INTRODUCTION
We are living in a time of great change, not only in technology but more importantly in the purposes of God. We are approaching the end of one age and the beginning of the next one. Many Christians believe this is the End of the World, but this is untrue.
We are nearing the end of the sixth day or six thousand years from Adam, and approaching the "SEVENTH DAY." Then this is also a strategic time for us from another perspective, because we are now nearing the end of the SECOND DAY from Christ and before us is the THIRD DAY. We understand that 1000 years is reckoned as a day from a spiritual point of view.
So it is evident that these "days" are not literal and nor do they come to an abrupt end or have a precise beginning. It is clear that we stand on the threshold of the next stage in the fulfillment of the will and purpose of God. Just as LAW reigned from Moses until Christ came as the true manifestation of God bringing in the era of GRACE, so today there are new manifestations of God that are being revealed in the people of God.
These changes are so often rejected by those who enjoyed a previous manifestation with which they became familiar. At the turn of this century there was a great out pouring of the Spirit giving rise to the Pentecostal type Church, but when the Charismatic move of God began to incorporate all God’s people, the original people who received the Spirit rejected this "new" manifestation of God. Now of course as we enter a new era in God many Charismatic people refuse to move on with God.
This resistance to change is because we have been so steeped in this physical material world, which for us in our life time seems to carry a sense of permanency, that we find change difficult to accept. How many people tend to abandon life when they feel "old age" has caught up with them. Many waste away dreaming of the past instead of embracing the change and discovering that age is purely an effect instilled by the natural mind.
The Truth is that we are really creatures of eternity and not time, but for many time becomes the reality and eternity is given no place. There is only one point when TIME and ETERNITY actually coincide, and at that point we can all access that which lies outside the bounds of time. That illusive moment is what we call N-O-W.
The Bible declares that NOW is the time when you can do business with God. NOW is the only time to have to embrace salvation. It is not available at some more convenient time to you, only NOW. What ever you need to access in God is only available to you NOW. Not yesterday or tomorrow, for neither of these are yours. The past is gone and you cannot recall it to alter or change it. The future is not yours either so it is not available to you to conduct spiritual business based on what is still in the future. Don’t tell God you will trust him tomorrow for you have no claim on time in the future. All the resources the blessings, the help you may require that are found in the unseen world of the Spirit can only accessed N-O-W.
Once this truth is birthed in your spirit you will discover that a subtle change has taken place in you, for you have actually begun to live in the eternity of God. From that moment you do not think in terms of linear time but in that eternal NOW.
There are tremendous benefits in this change of consciousness, as Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 4:18. Everything that is visible to our natural sight lacks any sense of permanency, for it is passing away. This of course includes all things that relate to time, i.e. it has a beginning and it will have an end. However all the realities for which we search are not to be found in this visible world. They dwell in the INVISIBLE world of the Spirit and they are all a part of eternity. These are the things mankind searches for but are not always found, because they have not found the secret to access eternity.
IN THE BEGINNING
Genesis is the book of beginnings and it is here that we have revealed the plan and purpose of God. Unfortunately the natural mind has looked at the first two chapters of this book from a literal point of view and so there is very little that man can see here that would impact upon our lives today. In fact if this is simply the creation of the literal heavens and the earth, then we must wonder to what purpose it has been included in the Bible. All it has done is fuel the debate over evolution versus creation which does nothing to enhance our lives, only to prove a point of view.
Let us be very clear that the Bible is a spiritual book that defies logic to the natural mind. It requires the Holy Spirit to unlock the code and reveal the mysteries contained in its pages. The first chapter in Genesis reveals to us a spiritual creation as it came through the WORD God spoke. However at that point there was nothing visible in this material world. The truth is that in this first chapter of Genesis we see a pattern of what God is doing in our lives, and his will and purpose for man.
The word "man" used in Gen 1:26 is a generic term and relates to mankind. But this was not simply to be some creation apart from God but was designed to be the vehicle in which God could manifest himself to all. This was to be a GOD MAN, a unique combination that would remain a mystery until publicly demonstrated through Jesus Christ. The disciples were asked by Jesus who they thought he was. It was Peter that looked into the eyes of the man Jesus and said, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God."
Peter only knew that by divine revelation but the consequence in Peter’s life was that he saw in Jesus Christ a reflection of himself, even as many have also see their own reflection in the same one. Here is the contrast between Adam the living soul, who rebelled against God and the second man who is a Life giving spirit. These two men represent every other man in the bible and on the earth today. Everyone must find their identity in ONE of those two men, for there is no other.
Adam represents all who are IN HIM and proceed from him, just as Jesus Christ speaks of the second man and all who are IN HIM and are reproduced through HIM. It was the Apostle John that said, "As he is so are we in this world." He is the GOD - MAN and we have come from Him. So in the days of creation we discover a clear pattern of the development of the believer beginning with the darkness that covered the face of the deep.
In Exodus 12 we read of the Passover that was instituted for Israel to release them from the bondage of Egypt. It was for Israel to be the beginning of a new day, a new month and a new year. This relates to the first day of creation when God called LIGHT out of darkness. Did you know that God dwells in the darkness? God is omni-present and so there is no place where God is not present. Yet many people live in fear of all sorts of things because they cannot see him in their circumstances. The Psalmist said, "He made darkness his hiding place."
Hear then the majesty of these words he uttered over the darkness upon our earth, "Let there be light!" He called forth the LIGHT out of the darkness. David declared, "The darkness and the light are both the same to thee." Paul recalls the words of creation concerning us in 2 Cor 4:6. "For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness hath SHINED IN OUR HEARTS, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The "light’ God called "DAY" in Genesis 1, but in the New Testament he called it JESUS.
Darkness has no reality in itself but represents for us a lack of knowledge, and therefore nothing is visible to us if there is no light. It is essential for us that God call forth the light out of our darkness or we will never discover the Glory of God that dwells within us. So the creation of the spiritual man requires that divine illumination to reveal what has been hidden within us. So this "first day" of our Passover brings into view that which the darkness of our mind has kept hidden from us.
Then we come to the THIRD day which represents for us PENTECOST which was in the third month. It is not until the Spirit of God is released in us that we can begin to produce fruit. Without the release of the spirit it is not possible for us to produce life according to the divine plan. Everything God has purposed we should produce must have the seed in itself. In our own strength we are flesh and so can only produce flesh. But through the spirit we can produce SPIRIT which in turn is able to reproduce itself.
It was on the seventh day that God rested and this is an important day for us also. It represents the feast of Tabernacles in which, a Sabbath day people will function out of pure spirit in the same way as Jesus did. It concerns the fullness we are to embrace that has been prepared for us from the foundation of the world. It will be a day of unprecedented miracles, doing what Jesus was able to do but also the greater things of which he spoke.
In that day the elements will be subject to us and we will control this convulsing earth bringing back peace and harmony and restoring the wilderness until it becomes a garden again. So we can see that we need the creator to bring forth the NEW CREATION MAN who will reconcile and restore all things to God.
At this moment we are in a transition from one age to the next as we approach the end of the 6th day from Adam, and anticipate the sabbath that is prepared for us. Two days have past from Christ’s coming into this world, in which he said he would do cures. Now we approach the third day when he said, I am perfected.. Perfect humanity is a process through which Jesus passed, and we also must go through the same experience. There is no short cut to entering into that third day, for it involves the seven days of creation being fulfilled in us before we will ever touch the reality.
The REST of God is not entered into on the basis of linear time, such as the 7000 years from Adam, according to our calendar. It is a spiritual experience of the divine workmanship of God, lifting us from mortality to immortality, from the image of the earthly to the image of the heavenly. There is no precise date upon which the sixth day ends and the seventh begins. The ages overlap as they merge into one another.
What God plans to do must be formed IN US as the Lord God FORMED MAN of the dust of the ground, and man became a living soul. We may speak about what the Lord is doing and believe it, but as knowledge it can have no real affect upon us. The word "formed" literally means to be squeezed into shape just as a potter would shape the clay. The purposes of God can only be fulfilled in us as he applies pressure in the moulding process. We must understand the image of God must be FORMED in us.
Jeremiah was directed to the potter’s house to understand the way the image of God is produced in us. Jer 18:1-4. Isaiah declared this same truth, "But now O Lord thou art our Father and we are the clay. Thou art OUR potter and we are the works of thy hand. Isa 64:8. Paul teaches the same thing as he says to the Galatians, "My little children, of whom I travail again in birth until Christ be FORMED in you. Gal 4:19.
This word "formed" means to be fashioned and shaped by adjustment through the application of pressure. There are many examples of this in the scriptures. Gideon is one who faced a battle with 32000 men but God said that is far too many. So all those who were fearful were sent home leaving just 10000. God said they are still too many so he takes them to the water and watched the way they drank. This left just 300 men to go to battle against a great army.
This was pressure conforming Gideon to a new understanding of the ways of God, but as a result he won the victory because the vessel had been FORMED under pressure. It is interesting that the number 300 is the number of complete deliverance. Noah’s Ark was 300 cubits long and Enoch walked with God 300 years.
Paul spoke of this divine moulding process to the Corinthians, "The first man Adam was made a living soul but the last Adam was made a life giving spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy, and the second man is the Lord from Heaven. As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Cor 15:45-49.
THE PRINCIPLE OF SIN
Modern theology teaches us that there was once a beautiful angel who became lifted up in pride and fell, thereby becoming the devil and satan. However I want you to know Satan is not LUCIFER, and he is not an angel, nor is he a demon. The truth is that in 300 AD when they translated the Bible into Latin they changed the original word "SHINING ONE" to LUCIFER.
Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 do not speak of a DEVIL or a fallen ANGEL but one who was a SHINING ONE or the DAY STAR, who fell from the heavenly realm exalting his throne above the throne of God.
Tell me, who was given dominion over all the works of God’s hands? Who was given the place of authority and power? Who is the bright and MORNING STAR? Who was the LIGHT BEARER being clothed in light? The only one I know who fits this description is ADAM, who according to Paul was a type or figure of Jesus. The LIGHT OF THE WORLD is the title given to Jesus, and he demonstrated that light on the mount of transfiguration.
Peter tells us, "We made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, being eye witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. And we heard this voice from heaven in the mount when we were with him. We have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well to take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the DAY STAR arises in your hearts.
Jesus himself testifies, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." Rev 22:16 The glory of Jesus on the mount was the same covering that Adam had before he rebelled against God. Isaiah says, "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Beloved as we grapple with the sacred mysteries of God our finite mind struggles to grasp the depths of Truth that is hidden here. It is for this reason that we so glibly believe the doctrines of man because they are the product of natural reasoning, and so are easily accepted. Like a man who is looking for precious stones, we must dig carefully and with patience or we will never find them.
The Witches worship Lucifer without understanding, yet they say he is the GOD OF GOOD and contains all the hidden wisdom. Now we know that the passage in Ezekiel relates to far more than the King of Tyrus because it says he was in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was his covering. Thou art the anointed cherub that covers and God says I have set thee so, thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
So Adam was covered with precious stones just like the ephod that the priest wore in the Tabernacle. Adam walked in the midst of the stones of fire. What a sight this must have been, as Adam who radiated light from his being that shone through these precious stones that covered him. What a dazzling display of glory this must have been as he moved along. Every stone flashing its unique color as the pure light from his being radiated through them.
Very few Christians consider Adam as anything but a sinner, for the truth has been hidden by the carnal mind. Paul tells us, "The creature (man) was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope." As we look to discover how this was accomplished we find God brought about a subtle difference in Adam. Scripture says that God cause a deep sleep or trance to fall upon Adam and he took the female part of his being from him which he brought to him in the form of a WOMAN.
Adam declared she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, which means that she was of the same substance as he was. Here God is teaching us some very important truths. First of all we know that God made MAN to be both male and female and called T-H-E-M ADAM! So we understand that Adam represents the MALE part of Man which is SPIRIT, that was breathed into his nostrils by the Lord God when he was formed.
The female part that was separated from the Spirit is the SOUL which now began to function independently from the spirit. This duality of function was the reason why life for man became vanity, and futile lacking any reality. The drama in the Garden of Eden is acted out for us to teach us danger and consequences of allowing duality to continue to function in us.
Before sin entered in there was no duality only singleness of eye. But the test came when that which was false was presented to Eve as the genuine article. The Soul had no way of discerning the fraud while functioning alone without Adam the Spirit. It is no different today for this world is filled with seducing spirits, and their aim is to keep the soul from discovering the Spirit. The soul functioning in duality is not able to discern what is reality because it is limited to seeing only what is visible to the natural eye in the realm of appearance.
Furthermore the soul becomes a prostitute joining with the body so being limited to the five senses. Once the Mind, Emotions and the Will become merged with the five natural senses, their influence pulls the soul down from the eternal realm of imperishable things to the death and decay of this perishing world. Revelation knowledge is no longer available so all that is left is to walk by sight and not by faith.
The soul left the Spirit of the Word to embrace the letter. It left the Spirit of Truth to embrace knowledge without reality. Without reality all that was left to embrace is Ritual and religion. Now having gone astray the soul divorces Adam her husband and marries the body. Now the SOUL and the BODY become ONE FLESH, and all they can produce is FLESH.
Let us be very clear that it was not the SPIRIT in man that was tempted, but the female part which is the SOUL. In duality man can function on a purely earthly level all his life, using the five senses of his body. This is because the SOUL includes the MIND, the EMOTIONS and the WILL. The mind determines what IS, and the emotions respond, causing the WILL to set in motion the actions required. All this functions independently of the Spirit in the man where duality still exists.
Notice carefully that it was EVE or the SOUL that began a dialogue with her MIND to determine what is reality. The mind here is represented by the "snake" declared to be more subtle (crafty or shrewd) than any beast of the field. More subtle than a lion stalking its prey, more subtle than a deadly snake attacking a bird, more subtle than the entire animal kingdom. But of course in our enlightened society we never consider for a moment that our natural mind could be in any way SUBTLE. The dictionary meaning of "subtle" is :- delicate, acute, discerning, clever, ingenious and intricate.
How little thought do we give to the statement of the Apostle Paul when he said, "The natural (soulish) man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM, NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor 2:14 It is totally impossible for the natural mind to give you true or accurate judgement concerning the things of the Spirit. So EVE consults her subtle mind, which is separated from the Spirit concerning the question of duality.
She was convinced she was capable of discerning TRUTH on her own, through the mind she had been given. Of course, out of the subtilness of her mind she heard a challenge to the voice of God. HATH GOD SAID!! This is like putting a serial killer in charge of the Police force. Apart from the Spirit of God in you, your mind will continue to lead you into darkness and despair. The voice of God is not in the area of the soul, BUT IN THE SPIRIT. Beloved hear these words and heed them.
The woman’s mind declared there was great advantage in denying the voice of God, and eating of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Having no within herself of a checking the validity of her mind’s decision her emotions were stirred and her will produced the result. I want you to notice that ADAM was not involved in this whole charade, even though she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. She took of the fruit and gave it to ADAM. Adam took the fruit with his eyes wide open knowing full well of its consequences.
We might question why Adam, who obviously knew what this would mean to the generations of man, did not refuse to eat at Eve’s request. I am speaking to those with ears to hear. Paul says Adam was a TYPE or FIGURE OF ONE TO COME referring to Jesus Christ. Rom 5:14. Paul also declares that the FIRST MAN ADAM was made a LIVING SOUL, but the LAST ADAM was made a life giving spirit. But that was not first which is SPIRITUAL, BUT THAT WHICH IS NATURAL OR SOULISH, and afterwards came that which is SPIRITUAL. The first man is from the EARTH or DUST, EARTHY, but the second MAN IS THE LORD FROM HEAVEN.
Hebrews tells us that Jesus was the AUTHOR , that is the one who wrote the script, and the FINISHER of FAITH. Is it possible that Adam in the garden initiated FAITH in eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He could do this because he had faith to believe God was well able to restore all mankind to himself. What did the Lord mean when he said, "I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, the beginning and the end, WHICH IS, AND WHICH W-A-S, AND WHICH IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY? Could it be that he was saying that he was both the EARTHY MAN as well as the Lord from heaven.
If this was so, then there is a very logical explanation for Adam eating that fruit. First of all if he had chosen not to join Eve in partaking of the forbidden fruit, the duality that brought about the disruption in the Garden could not have been healed. Therefore there would have been no salvation and man could never have been lifted out of his earthlyness and mortality. Salvation is available to all simply because the SOUL and the SPIRIT remain resident in man, with that spirit being the same Spirit of God that was breathed into the lifeless form of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve were made ONE in the beginning so the separation and the subsequent fall from their high and holy place in God was never to be permanent. The darkness generated by their disobedience has hidden the presence of the indwelling Christ of God from the eyes of the natural mind. Because of that darkness within we could not conceive that God could be there, not realising that God dwells in the thick darkness. This is because darkness has no reality, so in God even the darkness is LIGHT.
In the journey of the soul seeking her beloved which she knows she has wronged, she must discover again her true identity which can only be found in her true husband, which is Christ. Just as in marriage the woman takes the name of her husband. What a reunion it is when she (the soul) can say, "My beloved is mine and I am his, and he has taken me into his (conception) chambers." All the pain of the estrangement is gone and past as the SOUL and the SPIRIT are united and become ONE as it was in the beginning.
Somehow I believe that is the reason why Adam remained committed to his wife, because he knew he could win he back BY L-O-V-E. Paul makes it very clear first of all that Adam was FIRST FORMED and then EVE, and that ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED. It was the woman (SOUL) that was deceived and was in the transgression. 1 Tim 2:13-14.
There is one more statement that Paul makes which must be inserted here as having a bearing of this subject of Adam. He said, "God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD unto himself." This reconciliation was accomplished IN CHRIST. Remember CHRIST is not the name of a person, but simply means "anointing." The anointing is that which has the ability to produce a manifestation of the invisible God, and make it visible in this world. The CHRIST in Jesus was that manifestation of God which set him apart as a GOD- MAN in this present evil world.
Here we are speaking of yet another mystery that only the Spirit of God can reveal to us. What constitutes a GOD-MAN? Well the answer is that ADAM was FORMED as a LIVING SOUL, for since he sinned in the Garden, he has lived his life through the faculty called S-O-U-L. This is what constitutes man as a MORTAL HUMAN BEING. His life is an expression of the NATURAL MIND expressed through FIVE SENSES.
The GOD-MAN is a MAN who has lost his sense of duality and his SOUL and the SPIRIT (which is GOD) have been RECONCILED within him. Now the SOUL and SPIRIT become ONE, functioning together, so that now the SOUL becomes an expression of the SPIRIT WHICH IS GOD, thus birthing the CHRIST. What a glorious truth it is to know every soul has been reconciled to God, and there is now no estrangement.
Then Paul continues by saying, "For God has made him (Jesus Christ the GOD-MAN) TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." How are we to understand that God "MADE HIM TO BE SIN?" Many Bible teachers consider that when he died on the cross he was made THE SIN OFFERING. However that would be a contradiction of his statement in Heb 10:5, 8, where he states that Sacrifice and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin THOU DIDST NOT DESIRE, nor had pleasure therein.
No Jesus Christ was never made to be the SIN OFFERING for that was not what God desired. Killing his only begotten son in order to set mankind free would cast God as a heartless monster. There had to be something else to which Paul was referring. Could it be that Adam in his identity as the earthly aspect of CHRIST, was put in the position of becoming that man of SIN by choosing to remain joined to Eve by eating of the forbidden tree? No I am not suggesting that he was made TO SIN, for that could never be. BUT Paul stated clearly it was not ADAM that sinned but the WOMAN. However he was willing to become identified with her in order to bring salvation to all mankind.
Did not the Father freely give his son for us all that he might work in MAN, the LIVING SOUL, a GLORIOUS SALVATION as he presented himself as a LIVING SACRIFICE to God. The final act of that salvation was first enacted in another GARDEN called Gethsemane. Here Jesus Christ the GOD-MAN faced the final challenge as he suffered the humiliation of taking his humanity, his earthiness through to its ultimate conclusion which is DEATH.
Here he sweat as it were great drops of blood, in the agony of his soul, for he literally POURED OUT HIS SOUL UNTO DEATH. The consummation of this offering was to allow man to take that LIFE represented the SOUL in its function of duality and put it to death on the CROSS. Then out of that death would come resurrection life where the possibility of duality would never again be able to intrude. That body that comes forth is clothed with the glory of the Living God, transcending all the limitations of mortality and our physical existence.
Salvation in the Bible is always connected with the SOUL. The SOUL that sinneth, it shall die. Let him know, that he that converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Heb 10:39. We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the SOUL.
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SEEDS
"I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between THY SEED and HER SEED. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." There is a definite mark of distinction and a separation between the Seed of the WOMAN and the Seed of the Serpent. This is the beginning of a Spiritual Warfare between the two seeds. But beyond all this, we find that there is also the promise of a coming Messiah.
Whilst there would be enmity between the two seeds the main and decisive battle would take place between the Messiah who is the SEED OF THE WOMAN, and the SERPENT’S SEED expressed as SATAN or the DEVIL. Paul received insight into this battle and recorded some details for us, relating them to the overcoming of Principalities and Powers.
"And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, and taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them IN HIMSELF."
It is necessary her to look at the words the Apostle used here to understand the significance of them. The word "Principalities" has conjured up thoughts of demons and evil spirits who rule in the Spiritual realm. However the Greek word translated here is "ARCHE" and Strong gives its meaning as :-
Beginning or origin, the person or thing that commences it, that by which anything begins to be, the origin or active cause.
So what is the origin of that which opposes us in our desire to know and walk with God. It must be whatever it was that took us into a state of duality in the beginning, and that was the carnal mind of man which deceived Eve in the Garden. Jesus Christ defeated that thing not by fighting some external battle as so many speak of their conflict with this enemy that is outside themselves, but the scripture says he defeated it by publicly displaying the defeat IN HIMSELF.
How then was this great victory achieved? Many people would say, that the victory was won at Calvary on the Cross. However it would be difficult to see the "Public display" of that victory as he hung on the cross. Remember that Jesus was born of a woman in Bethlehem’s manger. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit as she was over shadowed by the "Power of the Most High God."
We know that the Father of Jesus was EL ELYON or the Most High God because we are told, "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of ELYON (the Highest) and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David. Therefore it was said of him, "You have made the MOST HIGH GOD THY HABITATION." Because of this we read, "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the ASP (Serpent) the young lion and the DRAGON (same serpent) shall thou trample under foot." Ps 91:9-12.
So in spite of being born of a woman and partaking of flesh and blood just as we have, he was able to defeat the duality that has inflicted all mankind by limiting life to what we could know through our five natural senses. Jesus obviously discovered his ORIGIN in the Most High God, and so his habitation was in the same heavenly realm as his FATHER. The result was he never became sick, evil could not touch him, and he was protected against this present evil world and its attempts to pull him down.
He was able to declare, "I and my Father are ONE." Then again, "If you have seen me you have seen my Father also." His MIND declared that he was equal in quality with God. Phil 2:6. Then Paul says to us today, "Let this SAME MIND BE IN YOU which was also in Christ Jesus." For those who accept this challenge and make the Most High God their habitation, will discover the very same deliverance will apply from the present evil world. Jesus conquered the life of duality for every one of us opening the way for us to enter into that high and holy calling of God in Him.
So we conclude his whole LIFE was a PUBLIC DISPLAY of a glorious victory over that which brought Adam down from the lofty heights of Glory to dwell as mortal humanity, earning his bread by the sweat of his brow. This victory was not some external battle with some imaginary force, but the victory of a SINGLE EYE which flooded his whole body with LIGHT. His death on the cross was to redeem every man from the bondage of duality that has affected all mankind until Jesus came into this world.
Consider for a moment what happened in the Garden where the ORIGIN or the BEGINNING of the thing took place. We do not know how long Adam lived in union and oneness with God in the Garden, clothed with LIGHT and a dazzling display of color flashing off those precious stones. But as soon as Eve was deceived into believing that there was a knowledge in that tree of good and evil that would bring great wisdom and lift her into a higher position than God, instead of rising into a higher dimension they fell into a lower realm.
At that time they lost their unique union with God, as the duality of their perception now confused them, perceiving what appeared to then to be TWO REALITIES. One physical, which had enveloped their own being in which they could not see God, and that Spiritual realm which now seemed but as a dream, in which God was all and in all. What remained was their own nakedness and separation from their creator. The reality they had once enjoyed walking with their creator and so being one with the whole of creation, had disappeared, to be replaced by the perception of a God outside themselves.
But we cannot consider that the victory of Jesus Christ over the serpent is the end of the whole matter. Concerning the Keys of the Kingdom Jesus said, "Whatever you will bind on earth shall already be bound in Heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall already be loosed in heaven." Matt 16:19 This is not presented to us simply as a theory but to express a FACT.
The power of the SPIRIT of TRUTH is literally the only POWER THERE IS and nothing can stand against it. What is acknowledged "IN HEAVEN" can be proven "ON EARTH" So the keys of the kingdom are in the hands of a people who have been BIRTHED by the same MIND as was in Jesus.
It is in the Book of Revelation that we see the final victory. In Chapter 12 we find a woman that is ready to produce a MAN CHILD energised by the Spirit of TRUTH. Here we discover the great red DRAGON, that John says deceives the whole world. Remember this book speaks of the warfare between LIGHT and DARKNESS, between the Spirit of TRUTH and the spirit of DECEIT.
The idea of a woman in labor is often used in the Old Testament, as a symbol of a mind in travail, and is found especially in the prophet Isaiah’s writings. He spoke of a CHILD who would rule the nations. She is clothed with the sun, which brings up an image of Christ on the mountain of transfiguration. But being clothed in LIGHT is the symbol of spiritual illumination.
Standing before the woman waiting to devour the child as soon as it is born, is the great RED DRAGON. To discover his identity we must go back to the book of Genesis and the snake who spoke to Eve. John describes him here as a tremendous force, "Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." This dragon is intent on destroying this CHILD or this one will destroy him. Here is the battle of the two seeds, the seed of the woman who was prophesied to crush the serpents head, and the seed of the serpent that would bruise his heel.
As soon as the child was brought forth it was caught up to GOD and HIS THRONE. This child represents the birthing of a people whose mind is established IN TRUTH. There is no more duality and nothing that defileth or maketh a lie shall enter therein. There is now a war in this "HEAVEN," in the MAN CHILD, the place where the understanding of God has been enthroned.
This woman represents the Church WHICH IS HIS BODY in keeping with his "FACE" which shone like the noon day sun. The moon is under her feet. Remember the moon has no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun. Many are still walking by that reflected light which is a part of our duality, and not by the true light that dwells within us.
Beside this SIGN of the WOMAN there is also another SIGN, called a great RED DRAGON. The people represented by the woman are found to be in travail, waiting for the birth of the MAN CHILD. This MAN CHILD is the one who will finally destroy the dragon that tried to destroy him in the Garden of Eden. This battle is not some external fight as has been imagined in the minds of carnal Christians. It is won through the birthing of a new understanding.
This "MAN-Child" represents the true understanding of God that produces an image and identity that is sufficient to overcome and completely destroy the serpent and the dragon. This precipitates war "in Heaven", in the place where TRUTH has been enthroned. It is interesting that Michael is the one who leads this confrontation. His Name means, "WHO IS LIKE GOD?" The answer is YOU, beloved!
The irony of this whole episode is the fact that the serpent began its mission when Eve (the SOUL) wandered away from Adam (SPIRIT) and began to exercise her mind concerning the knowledge of GOOD AND EVIL. Having succumbed to the deception of the serpent, she partook of the "fruit" and gave it also to Adam. The consequences of this episode took the whole of mankind down into mortality and death as the carnal mind was birthed in every man.
From our human perspective it would seem that God had been cheated of his purpose to have man stand in his likeness and image. Adam had created another inferior image in which his true identity had become "lost" resulting in a totally different life, lived in another world. However the first real challenge to this condition in man came some 4000years later when the WORD that was spoken into existence in the beginning, became FLESH and dwelt among us.
This was God’s original MAN the LOGOS, not simply the Word but also the thought and intent of the mind of GOD when he was created. As he looked into the eyes of Jesus, Peter saw the "CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD." But he saw an even greater revelation than this, as he saw in CHRIST, A REFLECTION OF HIMSELF. God determined right from the beginning that
THE TABERNACLE OF GOD WOULD BE WITH MEN.
God had in his wisdom turned man to destruction knowing he would also lift him again to the glory he shared with him in the beginning. Thus in Rev. 12 we have come full circle from the moment Adam lost his GOD CONSCIOUSNESS and man had wandered in a wilderness seeking to find God, to the birthing of a new understanding of our true identity. We discovered CHRIST dwelt within, and regardless of all previous failure the reality of our creation remained intact, just waiting for the birthing of a new , or perhaps our original consciousness.
The word God spoke in Genesis 3. regarding the snake had been fulfilled and as a consequence man’s "heaven" had been liberated from the power of the serpent and dragon, to become the THRONE of the GOD OF TRUTH.
However there is a further word that I must add here, and it is this :- Do not be deceived by thinking that because of what you have just read you can automatically claim this victory as yours as many have sort to do. There is a "bruising" you MUST ENDURE before you will crush the serpents head!! No man will break the head of the snake until he himself has been broken. There is no release for any man until the "Kingdoms of this world (that is you) become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ."
Too many Christians have claimed to have entered through the veil, and become ONE WITH GOD because they have read of the victory wrought for us through Christ. Such are just as deceived as was EVE, and by the same snake that lied to her. There is no one who will need to announce such a victory to the world, or to the Church, for everyone will know because of the fundamental changes that will be evident when Jesus Christ is truly LORD of all that is with us, and the tabernacle of God IS WITH MEN.
We are living in a time of great change, not only in technology but more importantly in the purposes of God. We are approaching the end of one age and the beginning of the next one. Many Christians believe this is the End of the World, but this is untrue.
We are nearing the end of the sixth day or six thousand years from Adam, and approaching the "SEVENTH DAY." Then this is also a strategic time for us from another perspective, because we are now nearing the end of the SECOND DAY from Christ and before us is the THIRD DAY. We understand that 1000 years is reckoned as a day from a spiritual point of view.
So it is evident that these "days" are not literal and nor do they come to an abrupt end or have a precise beginning. It is clear that we stand on the threshold of the next stage in the fulfillment of the will and purpose of God. Just as LAW reigned from Moses until Christ came as the true manifestation of God bringing in the era of GRACE, so today there are new manifestations of God that are being revealed in the people of God.
These changes are so often rejected by those who enjoyed a previous manifestation with which they became familiar. At the turn of this century there was a great out pouring of the Spirit giving rise to the Pentecostal type Church, but when the Charismatic move of God began to incorporate all God’s people, the original people who received the Spirit rejected this "new" manifestation of God. Now of course as we enter a new era in God many Charismatic people refuse to move on with God.
This resistance to change is because we have been so steeped in this physical material world, which for us in our life time seems to carry a sense of permanency, that we find change difficult to accept. How many people tend to abandon life when they feel "old age" has caught up with them. Many waste away dreaming of the past instead of embracing the change and discovering that age is purely an effect instilled by the natural mind.
The Truth is that we are really creatures of eternity and not time, but for many time becomes the reality and eternity is given no place. There is only one point when TIME and ETERNITY actually coincide, and at that point we can all access that which lies outside the bounds of time. That illusive moment is what we call N-O-W.
The Bible declares that NOW is the time when you can do business with God. NOW is the only time to have to embrace salvation. It is not available at some more convenient time to you, only NOW. What ever you need to access in God is only available to you NOW. Not yesterday or tomorrow, for neither of these are yours. The past is gone and you cannot recall it to alter or change it. The future is not yours either so it is not available to you to conduct spiritual business based on what is still in the future. Don’t tell God you will trust him tomorrow for you have no claim on time in the future. All the resources the blessings, the help you may require that are found in the unseen world of the Spirit can only accessed N-O-W.
Once this truth is birthed in your spirit you will discover that a subtle change has taken place in you, for you have actually begun to live in the eternity of God. From that moment you do not think in terms of linear time but in that eternal NOW.
There are tremendous benefits in this change of consciousness, as Paul tells us in 2 Cor. 4:18. Everything that is visible to our natural sight lacks any sense of permanency, for it is passing away. This of course includes all things that relate to time, i.e. it has a beginning and it will have an end. However all the realities for which we search are not to be found in this visible world. They dwell in the INVISIBLE world of the Spirit and they are all a part of eternity. These are the things mankind searches for but are not always found, because they have not found the secret to access eternity.
IN THE BEGINNING
Genesis is the book of beginnings and it is here that we have revealed the plan and purpose of God. Unfortunately the natural mind has looked at the first two chapters of this book from a literal point of view and so there is very little that man can see here that would impact upon our lives today. In fact if this is simply the creation of the literal heavens and the earth, then we must wonder to what purpose it has been included in the Bible. All it has done is fuel the debate over evolution versus creation which does nothing to enhance our lives, only to prove a point of view.
Let us be very clear that the Bible is a spiritual book that defies logic to the natural mind. It requires the Holy Spirit to unlock the code and reveal the mysteries contained in its pages. The first chapter in Genesis reveals to us a spiritual creation as it came through the WORD God spoke. However at that point there was nothing visible in this material world. The truth is that in this first chapter of Genesis we see a pattern of what God is doing in our lives, and his will and purpose for man.
The word "man" used in Gen 1:26 is a generic term and relates to mankind. But this was not simply to be some creation apart from God but was designed to be the vehicle in which God could manifest himself to all. This was to be a GOD MAN, a unique combination that would remain a mystery until publicly demonstrated through Jesus Christ. The disciples were asked by Jesus who they thought he was. It was Peter that looked into the eyes of the man Jesus and said, "Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God."
Peter only knew that by divine revelation but the consequence in Peter’s life was that he saw in Jesus Christ a reflection of himself, even as many have also see their own reflection in the same one. Here is the contrast between Adam the living soul, who rebelled against God and the second man who is a Life giving spirit. These two men represent every other man in the bible and on the earth today. Everyone must find their identity in ONE of those two men, for there is no other.
Adam represents all who are IN HIM and proceed from him, just as Jesus Christ speaks of the second man and all who are IN HIM and are reproduced through HIM. It was the Apostle John that said, "As he is so are we in this world." He is the GOD - MAN and we have come from Him. So in the days of creation we discover a clear pattern of the development of the believer beginning with the darkness that covered the face of the deep.
In Exodus 12 we read of the Passover that was instituted for Israel to release them from the bondage of Egypt. It was for Israel to be the beginning of a new day, a new month and a new year. This relates to the first day of creation when God called LIGHT out of darkness. Did you know that God dwells in the darkness? God is omni-present and so there is no place where God is not present. Yet many people live in fear of all sorts of things because they cannot see him in their circumstances. The Psalmist said, "He made darkness his hiding place."
Hear then the majesty of these words he uttered over the darkness upon our earth, "Let there be light!" He called forth the LIGHT out of the darkness. David declared, "The darkness and the light are both the same to thee." Paul recalls the words of creation concerning us in 2 Cor 4:6. "For God who commanded the light to shine out of the darkness hath SHINED IN OUR HEARTS, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The "light’ God called "DAY" in Genesis 1, but in the New Testament he called it JESUS.
Darkness has no reality in itself but represents for us a lack of knowledge, and therefore nothing is visible to us if there is no light. It is essential for us that God call forth the light out of our darkness or we will never discover the Glory of God that dwells within us. So the creation of the spiritual man requires that divine illumination to reveal what has been hidden within us. So this "first day" of our Passover brings into view that which the darkness of our mind has kept hidden from us.
Then we come to the THIRD day which represents for us PENTECOST which was in the third month. It is not until the Spirit of God is released in us that we can begin to produce fruit. Without the release of the spirit it is not possible for us to produce life according to the divine plan. Everything God has purposed we should produce must have the seed in itself. In our own strength we are flesh and so can only produce flesh. But through the spirit we can produce SPIRIT which in turn is able to reproduce itself.
It was on the seventh day that God rested and this is an important day for us also. It represents the feast of Tabernacles in which, a Sabbath day people will function out of pure spirit in the same way as Jesus did. It concerns the fullness we are to embrace that has been prepared for us from the foundation of the world. It will be a day of unprecedented miracles, doing what Jesus was able to do but also the greater things of which he spoke.
In that day the elements will be subject to us and we will control this convulsing earth bringing back peace and harmony and restoring the wilderness until it becomes a garden again. So we can see that we need the creator to bring forth the NEW CREATION MAN who will reconcile and restore all things to God.
At this moment we are in a transition from one age to the next as we approach the end of the 6th day from Adam, and anticipate the sabbath that is prepared for us. Two days have past from Christ’s coming into this world, in which he said he would do cures. Now we approach the third day when he said, I am perfected.. Perfect humanity is a process through which Jesus passed, and we also must go through the same experience. There is no short cut to entering into that third day, for it involves the seven days of creation being fulfilled in us before we will ever touch the reality.
The REST of God is not entered into on the basis of linear time, such as the 7000 years from Adam, according to our calendar. It is a spiritual experience of the divine workmanship of God, lifting us from mortality to immortality, from the image of the earthly to the image of the heavenly. There is no precise date upon which the sixth day ends and the seventh begins. The ages overlap as they merge into one another.
What God plans to do must be formed IN US as the Lord God FORMED MAN of the dust of the ground, and man became a living soul. We may speak about what the Lord is doing and believe it, but as knowledge it can have no real affect upon us. The word "formed" literally means to be squeezed into shape just as a potter would shape the clay. The purposes of God can only be fulfilled in us as he applies pressure in the moulding process. We must understand the image of God must be FORMED in us.
Jeremiah was directed to the potter’s house to understand the way the image of God is produced in us. Jer 18:1-4. Isaiah declared this same truth, "But now O Lord thou art our Father and we are the clay. Thou art OUR potter and we are the works of thy hand. Isa 64:8. Paul teaches the same thing as he says to the Galatians, "My little children, of whom I travail again in birth until Christ be FORMED in you. Gal 4:19.
This word "formed" means to be fashioned and shaped by adjustment through the application of pressure. There are many examples of this in the scriptures. Gideon is one who faced a battle with 32000 men but God said that is far too many. So all those who were fearful were sent home leaving just 10000. God said they are still too many so he takes them to the water and watched the way they drank. This left just 300 men to go to battle against a great army.
This was pressure conforming Gideon to a new understanding of the ways of God, but as a result he won the victory because the vessel had been FORMED under pressure. It is interesting that the number 300 is the number of complete deliverance. Noah’s Ark was 300 cubits long and Enoch walked with God 300 years.
Paul spoke of this divine moulding process to the Corinthians, "The first man Adam was made a living soul but the last Adam was made a life giving spirit. The first man is of the earth, earthy, and the second man is the Lord from Heaven. As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 Cor 15:45-49.
THE PRINCIPLE OF SIN
Modern theology teaches us that there was once a beautiful angel who became lifted up in pride and fell, thereby becoming the devil and satan. However I want you to know Satan is not LUCIFER, and he is not an angel, nor is he a demon. The truth is that in 300 AD when they translated the Bible into Latin they changed the original word "SHINING ONE" to LUCIFER.
Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 do not speak of a DEVIL or a fallen ANGEL but one who was a SHINING ONE or the DAY STAR, who fell from the heavenly realm exalting his throne above the throne of God.
Tell me, who was given dominion over all the works of God’s hands? Who was given the place of authority and power? Who is the bright and MORNING STAR? Who was the LIGHT BEARER being clothed in light? The only one I know who fits this description is ADAM, who according to Paul was a type or figure of Jesus. The LIGHT OF THE WORLD is the title given to Jesus, and he demonstrated that light on the mount of transfiguration.
Peter tells us, "We made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, being eye witnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON, IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. And we heard this voice from heaven in the mount when we were with him. We have a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well to take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the DAY STAR arises in your hearts.
Jesus himself testifies, "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." Rev 22:16 The glory of Jesus on the mount was the same covering that Adam had before he rebelled against God. Isaiah says, "They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
Beloved as we grapple with the sacred mysteries of God our finite mind struggles to grasp the depths of Truth that is hidden here. It is for this reason that we so glibly believe the doctrines of man because they are the product of natural reasoning, and so are easily accepted. Like a man who is looking for precious stones, we must dig carefully and with patience or we will never find them.
The Witches worship Lucifer without understanding, yet they say he is the GOD OF GOOD and contains all the hidden wisdom. Now we know that the passage in Ezekiel relates to far more than the King of Tyrus because it says he was in the Garden of Eden. Every precious stone was his covering. Thou art the anointed cherub that covers and God says I have set thee so, thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
So Adam was covered with precious stones just like the ephod that the priest wore in the Tabernacle. Adam walked in the midst of the stones of fire. What a sight this must have been, as Adam who radiated light from his being that shone through these precious stones that covered him. What a dazzling display of glory this must have been as he moved along. Every stone flashing its unique color as the pure light from his being radiated through them.
Very few Christians consider Adam as anything but a sinner, for the truth has been hidden by the carnal mind. Paul tells us, "The creature (man) was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope." As we look to discover how this was accomplished we find God brought about a subtle difference in Adam. Scripture says that God cause a deep sleep or trance to fall upon Adam and he took the female part of his being from him which he brought to him in the form of a WOMAN.
Adam declared she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, which means that she was of the same substance as he was. Here God is teaching us some very important truths. First of all we know that God made MAN to be both male and female and called T-H-E-M ADAM! So we understand that Adam represents the MALE part of Man which is SPIRIT, that was breathed into his nostrils by the Lord God when he was formed.
The female part that was separated from the Spirit is the SOUL which now began to function independently from the spirit. This duality of function was the reason why life for man became vanity, and futile lacking any reality. The drama in the Garden of Eden is acted out for us to teach us danger and consequences of allowing duality to continue to function in us.
Before sin entered in there was no duality only singleness of eye. But the test came when that which was false was presented to Eve as the genuine article. The Soul had no way of discerning the fraud while functioning alone without Adam the Spirit. It is no different today for this world is filled with seducing spirits, and their aim is to keep the soul from discovering the Spirit. The soul functioning in duality is not able to discern what is reality because it is limited to seeing only what is visible to the natural eye in the realm of appearance.
Furthermore the soul becomes a prostitute joining with the body so being limited to the five senses. Once the Mind, Emotions and the Will become merged with the five natural senses, their influence pulls the soul down from the eternal realm of imperishable things to the death and decay of this perishing world. Revelation knowledge is no longer available so all that is left is to walk by sight and not by faith.
The soul left the Spirit of the Word to embrace the letter. It left the Spirit of Truth to embrace knowledge without reality. Without reality all that was left to embrace is Ritual and religion. Now having gone astray the soul divorces Adam her husband and marries the body. Now the SOUL and the BODY become ONE FLESH, and all they can produce is FLESH.
Let us be very clear that it was not the SPIRIT in man that was tempted, but the female part which is the SOUL. In duality man can function on a purely earthly level all his life, using the five senses of his body. This is because the SOUL includes the MIND, the EMOTIONS and the WILL. The mind determines what IS, and the emotions respond, causing the WILL to set in motion the actions required. All this functions independently of the Spirit in the man where duality still exists.
Notice carefully that it was EVE or the SOUL that began a dialogue with her MIND to determine what is reality. The mind here is represented by the "snake" declared to be more subtle (crafty or shrewd) than any beast of the field. More subtle than a lion stalking its prey, more subtle than a deadly snake attacking a bird, more subtle than the entire animal kingdom. But of course in our enlightened society we never consider for a moment that our natural mind could be in any way SUBTLE. The dictionary meaning of "subtle" is :- delicate, acute, discerning, clever, ingenious and intricate.
How little thought do we give to the statement of the Apostle Paul when he said, "The natural (soulish) man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO HIM, NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor 2:14 It is totally impossible for the natural mind to give you true or accurate judgement concerning the things of the Spirit. So EVE consults her subtle mind, which is separated from the Spirit concerning the question of duality.
She was convinced she was capable of discerning TRUTH on her own, through the mind she had been given. Of course, out of the subtilness of her mind she heard a challenge to the voice of God. HATH GOD SAID!! This is like putting a serial killer in charge of the Police force. Apart from the Spirit of God in you, your mind will continue to lead you into darkness and despair. The voice of God is not in the area of the soul, BUT IN THE SPIRIT. Beloved hear these words and heed them.
The woman’s mind declared there was great advantage in denying the voice of God, and eating of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Having no within herself of a checking the validity of her mind’s decision her emotions were stirred and her will produced the result. I want you to notice that ADAM was not involved in this whole charade, even though she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. She took of the fruit and gave it to ADAM. Adam took the fruit with his eyes wide open knowing full well of its consequences.
We might question why Adam, who obviously knew what this would mean to the generations of man, did not refuse to eat at Eve’s request. I am speaking to those with ears to hear. Paul says Adam was a TYPE or FIGURE OF ONE TO COME referring to Jesus Christ. Rom 5:14. Paul also declares that the FIRST MAN ADAM was made a LIVING SOUL, but the LAST ADAM was made a life giving spirit. But that was not first which is SPIRITUAL, BUT THAT WHICH IS NATURAL OR SOULISH, and afterwards came that which is SPIRITUAL. The first man is from the EARTH or DUST, EARTHY, but the second MAN IS THE LORD FROM HEAVEN.
Hebrews tells us that Jesus was the AUTHOR , that is the one who wrote the script, and the FINISHER of FAITH. Is it possible that Adam in the garden initiated FAITH in eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? He could do this because he had faith to believe God was well able to restore all mankind to himself. What did the Lord mean when he said, "I AM ALPHA AND OMEGA, the beginning and the end, WHICH IS, AND WHICH W-A-S, AND WHICH IS TO COME, THE ALMIGHTY? Could it be that he was saying that he was both the EARTHY MAN as well as the Lord from heaven.
If this was so, then there is a very logical explanation for Adam eating that fruit. First of all if he had chosen not to join Eve in partaking of the forbidden fruit, the duality that brought about the disruption in the Garden could not have been healed. Therefore there would have been no salvation and man could never have been lifted out of his earthlyness and mortality. Salvation is available to all simply because the SOUL and the SPIRIT remain resident in man, with that spirit being the same Spirit of God that was breathed into the lifeless form of Adam in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve were made ONE in the beginning so the separation and the subsequent fall from their high and holy place in God was never to be permanent. The darkness generated by their disobedience has hidden the presence of the indwelling Christ of God from the eyes of the natural mind. Because of that darkness within we could not conceive that God could be there, not realising that God dwells in the thick darkness. This is because darkness has no reality, so in God even the darkness is LIGHT.
In the journey of the soul seeking her beloved which she knows she has wronged, she must discover again her true identity which can only be found in her true husband, which is Christ. Just as in marriage the woman takes the name of her husband. What a reunion it is when she (the soul) can say, "My beloved is mine and I am his, and he has taken me into his (conception) chambers." All the pain of the estrangement is gone and past as the SOUL and the SPIRIT are united and become ONE as it was in the beginning.
Somehow I believe that is the reason why Adam remained committed to his wife, because he knew he could win he back BY L-O-V-E. Paul makes it very clear first of all that Adam was FIRST FORMED and then EVE, and that ADAM WAS NOT DECEIVED. It was the woman (SOUL) that was deceived and was in the transgression. 1 Tim 2:13-14.
There is one more statement that Paul makes which must be inserted here as having a bearing of this subject of Adam. He said, "God was in Christ reconciling the WORLD unto himself." This reconciliation was accomplished IN CHRIST. Remember CHRIST is not the name of a person, but simply means "anointing." The anointing is that which has the ability to produce a manifestation of the invisible God, and make it visible in this world. The CHRIST in Jesus was that manifestation of God which set him apart as a GOD- MAN in this present evil world.
Here we are speaking of yet another mystery that only the Spirit of God can reveal to us. What constitutes a GOD-MAN? Well the answer is that ADAM was FORMED as a LIVING SOUL, for since he sinned in the Garden, he has lived his life through the faculty called S-O-U-L. This is what constitutes man as a MORTAL HUMAN BEING. His life is an expression of the NATURAL MIND expressed through FIVE SENSES.
The GOD-MAN is a MAN who has lost his sense of duality and his SOUL and the SPIRIT (which is GOD) have been RECONCILED within him. Now the SOUL and SPIRIT become ONE, functioning together, so that now the SOUL becomes an expression of the SPIRIT WHICH IS GOD, thus birthing the CHRIST. What a glorious truth it is to know every soul has been reconciled to God, and there is now no estrangement.
Then Paul continues by saying, "For God has made him (Jesus Christ the GOD-MAN) TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." How are we to understand that God "MADE HIM TO BE SIN?" Many Bible teachers consider that when he died on the cross he was made THE SIN OFFERING. However that would be a contradiction of his statement in Heb 10:5, 8, where he states that Sacrifice and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin THOU DIDST NOT DESIRE, nor had pleasure therein.
No Jesus Christ was never made to be the SIN OFFERING for that was not what God desired. Killing his only begotten son in order to set mankind free would cast God as a heartless monster. There had to be something else to which Paul was referring. Could it be that Adam in his identity as the earthly aspect of CHRIST, was put in the position of becoming that man of SIN by choosing to remain joined to Eve by eating of the forbidden tree? No I am not suggesting that he was made TO SIN, for that could never be. BUT Paul stated clearly it was not ADAM that sinned but the WOMAN. However he was willing to become identified with her in order to bring salvation to all mankind.
Did not the Father freely give his son for us all that he might work in MAN, the LIVING SOUL, a GLORIOUS SALVATION as he presented himself as a LIVING SACRIFICE to God. The final act of that salvation was first enacted in another GARDEN called Gethsemane. Here Jesus Christ the GOD-MAN faced the final challenge as he suffered the humiliation of taking his humanity, his earthiness through to its ultimate conclusion which is DEATH.
Here he sweat as it were great drops of blood, in the agony of his soul, for he literally POURED OUT HIS SOUL UNTO DEATH. The consummation of this offering was to allow man to take that LIFE represented the SOUL in its function of duality and put it to death on the CROSS. Then out of that death would come resurrection life where the possibility of duality would never again be able to intrude. That body that comes forth is clothed with the glory of the Living God, transcending all the limitations of mortality and our physical existence.
Salvation in the Bible is always connected with the SOUL. The SOUL that sinneth, it shall die. Let him know, that he that converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Heb 10:39. We are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the SOUL.
THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SEEDS
"I will put enmity between thee (the serpent) and the woman, and between THY SEED and HER SEED. It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel." There is a definite mark of distinction and a separation between the Seed of the WOMAN and the Seed of the Serpent. This is the beginning of a Spiritual Warfare between the two seeds. But beyond all this, we find that there is also the promise of a coming Messiah.
Whilst there would be enmity between the two seeds the main and decisive battle would take place between the Messiah who is the SEED OF THE WOMAN, and the SERPENT’S SEED expressed as SATAN or the DEVIL. Paul received insight into this battle and recorded some details for us, relating them to the overcoming of Principalities and Powers.
"And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was contrary to us, and taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. Having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them IN HIMSELF."
It is necessary her to look at the words the Apostle used here to understand the significance of them. The word "Principalities" has conjured up thoughts of demons and evil spirits who rule in the Spiritual realm. However the Greek word translated here is "ARCHE" and Strong gives its meaning as :-
Beginning or origin, the person or thing that commences it, that by which anything begins to be, the origin or active cause.
So what is the origin of that which opposes us in our desire to know and walk with God. It must be whatever it was that took us into a state of duality in the beginning, and that was the carnal mind of man which deceived Eve in the Garden. Jesus Christ defeated that thing not by fighting some external battle as so many speak of their conflict with this enemy that is outside themselves, but the scripture says he defeated it by publicly displaying the defeat IN HIMSELF.
How then was this great victory achieved? Many people would say, that the victory was won at Calvary on the Cross. However it would be difficult to see the "Public display" of that victory as he hung on the cross. Remember that Jesus was born of a woman in Bethlehem’s manger. Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirit as she was over shadowed by the "Power of the Most High God."
We know that the Father of Jesus was EL ELYON or the Most High God because we are told, "He shall be great and shall be called the Son of ELYON (the Highest) and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his Father David. Therefore it was said of him, "You have made the MOST HIGH GOD THY HABITATION." Because of this we read, "There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the ASP (Serpent) the young lion and the DRAGON (same serpent) shall thou trample under foot." Ps 91:9-12.
So in spite of being born of a woman and partaking of flesh and blood just as we have, he was able to defeat the duality that has inflicted all mankind by limiting life to what we could know through our five natural senses. Jesus obviously discovered his ORIGIN in the Most High God, and so his habitation was in the same heavenly realm as his FATHER. The result was he never became sick, evil could not touch him, and he was protected against this present evil world and its attempts to pull him down.
He was able to declare, "I and my Father are ONE." Then again, "If you have seen me you have seen my Father also." His MIND declared that he was equal in quality with God. Phil 2:6. Then Paul says to us today, "Let this SAME MIND BE IN YOU which was also in Christ Jesus." For those who accept this challenge and make the Most High God their habitation, will discover the very same deliverance will apply from the present evil world. Jesus conquered the life of duality for every one of us opening the way for us to enter into that high and holy calling of God in Him.
So we conclude his whole LIFE was a PUBLIC DISPLAY of a glorious victory over that which brought Adam down from the lofty heights of Glory to dwell as mortal humanity, earning his bread by the sweat of his brow. This victory was not some external battle with some imaginary force, but the victory of a SINGLE EYE which flooded his whole body with LIGHT. His death on the cross was to redeem every man from the bondage of duality that has affected all mankind until Jesus came into this world.
Consider for a moment what happened in the Garden where the ORIGIN or the BEGINNING of the thing took place. We do not know how long Adam lived in union and oneness with God in the Garden, clothed with LIGHT and a dazzling display of color flashing off those precious stones. But as soon as Eve was deceived into believing that there was a knowledge in that tree of good and evil that would bring great wisdom and lift her into a higher position than God, instead of rising into a higher dimension they fell into a lower realm.
At that time they lost their unique union with God, as the duality of their perception now confused them, perceiving what appeared to then to be TWO REALITIES. One physical, which had enveloped their own being in which they could not see God, and that Spiritual realm which now seemed but as a dream, in which God was all and in all. What remained was their own nakedness and separation from their creator. The reality they had once enjoyed walking with their creator and so being one with the whole of creation, had disappeared, to be replaced by the perception of a God outside themselves.
But we cannot consider that the victory of Jesus Christ over the serpent is the end of the whole matter. Concerning the Keys of the Kingdom Jesus said, "Whatever you will bind on earth shall already be bound in Heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall already be loosed in heaven." Matt 16:19 This is not presented to us simply as a theory but to express a FACT.
The power of the SPIRIT of TRUTH is literally the only POWER THERE IS and nothing can stand against it. What is acknowledged "IN HEAVEN" can be proven "ON EARTH" So the keys of the kingdom are in the hands of a people who have been BIRTHED by the same MIND as was in Jesus.
It is in the Book of Revelation that we see the final victory. In Chapter 12 we find a woman that is ready to produce a MAN CHILD energised by the Spirit of TRUTH. Here we discover the great red DRAGON, that John says deceives the whole world. Remember this book speaks of the warfare between LIGHT and DARKNESS, between the Spirit of TRUTH and the spirit of DECEIT.
The idea of a woman in labor is often used in the Old Testament, as a symbol of a mind in travail, and is found especially in the prophet Isaiah’s writings. He spoke of a CHILD who would rule the nations. She is clothed with the sun, which brings up an image of Christ on the mountain of transfiguration. But being clothed in LIGHT is the symbol of spiritual illumination.
Standing before the woman waiting to devour the child as soon as it is born, is the great RED DRAGON. To discover his identity we must go back to the book of Genesis and the snake who spoke to Eve. John describes him here as a tremendous force, "Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads." This dragon is intent on destroying this CHILD or this one will destroy him. Here is the battle of the two seeds, the seed of the woman who was prophesied to crush the serpents head, and the seed of the serpent that would bruise his heel.
As soon as the child was brought forth it was caught up to GOD and HIS THRONE. This child represents the birthing of a people whose mind is established IN TRUTH. There is no more duality and nothing that defileth or maketh a lie shall enter therein. There is now a war in this "HEAVEN," in the MAN CHILD, the place where the understanding of God has been enthroned.
This woman represents the Church WHICH IS HIS BODY in keeping with his "FACE" which shone like the noon day sun. The moon is under her feet. Remember the moon has no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun. Many are still walking by that reflected light which is a part of our duality, and not by the true light that dwells within us.
Beside this SIGN of the WOMAN there is also another SIGN, called a great RED DRAGON. The people represented by the woman are found to be in travail, waiting for the birth of the MAN CHILD. This MAN CHILD is the one who will finally destroy the dragon that tried to destroy him in the Garden of Eden. This battle is not some external fight as has been imagined in the minds of carnal Christians. It is won through the birthing of a new understanding.
This "MAN-Child" represents the true understanding of God that produces an image and identity that is sufficient to overcome and completely destroy the serpent and the dragon. This precipitates war "in Heaven", in the place where TRUTH has been enthroned. It is interesting that Michael is the one who leads this confrontation. His Name means, "WHO IS LIKE GOD?" The answer is YOU, beloved!
The irony of this whole episode is the fact that the serpent began its mission when Eve (the SOUL) wandered away from Adam (SPIRIT) and began to exercise her mind concerning the knowledge of GOOD AND EVIL. Having succumbed to the deception of the serpent, she partook of the "fruit" and gave it also to Adam. The consequences of this episode took the whole of mankind down into mortality and death as the carnal mind was birthed in every man.
From our human perspective it would seem that God had been cheated of his purpose to have man stand in his likeness and image. Adam had created another inferior image in which his true identity had become "lost" resulting in a totally different life, lived in another world. However the first real challenge to this condition in man came some 4000years later when the WORD that was spoken into existence in the beginning, became FLESH and dwelt among us.
This was God’s original MAN the LOGOS, not simply the Word but also the thought and intent of the mind of GOD when he was created. As he looked into the eyes of Jesus, Peter saw the "CHRIST THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD." But he saw an even greater revelation than this, as he saw in CHRIST, A REFLECTION OF HIMSELF. God determined right from the beginning that
THE TABERNACLE OF GOD WOULD BE WITH MEN.
God had in his wisdom turned man to destruction knowing he would also lift him again to the glory he shared with him in the beginning. Thus in Rev. 12 we have come full circle from the moment Adam lost his GOD CONSCIOUSNESS and man had wandered in a wilderness seeking to find God, to the birthing of a new understanding of our true identity. We discovered CHRIST dwelt within, and regardless of all previous failure the reality of our creation remained intact, just waiting for the birthing of a new , or perhaps our original consciousness.
The word God spoke in Genesis 3. regarding the snake had been fulfilled and as a consequence man’s "heaven" had been liberated from the power of the serpent and dragon, to become the THRONE of the GOD OF TRUTH.
However there is a further word that I must add here, and it is this :- Do not be deceived by thinking that because of what you have just read you can automatically claim this victory as yours as many have sort to do. There is a "bruising" you MUST ENDURE before you will crush the serpents head!! No man will break the head of the snake until he himself has been broken. There is no release for any man until the "Kingdoms of this world (that is you) become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ."
Too many Christians have claimed to have entered through the veil, and become ONE WITH GOD because they have read of the victory wrought for us through Christ. Such are just as deceived as was EVE, and by the same snake that lied to her. There is no one who will need to announce such a victory to the world, or to the Church, for everyone will know because of the fundamental changes that will be evident when Jesus Christ is truly LORD of all that is with us, and the tabernacle of God IS WITH MEN.
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