THE SEVEN VOICES
OF THE SON OF GOD
Publication #94.72
(Part 1)
THE VOICE OF THUNDER
"The voice of the LORD THUNDERETH upon many waters" (Psalm 29:3)
There is a rainbow of colors in the Voice of the Son of God, with each trumpeting its special sound, piercing deeply and finding its eternal abode in the hearts of His chosen. They all place their unique mark of eternal change in every soul, ushering them always toward their full potential, which is nothing less than perfection — the manifestation as a son of God. Once His blazing Word is heard, no man, woman, or child is ever the same. His penetrating voice has a way of reaching and breaking even the hardest of hearts. It transcends the religious spirits of "us four and no more," and "us two and nothing new." And it melts and brings to life all those "frozen chosen" who believe they have the corner market on God's formula to glory. His Voice of Light is well able to abolish all those things that are contrary to Life, as it sends its hearers on a journey that far surpasses their fondest dream or wildest imagination. Oh, what a journey! Shall we begin?
In Psalm 29, the anointed pen of David lists seven Voices of the Lord — which speaks of completion — and they are all found in the one Voice that gives Life, the Voice of the Son of God. They are: His Thundering Voice, His Powerful Voice, His Majestic Voice, His Breaking Voice, His Dividing Voice, His Shaking Voice, and His Birthing Voice (Psa. 29:3-10). David had no doubt heard all seven of these propounding voices, at least to a degree, which wrought a tremendous work in his life; and now, as they come down through the ages to our day — from the throne of the Sun of Righteousness, they make their healing way into our waiting ears (Mal. 4:2). Those shining words that fly upon flaming wings of love ignite cold, lifeless souls. They are the very instruments that not only give us life, but carry us from infancy to the maturity of Sons. What profound sounds! Unfathomable to the natural mind! Yet we will not analyze them with the natural mind, but by the mind of the Spirit from whence they come.
We will follow them through, and notice our progression from the hour we first experienced His wonderful Light of Life as it shone in our dark hearts, and on to perfection at the end of our journey. Let us listen.
THE VOICE OF THE LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory THUNDERETH: the LORD is upon many waters (Psa. 29:3). In the beginning of our awaking to the Light of Christ we heard His thundering Voice rolling over the waters of our unsettled souls. Prior to our rising to life in Him, darkness was on the face of the deep, the deep seas of our humanity. We were troubled and there was no rest. We were without form and void. And we may have had worldly possessions, endless entertainment, and countless distractions, but we were still desolate as far as true quality of life goes. The fact is, we had little purpose in life — primarily to eat, drink, be merry, and someday die and be laid to rest. His brooding Spirit was always there, as it was with the earth in the beginning; but like the earth, we were not aware of it. He was silent. The rays of His Voice were yet to be seen or heard. Oh, but what a day it was when He said, "Let there be Light," and there was Light! We came alive!
Before He spoke, even though His Spirit compassed the earth of ourselves, there was no evidence that He was anywhere in the vicinity — for we had no light. The Light of Life was yet to shine. Although He was everywhere, it appeared that He was nowhere. We were void of light, but now, it is not so — we have light. In the predawn of our former lives, darkness was upon the face of our deep. We were void until He came and spoke in that awful place of our souls.
Speaking of Christ, John wrote these promising words, not only to those who are presently awake and living, but to all: "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world"; or from the Greek, "Coming into the world, He lights every man" (Jn. 1:9). The Spirit shall illumine the darkened world of every man, woman, or child, yet every one in their own order (I Cor. 15:21-24).
Christ's ever-present Spirit moves over the face of the waters of all men, and when it pleases Him, the Deep calls unto the deep -- He thunders over their waters, the voice of the Son of God is heard, and there is Light! What a thundering revelation! For the first time they Live. They begin to see the goodness of God. He divides the light of His Spirit from the darkness of their souls. They fail to understand what is happening, but their first day has arrived. They are yet to grow on to maturity, but at least they now know there is more to life than eat, drink, merry-making, and to die without hope.
When that true Light that lights every man begins to shine deep within, the light that comes only from hearing the first of the seven voices, a solemn mystery begins to form. That which is unknown begins to make Himself known. At first the stirring of Life cannot be understood, and to some it can be very traumatic. Nevertheless, He will finish what He started. The Word of God, Jesus Christ Himself, cannot and will not return void of His mission, whether it is in the earth of one man or the earth of the whole world, as Isaiah 55:11 promises.
To those who hear His Voice of Thunder, His Spirit is no longer brooding, but has now become Light to their darkened souls. Most are unaware of what awaits them, but they do know that they were dead, and now they live. In effect this is the first phase of their long journey toward adulthood in Christ. Some will reach it in this lifetime, we are sure, while others will pick up the torch beyond the grave in the age to come.
The first action on anyone's part that has anything to do with this journey is found recorded in Romans 10:9: "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Without this initial step no one can advance toward God. Although many will feel after Him in the darkness of their own religious imaginations, they will not find Him — not until He speaks.
Being saved does not always mean the same thing to every person, and some go to church religiously who have no notion at all concerning the matter. A large number of religious congregations never hear anything whatsoever about salvation, and this does not exclude those moving in what we call Sonship or Kingdom teachings. Some have never taught what it is to be saved, while others feel that they are beyond it, that salvation is only for the babies. Well! What about it? Are there never any newborns birthed into the congregations of the elect or into the fellowships of the kingdom? If not, then perhaps their stones are broken, leaving them with no life in their seed to reproduce, and disqualifying them from ministering the bread of the Lord (Lev. 21:20). If there are new ones coming in, it is then a necessity to sound the Thundering Voice of the Lord over their dark waters that they might see Light. Let us ask — the words you speak, are they the Word of the Lord that causes those who are dead to live? Are there any babies born in your midst? If so, then teach them about the process of being saved. Feed them the sincere (Unadulerated) milk of the Word (Grk. Logikos, the Logic, i.e., Logistics) so they can work outwardly what abides within (Phil. 2:12-13). If they bypass this first voice they will never hear any of the other voices. They may hear their doctrines, but hearing the letter with the carnal mind will only heap death upon death, and salvation will be a stranger to them.
What is it then, to confess Jesus as Lord, and how can one believe in the heart that God raised Him from the dead? Do people believe after being convinced by logical teachings, and mustering up as much belief in their hearts as they can? Is their confession the act of reciting the correct words do to of intellectual persuasion? We don't think so. Believing and confessing unto salvation comes upon hearing the Voice of Thunder, and then surrendering to the one from which the voice comes. The call of His Voice (His Spirit and His Word coming together) is what enables one to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead; for in this He is so close that the person can't help from believing it.
Paul said: "...Say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above, for He is not up there in heaven:) Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead, for He is not in the grave.) But what do the scriptures say? The Word, (which is Jesus Christ) is near you, even in your mouth, and in your heart: that is, the Word of faith (Jesus) Whom we preach" (Rom. 10:6-8, paraphrased). That is close, isn't it? He is not a billion miles out in space somewhere. He is as close as one's own mouth and his own heart. This is why it is possible to believe in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, for that is where He is — in the heart, in the depth of the soul — and when He sounds His Voice of Thunder, He wakes the dead. His presence is made known. He Himself is in the midst of the earth that was void and desolate, and He becomes Light by the volition of His own will. His Light appears at the sounding presence of His voice. Such an appearance makes it a simple matter to believe in one's heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, for He now stands up in that once darkened abyss of the soul. He was always there, but darkness remained until He spoke. Prior to His shining voice coming and enlightening our souls, it was impossible to believe in the fashion that brings a confession that seals the everlasting covenant.
THE COVENANT
To "confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus" is more than simply "acknowledging" Him as "Lord" in general. It is the sealing of the everlasting covenant between Jesus and the one being called into service. It is an open declaration of an oath to He who stands in the midst of the one who is awakened to that reality, that from that moment forth Jesus Christ is their Lord. It is their word that they stand with Him in the original covenant made between His Father and their father, Abraham.
The word confess means more than merely admitting that He is a lord, or king, or some superior power, as it is commonly thought. It comes from the Greek word, homologeo. It is a compound of homo and logeo: Homo speaks of being at the same place or time. It is akin to Hama which denotes close association. Logeo is the verb form of Logos which denotes something said (including the thought) reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive. With the definite article, as John wrote, it is the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ). Homologeo itself means to assent, i.e. Covenant. (Strong's Exhaustive. Concordance.).
Assent is coming into agreement with someone or something. It is a joining together with their thoughts, ideas and/or desires. We understand that a covenant is a binding agreement between two people, but this Greek word is even stronger. It carries the thought of joining two people together and becoming so united that they are one. We see this in the marriage covenant. Therefore, when you confess the Lord Jesus, you make a covenant that binds you to Him — as one. The marriage covenant and confession are identical except that one is on the physical plane and the other is spiritual. When a man is joined to his wife they become one flesh as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:31, but when he is joined to the Lord he is one Spirit (I Cor. 6:17).
The word covenant voices the same thought as confess. This particular covenant is a binding, everlasting agreement which cannot be broken without dire consequences. God's covenant of the Old Testament required the shedding of blood, a life had to be given. The shedding of blood in the sacrificial animal symbolized that the people became one with it in its atoning death. Regardless of how inadequate the blood of the animal was, it still symbolized that the people were paying the price for their sins. It also represented their union with the sacrifice when it was burned upon the brazen altar and transformed by the consuming fire. They then ascended with it into the heavens as a sweet smelling savor. Therefore, it did not only depict the penalty of death, but it pointed to the promise of transformation and resurrection as well.
The first blood covenant was made between God and Abraham. It foreshadowed our covenant with Christ, that each would give their life for the other. In similitude, we see Abraham's blood, as well as that of God's, being shed when he was commanded to slay the animals, divide them, and lay their parts on one side and the other. We can conjecture that one side represented the death of God for the life of Abraham, and the other was Abraham's death for God's life. We might wonder, why would God require a man's life so He can live? The truth is, in order for God to live in and possess all the land of any individual, they must relinquish their ways, their desires, their lusts. They must lay down their life, and in doing so, God not only lives in them, but by His indwelling life they pick it up again, yet transformed.
The result of this covenant, as God told Abraham, was that he would inherit all the land from the Nile to the Euphrates. Abraham asked, "How will I know this is so?" He was then instructed to slay the animals, and passing through the divided carcasses, God indicated He would die in order for Abraham to possess the land. The covenant was sealed that day, and whenever Abraham, or his seed, required God's life, the agreements of the covenant would be honored. Without God's death, no inheritance would be known, and without a body there would be no way for Him to honor that covenant of blood. But we see Jesus! Abraham and his seed would have to wait no longer. He who is Spirit provided a body with which to uphold the covenant when it was required of Him.
Unlike covenants made by men today, the ancient covenant of Genesis 15, was unbreakable — forever. It went from generation to generation, and it would be just as strong and demanding to the thousandth generation, and beyond, as it was to its authors. Regardless of the reason for one requiring the life of the other, each party was always obligated to surrender it upon demand.
When the time came for Abraham to inherit the promised land, and especially the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10), he required God to relinquish His life. The inheritance was the land that stretched all the way from the world of Egypt to the land of Babylon, and on to the far reaches of Canaan. The whole expanse of that which God promised to him and his seed could not be found in that natural plane of things that he explored, for it spoke of greater things — that which is spiritual. It promised the freedom from the bondage of corruption in all three aspects of our lives — spirit, soul, and body. 1) The dark world of Egypt, wherein every person lives cannot be made light without the covenant of Christ. 2) The confused, double mind of Babylon has no hope when she is void of the single eye of His presence. 3) And the humiliation of Canaan, being joined to the dust, can never know the joy of being made one in Christ if we never embrace the light of the covenant. The promise of our deliverance from that lower realm of the fall would never be known without the obedience of Jesus to the blood covenant. In it the dark world of our Egypt is made light, our minds ring with a clear sound rather than with the confusion of Babylon. Without the fulfillment of the covenant our Canaan of humility would never know the honor and glory of the heavens. In Him we live! Praise God, we live!
Abraham could not find that promise of victory, for it cannot to be found in the dusty, carnal planes of Adam. He knew the promise was for him and his seed, and although he died in faith, he did not possess it. Only by the Spirit can such spiritual victory be known. Therefore, the life of He who is Spirit was required, that it could be known. In His death, that which was inaccessible was finally made accessible.
Every realm and vestige of our being in the spirit, soul, and body is that promised land of inheritance, and the only way possible for us to inherit it was for God to die, and He did. When our benefactor died, all that He owned, The earth and the fulness thereof (Psa. 24:1) became ours. An inheritance works the same in the spiritual sense as it does in the natural — that which a person owns can only be inherited from another after the other's death. The writer of Hebrews said: "For where a testament (covenant) is, of necessity, there must also be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. (Heb. 6:16-18). Hence, the crucifixion of Jesus, He who victoriously conquered — possessing all.
Pilate asked the seed of Abraham, those who were in covenant with the Seed of God, "You have a custom, that I should release someone for you at the Passover; do you wish then that I release for you the King of the Jews?" (Jn. 18:39). They had the choice of Jesus or Barabbas being released, and the other would be crucified. We know, of course, which one they chose. They cried in unison, "Give us Barabbas, the murderer!" And by the Spirit we can hear them charging, "His death will avail us nothing. His blood at Passover cannot atone our sins. He is blemished, a sinful man and full of evil. He is just like the rest of us, with blood upon his hands. He is incapable of giving us life — but Jesus can. He is the spotless Lamb that we have long awaited. His Father told our father that when it was time for us to inherit His possessions, that He would lay down His life so we might have it. Therefore, crucify Him, spread His blood upon our lintels and the door posts of our cross, that we might possess the promise and Live!" (Mt. 27:15-26 Mrk. 15:6-15). This, of course, was not what was in their minds at all, but in effect that is what they were saying. They meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. Unknown to them they also cried out for the redemption of humanity that fateful day. They were calling for the atoning blood of Jesus to be sprinkled upon them all when they said, "Let His blood be on us, and on our children" (Mt. 27:25); and of course, it was upon them all! Praise God!
Oh, the beauty of the Thundering Voice of the Lord. It causes one's earth to quake and the hardest of hearts to break. It rends the heaviest of veils, the flesh that guards the way to Life. The Spirit may brood over the dark seas of every soul, but when the Rays of His Thundering Voice sound — darkness becomes light, sorrow turns to laughter, and joy wells up from their troubled waters. Awakened from their long, cold night of death, they sing with joyous delight as they live for the first time in their bodies of carnal clay. What a marvel comes from hearing THE VOICE OF THUNDER — and there are other voices! Praise God, there are others!
Elwin R. Roach
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