony with the Spirit of God they cause all manner of problems in the body. If we allow emotions such as hatred, anger, fear, jealousy or unforgiveness amongst others, to rise up in us, it will upset the balance of the body causing problems that will affect our health. Then there are the problems caused by psychological issues that affect our mind. These can stem from words spoken to us even in childhood that put us down. If we were not encouraged through our growing years by parents or teachers, we would develop a bad self-image that can put a restriction on our lives as an adult. Many people have an inferiority complex that robs us of our self-esteem and causes us to walk in the shadows throughout life. It is usually these things that are an underlying cause in a life of continuing illness.
In Psalm 139:1 the Psalmist says, “O LORD, you have searched me, and known me. You know what puts me down and what lifts me up; you even understand my thought afar off. You are fully acquainted with my path and my lying down, and are familiar with all my ways.”
Your body is affected by so many things bringing limitation and sickness, because the natural or carnal mind has asserted authority over your body. But remember the carnal mind has no input from the spirit, also it is not subject to the law of God, neither can it receive or know the things of the spirit for such things are foolishness to it and concludes by saying, IT IS DEATH. This mind functions to encourage us to fulfil the desires of our heart, including that which we lust after. To follow this natural “Mind” therefore will lead us into death, destroying our body. For so many Christians the reason why God gave us a body has never been understood. Paul says in 1 Cor 6:19 Don’t you know that your body is the Temple of God and it does not belong to you. When man was created in Gen 1:26, he was spirit and God intended that he would be his dwelling place on the earth. For many years God dwelt in the Tabernacle of Moses, which allowed him to lead Israel in their journey across the wilderness. God was always there in the midst of his people, which was the desire of his heart.
The fact that Christ dwells in every man is most important to us. It is CHRIST IN YOU that is the hope of the glory of God being manifest in these bodies of ours. Remember that sickness itself has no true reality at all, because it has no law of God to support its existence. Sickness was not a part of God’s creative work; therefore it is not a part of reality. Anything that is a reality must have no beginning and therefore it also will have no end. Anything that belongs to the spirit world is eternal and these things we call REALITIES. Sickness had a beginning and also will have an end, so it does not qualify as a REALITY. Jesus Christ the King said: -
Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
It seems that this direction given by the King has been ignored as the natural mind considers it to be wrong. Part of the reason for this is that the word “Evil” has not been understood correctly. Good and Evil only represents our natural human ability to determine what we think is “OF GOD,” and what is “NOT OF GOD.”
We have assumed the role of God considering that we have the ability and the wisdom to determine what is good and what is evil. We have usurped the role of God who alone has the wisdom and knowledge to judge. We are told that the carnal mind cannot receive from God nor can it understand the things of the spirit. Sickness did not originate in God for he was the one who formed your body in your mother’s womb and his work is perfect. However, the human factor has so often become an issue in children being born deformed or with physical problems. If a woman abuses her body with drugs or alcohol, or functions in life apart from God, this can have an affect on the birth of the child. Beyond this we have been convinced because of what our carnal mind has told us, that we inherit from our forefathers through our genes certain traits that are passed on to future generations. This represent some of the physical issues that may affect the generations in today’s world, but there are also spiritual issues that we often are not aware of.
Our children were intended to be birthed in LOVE, but so often today the man considers that it is his right to gratify himself when and how he sees fit. How many children are conceived in lust and not LOVE, but because it is in marriage it is considered to be all right. We are not simply mortal beings, but spirit beings in a mortal body. As an integral unit, our body is finely tuned between that which is natural and that which is spiritual. The function of the soul as a part of the spirit remains vulnerable to our experiences that we encounter in life. A lack of love in our childhood years can deeply affect our personality and inhibit our potential for the rest of our life. Even more than this, it can also create an imbalance in our emotional system causing a problem with anger and resentment that produces other issues like sickness. For many people, anxiety and bitterness amongst other things also provide the conditions for sickness to affect our body.
Some Christians believe strongly that sickness is a punishment for sin, but if that were so, everyone would be sick and no one could be healed. Jesus Christ healed many people during his time on this earth, which he would never have done if God were the author of sickness. To heal the sick was a part of the Gospel of the Kingdom that was given to the disciples when Jesus sent them out to preach. Matt 10:7-8. As a spiritual creature we need to understand that the power of LIFE and DEATH are in the tongue. As Paul tells us, “With the heart man believes, and with the mouth CONFESSION is made of what we believe.” Our confession seals what we believe causing it to become our reality, for what a man thinks or believes in his heart, becomes what he is. So when we say, “I am sick” or “I have cancer,” we are making a declaration that becomes the reality of what we believe in our heart
Sickness has no true reality, for it has no law of God to allow it to exist on this earth. However, if we believe that it has reality and you “HAVE IT,” then you have given it substance and power to affect you, and you will have to fight it. Please do not go to someone who is suffering from Cancer or some other sickness and tell them, “You do not really have any sickness,” for this is not the way to help people. They have the doctor’s report or an X-ray that is their proof that they do have a problem and it is not just in their mind. This is a spiritual issue and must be seen from that perspective. It is perfectly obvious that Jesus Christ did not see people as being sick, or he would never have told the man at the pool of Bethesda, who was crippled and could not move, to get up and go home.
So now let us dig a little deeper into this subject. Jesus never actually healed anyone in the sense that we understand healing today, which involves some medical intervention. This can be in the form of medication or some form of medical procedure to correct a physical problem that we may have. But Jesus healed people by simply speaking a WORD to them. Notice in John 4:46 we have an account of a man whose son was dying in Capernaum, and he asks Jesus to heal him. After a little discussion Jesus did what the man asked, and we need to see clearly how the healing took place. In verse 50 it says,
“Jesus said unto HIM, Go your way for your son is alive (Healed). That was all Jesus did, he simply spoke a WORD, and that is all. But now see what response the man made to this “Word” Jesus spoke to HIM. The man BELIEVED the WORD that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.”
First of all the man BELIEVED THE WORD Jesus spoke TO HIM, and not to someone else. Having believed that his son was healed his sadness was gone and in good spirits he heads off home knowing that his son was no longer sick. On the way home he met his servants coming to meet him who tell him that his son is all right. The man said, “I KNOW!” They say to him how did you know? He replied, “Because Jesus TOLD ME HE WAS HEALED.” When he asked them what time he recovered they told him and he said, ”YES, that was the time when Jesus told me he was healed.”
There is much that we need to know about the WORD God speaks to us. In Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” Every word that God speaks must ultimately return to him, for nothing concerning God is ever lost. But every WORD must first accomplish what God sent it to do. Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is alive, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
God is spirit and so when he needs to do something, all he has to do is SPEAK and it IS. In creation when he wanted to create the MAN all he did was to speak and say, “LET US MAKE MAN,” and there was the man. So if we hear a word from the Lord we can be assured that what ever he says will be reality for us. But there is another side to this that is most important for us to know. In Proverbs 18:21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Most Christians have never understood this and so cause themselves many problems. Paul explains in Rom 10:9 That a man believes in his heart, then with the mouth be makes a confession based upon what ever he believes. So if we say, “I have cancer,” we are making a confession based upon a belief that we have cancer. Having confessed this we confirm it is our belief that cancer is now established in our body.
The truth is that sickness regardless of what form it takes, does not have any true reality. However, if we believe that sickness does exist in our body, then WE GIVE IT a sense of reality and then we must fight it. Most Christians do not realize that the power of death and life is in the tongue, so when we say, “I have cancer,” we are making a confession of what we believe in our heart. This may shock many people but it is the Truth. But if I can hear a word from the Lord releasing someone who says they have cancer, and I speak that word to them and the cancer disappears so that the doctors can find no trace of it that proves to me that cancer has no true reality. How sad it is that so few Christians ever hear the inner voice of the Christ within, for his words are SPIRIT AND LIFE. To be set free only requires a WORD FROM THE LORD, for in that word is the power to accomplish what he has sent it to do.
We put our faith and trust in doctors who can only speak from the physical natural aspect of life, but never enquire what our Heavenly father has to say about our body. Remember that Adam in the Garden of Eden told God that he was NAKED, and his response to Adam is most instructive. He asked him a question, “WHO TOLD YOU?” How important it is that the sons of God should base their faith on the highest authority available, instead of the words of mortal man. My mind goes back to the words of a very well known hymn; “O what needless pain we bear all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.” When a Christian suffers from sickness we accept the prognosis of the doctor without question, but never check to see what our loving heavenly Father has to say on the subject of our health.
All of the incidents of healings in the ministry of Jesus Christ on the earth were simply the result of a WORD that he spoke. There was never any medical intervention at all. To the man with the withered arm he simply said, “Stretch forth your arm,” and the man obeyed. Why could the man not do that before Jesus spoke to him? This is a very interesting question and the answer is important for all of us today. The Female part of Adam’s spiritual being was separated from him in the Garden of Eden, during the deep sleep that fell upon Adam, the Lord God brought her to Adam who identified her as a “WOMAN”. God never recognized her as being a separate entity from Adam. Gen 5:2. Remember that this whole episode is an allegory and cannot be taken literally for it is impossible for spirit to be divided, as spirit has no gender. There is no such thing as a MALE SPIRIT or a FEMALE SPIRIT, there is only SPIRIT, which is GOD, and in every case is MALE and FEMALE functioning together as one.
In this separation the female part or the SOUL now begins to function as a LIVING SOUL being apart from Adam who represents the Spirit. So the focus is now on this “Living Soul” who now has no direct connection with Adam. She functions quite differently from Adam who walked with God and talked with him every day in the Garden. Eve as a SEPARATE ENTITY never ever walked with God for she has no input from Adam who is SPIRIT. Adam’s mind was the mind of CHRIST who could never have been tempted to do what EVE did, for being separated from Adam her mind became simply the MIND OF THE SOUL, what Paul calls the NATURAL or CARNAL MIND. This mind has no input from the Spirit and so can never know God, for it has no capacity to do so. It was through this natural mind that MANKIND was brought down from its high estate in the realm of spirit, into the dust realm.
In this process the natural mind of the woman, which was neither good nor evil, became the target through which an enemy was able to infiltrate and ultimately control her. The carnal or natural mind has assumed authority over the man because of his sense of separation from God, whose voice cannot be heard.
The first man was created out of God, but since then every person born in this world has come out of a woman.
Because that woman became a LIVING SOUL, all her offspring became exactly the same. Mankind discovered that an alien authority had invaded our humanity, producing rebellion, pain, sickness, suffering and ultimately death. This authority functioned as the Carnal Mind that took control of what we would think, what we would believe, and what we would do. However, there are some things that we need to understand about the carnal mind. First of all Paul tells us that it is an enemy of God, so it will never help us to please God, for it is set in opposition to all that God stands for. It will encourage us to please ourselves in all that we do, like spoilt undisciplined children. Then it deceives us into believing that knowledge is power and is the most important thing for us to have. So we foolishly feed upon the Tree of KNOWLEDGE even though God told Adam not to eat of it’s fruit, because in the day you eat of it YOU WILL DIE.
This is not speaking simply about physical death but spiritual death, which isolates us from God and then causes us to live out of our mortality. We have also discovered that the Carnal Mind has no capacity to hear from God or to receive truth from him. This further isolates us from the very source of our being and prevents us from experiencing his life. Under these conditions our body becomes vulnerable to every sickness disease and finally physical death itself. Just as Eve was deceived by the serpent that represents the carnal mind being more subtle than all the beasts of the field, so is mankind today living under the same alien control? Paul makes a blunt statement in Rom 8 saying, “The Carnal Mind IS DEATH.” So in truth it is not the cancer that kills you but the CARNAL MIND. We have been so created that what we think in our Heart or Mind IS WHAT WE ARE. The health of our body then requires that we live in constant fellowship with God so that his life flows through our body in an uninterrupted stream.
THE OVER- COMMERS
To sum up all that has been said on this subject we understand that to live in the Spirit, which is the Christ of our true identity, is the way to avoid the problem of sickness and other issues concerning our body. It is a divine principle that the Spirit is given to rule over the Body, which must come under its control. In spiritual terms, this means the heavens must rule over the earth, which is our body. All the problems we face affecting our body stem from the carnal mind, which is set in opposition to God and to his, will and purpose on this earth. Man was created first of all to become the dwelling place of God on the earth in order to live among his people. Exodus 25:8 “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” For this purpose it was necessary that the Man should have a body, so in Gen 2:7 the Lord God brought forth a manifestation of himself clothed in a BODY made from the dust of the earth.
The reason why God needed man to have a body was so that the spirit that is man’s true identity from creation would have a vessel through which he could manifest himself to the world. Paul declares that our body is the Temple of God, so it does not belong to us for it was purchased by Jesus Christ at Calvary. But we have violated the purposes of God regarding our body, by not allowing the Christ to possess it, so that he could express himself to the world. Instead we have used our body to fulfil the desires of our own heart. These are vital issues that we need to address if we are to conform to the will of God on this earth. Man generally gives little thought to the fact that our body does not belong to him, (1Cor.6:19) or that God has a high calling to be fulfilled concerning our body.
God never intended the Carnal Mind, which is a part of the SOUL LIFE to have control over the body, but Eve was deceived by the “Serpent” into following its direction to eat of the forbidden fruit assuring her that she would not die, but that they would become “AS GODS” in their own right. As a result of her being deceived she gave the serpent or Carnal Mind control over her body causing it to become a “BODY OF SIN.” In Rom 6:6 the apostle Paul uses this expression, because of our corrupt behaviour resulting from the carnal mind and expressed through the body that was designed to be, “THE BODY OF THE CHRIST,” and energized by the spirit of the Lord. Our Carnal Mind expresses the Adamic consciousness in contrast to the MIND OF CHRIST, who was given the right to rule over the earth of our body. However, this one who is declared to be “Lord” is denied the right to possess the Body provided for him to become an expression of the Christ. Instead it becomes an expression of the Adamic mind and subject to sickness pain and suffering, and finally death.
To correct this situation and restore our body to its former glory as the Body of CHRIST requires a death that will destroy the Carnal Mind that holds the power of Death. This issue was settled in the Garden of Gethsemane while the disciples were sleeping. Jesus was discussing with his Father the plan of redemption that would free our body from its alien authority, allowing the Christ to bring the body under his divine control. It was the Father’s will that his son Jesus Christ would take his own humanity into death, and by so doing he would “Taste death for every man,” releasing all mankind from the destructive influence of the Carnal Mind and freeing the body from its bondage to sin.
He signed the contract with God as the only one who had never been deceived by the serpent, and so had the power to take back on our behalf spiritual sovereignty over our body, releasing us from the power of the serpent or the carnal mind. Our release and freedom was purchased at Calvary, when Jesus Christ God’s original man of Gen 1:26, submitted himself to death in the place of all mankind, laying down HIS HUMANITY, even though he knew no sin, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. This is the only way that our humanity or our mortal life could be brought to an end and the Carnal mind put out of action. Only then can the CHRIST MIND assume control and bring our body into subjection, to function out of the ETERNAL LIFE we received in creation. This life is the Life of the Christ, which is eternal, filling our body with Light. In this release we will witness MORTALITY being swallowed up in IMMORTALITY.
Did not Paul teach the saints at Corinth that our redemption was not simply the fact that Jesus Christ died on the cross, but it involved a burial and a resurrection as well? This is what Jesus spoke about in John 2:19 when he said, “Destroy THIS TEMPLE (Body of my mortality) and in THREE DAYS I WILL RAISE IT UP IMMORTAL. Jesus was speaking here about the Temple of his Body, which is God’s true Temple. He was setting the pattern for us to follow, for Paul told us that our Body is the Temple of God. I Cor. 6:19. But our mortal body cannot be the true Temple of God for it is subject to death and finishes up in a hole in the ground, and God’s temple is no longer available to him. God’s Temple must be IMMORTAL, which for most Christians means that we must wait until we all get our new bodies and go to heaven. BUT what use is that to God who needs his body NOW on this earth? So Paul is telling us how this will take place.
“As we have borne the image of the earthly so shall we bear the image of the Heavenly.” Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep (die), but we shall all be changed, in a “moment” (the Atoms of our body), in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, (heralding the end of an era in which man lived under the authority of the Carnal Mind) for the trumpet (Voice of God) shall sound, and (those who died in Christ and who were buried in Christ shall be raised in Christ incorruptible), and shall be changed, for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”
How sad it is that these scriptures are relegated to the distant future and what is called by the religious world the “Great Resurrection.” They believe that God will dig up the graves of the Christians and put the bones together again, fitting them with a new eternal body and take them to heaven. Such is the power of the carnal mind. Paul makes it clear in 2Cor.5:17 “If any man be IN CHRIST HE IS A NEW CREATION MAN, the OLD things of the Adamic creation are passed away, behold all things are become new.” Paul also teaches us that we were ALL CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS, Eph.2:10, so we have never been out of Christ Jesus. Therefore when he died we died in him and we were also buried in him and we must also have risen IN HIM. This is indeed a fact, but for it to be our reality we must appropriate that death, and burial (which is the planting of the divine seed in the soil of our humanity) and the resurrection which is the conception of the seed which is CHRIST, releasing all the potential of God that is in the seed to become the Christ of our true identity. This is God’s wonderful plan for this our day and not some future time in the “Sweet Bye and bye.”
DETAILS CONCERNING THE CHANGE
Paul declares that our flesh and blood or mortality will not allow us to inherit “The Kingdom of God.” Therefore there must come a change in this body of ours, which agrees with what Paul says in Philippians 3:20-21.
For our spiritual authority and direction comes from heaven; and from that same realm we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, the body of our humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, when he walked out of the tomb on the third day, according to the working whereby he is able even to bring everything into subjection unto himself.
We understand that the change must be accomplished by Jesus Christ who must come from the realm called HEAVEN. Most Christians seem to be convinced that “Heaven” is up in the sky, however, the Truth is that we are the HEAVENS AND THE EARTH that God is interested in. There is a part of us that was CREATED, which came out of God who dwells in Heaven, and that is our SPIRIT, which is Christ, and there is a part of us that is from the earth, which is our BODY. It was always God’s will and purpose that the HEAVENS should rule over the earth, which means that the SPIRIT is to be LORD and to rule over our BODY. The truth is, that the only God we can know dwells within us, for God is spirit and therefore is invisible to our natural eyes.
Paul continues saying that this change that must take place in us is a MYSTERY, so it cannot be known or understood intellectually, but only by the spirit. Let us therefore not try and use our own intellect to find the answer to this mystery. Paul says that we shall not all die (sleep) but we all shall be changed. Our natural mind considers that this flesh and blood body will be changed into something else but the Greek word used here means to EXCHANGE something for something else. According to Philippines 3, Paul suggests that Jesus Christ is willing to exchange HIS GLORIOUS BODY for our mortal body, if we are willing to lay down the LIFE of our mortality first. This can only take place at Calvary as we become fully identified with Jesus Christ IN HIS DEATH, in order to be fully identified with him in his RESURRECTION. He first destroyed the one that has the power of death, which is not some devil, but the CARNAL MIND that Paul tells us IS DEATH. It was the Carnal Mind that robbed Adam of his immortality and finally put his body in the grave. Since then only a few have managed to experience the MYSTERY. But the possibility has always been there, waiting for those who desire to be clothed with IMMORALITY.
Very few Christians truly desire immortality, but rather choose to embrace physical death to escape the burden of sickness pain, suffering and adverse circumstances in their life. How many Christians give loved ones over to “DEATH” to save them from further suffering, asking “GOD” to “Take” them? Since when has DEATH been our FRIEND? Moses told Israel to CHOOSE LIFE and NOT DEATH, but they did not listen. Perhaps we need to rethink our choice to embrace DEATH and consider that God has given us a choice to LIVE eternally or to die in our mortality. While ever the Carnal or Natural Mind controls our body it will be a Body of SIN because it will fulfil the personal desires of our heart, and also its lusts. This is because the carnal mind is an enemy of God and is not subject to the will of God. It is the Carnal mind that produces the Adamic consciousness, causing us to believe that we are separated from God and we are sinners in his sight. This in turn reinforces our sense of mortality believing we are born and we will die. In this we are speaking of the “LIFE” that we are living which is MORTAL. It is a fact that we can only live ONE LIFE at a time. In other words we cannot live out of our mortality and the eternal CHRIST LIFE at that same time. One must be surrendered for the other to be embraced, and it was his own mortality that Jesus Christ lay down at Calvary, having tasted death for every man.
When the death of Jesus Christ on the cross becomes the reality of our death, then we are freed from our mortality and can now embrace his burial and RESURRECTION. We are raised up out of his death, which is now our death, immortal and invincible, and our body becomes spirit in manifestation, the BODY OF CHRIST.
We shall not ALL SLEEP, but we shall ALL BE CHANGED using the same term Jesus used, regarding what we call DEATH. Let us examine the process more closely for Paul tells us that it will be, “In a MOMENT.” This word “MOMENT” is not a time word but is a translation of the Greek word “Atomos,” referring to the change involving the ATOMS of our body. These are the building blocks of everything in this physical world. They consist of Protons and Neutrons revolving around a Nucleus. In the Garden of Eden after Adam ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the atoms of his body slowed down from the speed of LIGHT, to a lower vibration turning his Heavenly LIGHT BODY in which he walked and talked with God every day, INTO FLESH AND BLOOD. The transformation is in fact a RE-STORATION simply causing it to become what it was before. All that it requires is for those atoms to recover the vibration of heaven which is LIGHT, to bring forth the “Change’ Paul is speaking about here.
The next statement Paul makes in this restoration of our body is, “In the twinkling of an eye.” I pondered this thought seeking for illumination at to what this referred to, and it was made clear through a search in the Greek language. The root word here is used in many passages in the Old Testament helping us to grasp its true meaning. The word is used in Gen 21:15 when Hagar ‘CAST THE CHILD (Ishmael) under the shrubs,” because he could never be the true son of Abraham.” Another place where it is used is in Gen 37:20 when Joseph’s brothers saw him coming they said, “Come let us slay him, and CAST him into some pit” because his dreams challenged them. So the meaning behind this phrase, “The twinkling of an eye,” has to do with casting something away to get rid of it. It is obvious therefore that here, Paul is referring to the casting aside of our mortal life in exchange for his IMMORTAL LIFE.
The CROSS must become the reality, of the casting aside of my MORTAL LIFE, having CHOSEN IMMORTALITY.
The Time or season determined by God is said to be at the “Last Trump,” for the trumpet shall sound. The Trumpet in scripture is associated with the voice of God because of its clear sound. Remember that every sound causes a vibration, which is interpreted through the ear and the brain into music or speech etc. Every note on a piano has a certain vibration, which is set so that every note relates to every other note according to its vibration to produce music. The VOICE of God is a sound from the spirit realm and carries the vibration of that spirit world, causing something in us to recognize its vibration. Saul of Tarsus who was on a mission to kill all the Christians he could find, heard a VOICE from the spirit world that transformed him in a moment, causing him to respond in submission to Christ, calling him “LORD.”
Having heard so many sounds in our life, suddenly there comes a sound that grabs our attention causing the very Atoms in the cells of our body to be energized, but cannot quite reach that vibration at that moment. But the response is sufficient to cause the cells in my body to “Remember” when they did vibrate in unison with that sound from heaven, and now desired to do so again. But God is not finished yet for Paul continues saying, “For the LORD SHALL DESCEND from Heaven.” Every word here is important so let us follow. Jesus Christ is said to come DOWN, not out of the sky as Babylon has taught us, but from the realm of “Our Heavens,” which is where Christ is resident IN US. Is not our body the TEMPLE OF GOD, and is he not in his HOLY TEMPLE? So the Christ who is ONE WITH GOD will descend from our HEAVENS into the earth realm of our body to rescue us from our mortality.
Beloved, this requires us to take off our shoes for we are indeed walking on HOLY GROUND. In John 3:13 Jesus says to us, “No man has gone up into heaven, save he who came down out of heaven, even the Son of man who is in heaven.” Is it not strange that most Christians are waiting to GO TO HEAVEN to get a new body, but Christ’s plan is to come down into our earth now, to liberate us from our mortality. In Creation, God created the MAN to be his dwelling place, for we were all created in Christ Jesus, but most Christians believe they have to die physically to “GO and BE WITH THE LORD.” Eph 2:10. So his coming to this earth 2000 years ago was simply a visible manifestation of the spiritual reality of what man has been on this earth since creation. His visible entry into this world was simply to say, “THIS IS WHO YOU ARE and WHAT YOU ARE, and I am here to demonstrate what is the true expression of MAN. I have come so that YOU might have LIFE and have it more abundantly. Religion perceives Jesus Christ to be someone totally different to what we are, so that we cannot make him to be a model or use his life as a pattern for us today.
The “Sound” of that voice from the heavens has the power to raise those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and also those like Lazarus who have died physically. For when this Corruptible shall have put on Incorruption and this Mortal shall have put of Immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. This is the fulfilment of the promise in the Old Testament, in Isa 25:7-9.
“He will destroy in this mountain of the House of the Lord, the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up DEATH in Victory and the Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall be taken away from off all the earth, for the Lord has spoken it.”
It is my prayer that what father has given me to write here may become truth to you, as you allow the Christ within to confirm it to you establishing it in your heart as your reality.
Be blessed and encouraged in the Lord, Written August 2008
Des Walter
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