#67
THE VOICE OF
THE SON OF GOD
(Part 12)
LET THERE BE LIGHT
FULLNESS IN NO OTHER NAME
GOD IN ALL — YET NO VISION
DEATH OF THE WORD
LET THERE BE LIGHT
"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And THE SPIRIT OF GOD moved upon the face of the waters. And GOD SAID, Let there be light: and THERE WAS LIGHT. (Gen. 1:2-3).
Unfathomable depths are God's riches in creation. We stand in awe at the splendor of all His works: a sparkling raindrop, the tender petal of a blossom, the thundering roar of the lion, hurling masses of stone and gases in the heavens treading out their perpetual circuits of framed destiny. We stand as able witnesses to God's unfathomable wisdom and indisputable might of the countless eons past, when He flung the blazing fireballs of holy writ into the blackness of space, writing in the endless heavens of the glorious history of Himself and His effusive works before they ever began. But now we see it all unfolding, even as those shining luminaries so accurately spoke long ago, long before there was ever a world, or before there was a fallen, soil-tilling man to look upward into the far reaches of the night and read the promising words of his victorious journey's end.
As witnesses of His majesty, His power, His meticulous care and harmony from the greatest of galaxies to the smallest of atoms — who can deny that God is, or say that He is limited? Surely not many, for regardless of where one would go, the evidence is ever present. His grand works pervade; even so, let us consider more than His finished works, but also how it all begin. What was the crucial element that came to be, the thing that moved the world from its darkness and the chaotic condition of terrible void and immersed it into the vibrant realm of life? It was LIGHT!
LET THERE BE LIGHT
WHEN GOD SAID — LET THERE BE LIGHT — LIGHT WAS, pure and simple. Light was the beginning of the earth being freed from the bondage of darkness. And please, let us note that this light did not come at the will or command of the earth. Not one stone, not one drop of brine laden water, not one speck of dust, not one atom in all that realm of foreboding void said, "I am tired of desolation and darkness; therefore Light, come and shine on me." That is not how the light began. It was not by the will of anything in the earth, but was by the will of God, and when the time came for light to shine, HE SAID — LIGHT, and the light was.
In like manner as the earth of every man, there is not one thing in all his makeup that can call the light down from the heavens and cause it to shine upon his darkened, void-racked soul. Over every soul the Spirit of God broods, they are all born with it, but like the earth before God said for the light to be, there was never a real awareness of His presence.
The Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters, perhaps for a billion ages as we count time, but the earth remained void and in darkness. It is the same with every child of the earth as they are clothed upon with the garments of flesh — darkness is upon it even though God's Spirit is moving over the troubled waters of their soul.
Some may be concerned with God inhabiting ALL MEN, especially since most of the eastern religions embrace this line of thought. To a degree, a very limited degree, they are right — but it is not as they suppose. What is being called God is nothing more than man in his self-aggrandized heyday. With "humble god-likeness" it is taught that all one has to do is to become "conscious" of "the spirit of god" within themselves, and as they achieve this meditative feat they will then be as God, or will be a god, etc. But such attempts are futile and always fail, for try as they may, the pseudo love Adam clothes himself with is a far cry from the Living God — who is Love.
Brethren of God's calling to Sonship, let me ask this: what dark clod of earth can perceive the Spirit of God that broods over one's earth without His Word joining with that Spirit, and saying, "LET THERE BE LIGHT?" There is not one soul in all the universe that has such power to switch on the Light, not the gurus of the east, not the Buddha's, nor Krishna's of middle-east, and not the self-styled saviors of the west, the midwest or northwest. Men of any religion, creed, or persuasive stand are totally incapable on their own of being remotely aware of the Spirit of God in their darkened state. Outside of Jesus Christ there will never be any awareness of the Spirit that moves over the soul of their waters, for without Him there is no Light. At times, even when the Light does come, self-serving men still fail to see it: IN HIM IS LIFE; and THE LIFE IS THE LIGHT OF MEN. And the Light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not (or, could not seize it, Grk.) (John 1:4-5).
Again in another place, speaking of this infusing Light, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 4:6). The Amplified translation has it so beautifully worded this way, "For God Who said, Let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts so as [to beam forth] the Light for the illumination of the knowledge of the majesty and glory of God [as it is manifest in the Person and is revealed] in the face of Jesus Christ, the Messiah."
Light never comes by blood, as John wrote, nor by the will of the flesh, nor by the will of man — but by God (John 1:13), when His Spirit and Word come together, forming the Voice of the Son of God. It is this Voice that causes the dead to live and those in the graves to come forth. He is our focal point and author of Life, and not another.
FULNESS IN NO OTHER NAME
Countless thousands give themselves to a lifetime of studying the carnal philosophies of religion, devoting themselves to dead men who lay defeated in their tombs, not to discount those who are walking around in their grave-clothes and breathing air. They suppose there is Life of the ages in their mystical words of "wisdom." They forget, however, or were never told of Jesus, that "God also hath highly exalted Him, and GIVEN HIM A NAME WHICH IS ABOVE EVERY NAME: That at THE NAME OF JESUS every knee should (shall, Isa. 45:22-23) bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should (shall) confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil. 2:9-11).
We know that a name in any language is more than a way of identifying someone or something. In the truest sense, it carries the thought of its nature. Why then, do we suppose, is the name of Jesus above all names? Plainly, because His nature is the nature of God, by nature He is the very expression of the substance of God (Heb. 1:3), by nature in Him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col. 2:9). Whether it is the name Yahweh, Jah, Elohim, Adonai, El Shaddai, El Elyon, El, or any other characteristic name given to God that makes up the Godhead — THEY ARE ALL FOUND IN THE SON OF GOD WHOSE NAME IS J-E-S-U-S!
There is no name found anywhere that is above, or even comes close to, the name of JESUS. "There is salvation in no other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). So why look to another, especially to those whose nature is that of the earth? Not only does Jesus possess all the qualities of His heavenly Father, that which enables Him to save and deliver to the utmost, but He possesses the right, the legal authority to do so; and this authority is not limited to a few, but it is for all.
A Psalm of David states that "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psa. 24:1). But there was a time when the inhabitants of His holdings were void of His blessings; for they made a covenant with death. They were all in agreement with hell, made lies their refuge, and under falsehoods they hid themselves (Isa. 28:15); yet this was not to remain forever, for that which belonged to its rightful owner was reclaimed. The reclamation was made by a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation (Isa. 28:16). By this stone their covenant with death was annulled, and their agreement with hell could not stand (Isa. 28:18).
He paid the price for every soul. He bought back that which was lost, that which the first steward, Adam, sold under sin. Every living thing groaned that awesome day when death pervaded. By one act of selfishness, they all died, but praise God, by the selfless act of another all were redeemed, and shall live. That great day was at the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. Death groaned its lamenting cry of defeat, for the price of life had been paid. The covenant with death was annulled. Jesus bought us that wonderful day when He hung like a thief upon the cross. No one else did or could, and His rising from the grave was the victory shout for all.
We were all locked up in sin and death. We tried every key imaginable: our own ways, our churches' ways, other men's ways, the letter of the word ways, religious ways, every which way, but to no avail. Nothing could unlock the gates of death and hell, for we had made an unbreakable covenant until — until the price of the field (the whole world, Mt. 13:44-46) was paid. After the redeeming price, the blood of Jesus was given, the keys to the gates of death and hell were cut in gold — the keys called by the name of JESUS. He is now going forth into the field of His purchase and making free those who were formerly prisoners of death; yet with patience we understand it is every man in his own order, as Paul made clear in I Corinthians 15:21-24.
What a name! The name above all names! And what a purchase! "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein" (Psa. 24:1). The Beginning and the Ending, the Alpha and Omega, the Author and Finisher of all faith, the restoration of creation is found in that name, and it all starts with the element called Light. The marvel of it all. So simple yet so profound: every troubled soul from birth had the Spirit of God moving (or brooding) over the face of its waters. Nevertheless we were still without form and void, and we remained in darkness. We were without the Light of any understanding and unaware that He was so near — even in our mouths and in our hearts (Rom. 10:8-10). Like the earth of old, humanity has the Spirit moving over the face of the waters, and they will continue on in darkness until the catalyst is joined to that brooding Spirit — the catalyst of HIS WORD. Light could not be seen in the beginning before GOD SAID 'LIGHT,' and neither will there be any light shed abroad in any man's soul without GOD SAYING 'LET THERE BE LIGHT.' Without the Spirit and Word coming together and enlightening the soul, it remains in darkness and death; but once He speaks and the hearing ear hears that wonderful VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD, Life begins!
With understanding let us know that man does not have it in himself to become God conscious regardless of the strength of his own will and/or his great intellect. This will never happen until GOD SPEAKS, and they HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD. THERE WILL BE NO LIGHT, NO LIFE, NO ANYTHING, nothing but strong delusions that gender misconceptions. Carnal minds can only produce images of grandeur in men who presume to have scaled the mysterious heights of God. They are products of Adam and not Christ. It matters not if they have the Spirit of God brooding over their deceived souls of darkness, they will never see His Light nor know Him in any form or fashion until HE SPEAKS and THEY HEAR. Before that happens, everything they believe to be God has nothing to do with the Living God, but is the god of this world. It is Adam who has been inspired by the spirit of religion.
GOD IN ALL — YET NO VISION
With the thought of God being in everyone, a question that sometimes surfaces is, "If He is already there, why is it necessary to ask or to invite Jesus to come in?" I can't recall a scripture or verse that tells us to ask, or invite Him to come in. We are, however, told to REPENT (Acts 3:19, 17:30), and to CONFESS JESUS AS LORD (in covenant) (Rom. 10:9) in order to be saved, or delivered from the bondage of corruption.
There is one verse in Revelation 3:20 that has been used to promote the idea of asking Jesus to come in, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me." This, however, is not a scenario of Jesus standing "outside" of a sinner and knocking to be let in, but is of Jesus speaking to the Church of Laodicea. Earlier in the book of Revelation we are told that He is IN the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, and the candlesticks are IN the Church (Rev.1:13). Therefore, Jesus was not knocking on the outside to be let into the heart and life of sinners, but He was knocking from a realm from within the Church to be let in: into their worship, their works, into their very being as servants of Christ. Where else could He be knocking from but the Holy of holies? His desire is to enter into the Holy place where communion is shared. From there His presence will be seen in the outer courts of people's lives in the church, and eventually He shall gain an entrance and enlighten the souls of all.
Ray Prinzing wrote so beautifully: "'The entrance of Thy Word giveth Light; it giveth understanding to the simple.' (Ps. 119:130). The entrance — literally, THE OPENING. It is as His Word is OPENED, revealed, quickened to us, that it begins to work in us. We might carry His Word around, all wrapped up in some neat little package of head-knowledge, and it accomplishes little. But when He begins to OPEN THE WORD to our understanding, and it is a LIVING THING WITHIN US, it becomes a LIGHT upon our way, and we KNOW that He is real.
"But there is a dual working — for not only must HE open the Word to us, but we need to be opened to receive that Word. So the prayer, 'Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.' (Ps. 119:18).
"In His parable, Jesus said that the good ground was '...such as hear the Word, and RECEIVE IT, and bring forth fruit.' (Mark 4:20). Every new revelation requires a readiness to RECEIVE — and the greater the depth of truth to be imparted, the greater the preparation work as HE PLOWS DEEP INTO OUR BEING to empty out more of the carnal mind, that we might possess more of the mind of Christ. Out go the old doctines of the traditions of man, and in comes the glorious truth which sets men free. Bless His holy name!" — End Quote.
So again, it leaves us with the understanding that the Spirit is in every man, as recorded in John 1:9, "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (or, Coming into the world, He lights every man, Grk); yet until HE SPEAKS and HIS VOICE IS HEARD, they will remain in darkness and as void as the earth before GOD SAID — LIGHT! But praise God, we are not in darkness, and we rejoice that His Word has come to us, and we hear! We sing with David, and are filled with Light — for "Thou hast GIVEN COMMANDMENT to save me" (Psa. 71:3); "Thy Word is a LAMP unto my feet, and a LIGHT unto my path" (Psa. 119:105); and "...Thou art my LAMP, O LORD, and the LORD will LIGHTEN my darkness" (II Sam. 22:29). How wonderful it is to HEAR and LIVE and WALK in LIGHT!
In the beginning there was a principle of life, and it remains unchanged today. The Spirit moving alone over the face of the deep brings no vision, and the Word void of the Spirit has no expression of life — but when the two come together, when the SPIRIT MOVES upon the face of the waters, and God SAYS — LIGHT — there will be Light! The dark sea of human understanding becomes illumined. No longer will the mist of man's clouded logic prevail, but the glory of Christ, the Son of God, will be seen and heard — bringing Life to all who rest in His Light.
DEATH OF THE WORD
Men have taken these eloquent verses and ferreted every crack and crevice for some morsel of eternal life, but in their searching they found only the letter that kills. Jesus admonished the religious rulers of that day that the scriptures they were searching testified of Him, who was the Life they sought, but they refused to come to Him that they might have Life (Jn. 5:39-40). They worshiped the testifying scriptures more than the One of whom they testified.
This Jesus, our Lord from heaven, knew who He was and what the Word was. He went on to say, "Verily, verily, I say unto you...HE THAT HEARETH MY WORD...IS PASSED FROM DEATH UNTO LIFE...The hour is coming, and now is, when THE DEAD SHALL HEAR THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD: and THEY THAT HEAR SHALL LIVE!" (Jn. 5:24-25). The voice they hear and live by, we can be sure, is not the pounding sermons of lifeless scriptures religiously quoted and expounded upon. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth, as Jesus also said, "the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, THEY ARE SPIRIT, and THEY ARE LIFE" (Jn. 6:63).
Life from the dead comes at hearing the voice of the Son of God, at hearing the call, at the scent of water! Brethren, it's beginning to rain, and the smell is refreshing, with the fragrance of the Rose of Sharon ascending from the desert floors of men's parched lives. The wildernesses of some are beginning to blossom.
The Word was not always heard, as it has often been over the past 2000 years. When it first came from the heavens it was as alive as any Word that God speaks. Except for the prophets, there was not an ear to hear, for the Pentecost of Christ was yet to come. The Spirit had not yet been given that the Voice could be heard. The writers of the Bible heard the Word to a degree, and in a figure they took their ink-tipped quills and inscribed the Living Word upon the parchment of earth. The Word was sealed, as it were, inside tombs called scrolls. The Word first descended from the heavens like bolts of lightning into the hearts of the prophets, burning deep into their bones, but like another Word that the scriptures pointed to (Jesus), they were taken and buried in the graves of the scrolls. That word was written in the book we now call the Bible. That which was Life died as it passed through hollow quills and was buried, leaving a testimony of the One from heaven.
Each word written upon the pages of the sixty-six books became the epitaph of the One contained therein. Each word is an inscription carved upon the gravestone of the Word of Life. Each word is a testimony of Life, that grand Life ready to be possessed by all. When men read the Bible, in effect, they read the epitaph of the One who came down from the heavens, of the One who shall come forth in due season in every man, of the One who shall come with the glory He had with the Father before the world was. The words written upon that tombstone testify of the One who has Life, but the words themselves are not that Life (Jn. 5:39-40).
Words on tombstones can be interesting reading, but it is common knowledge that there is no life in a tombstone, nor in the grave that lies beneath it. But when the revelation dawns of the One who was once buried in the grave of those pages — what Life! The gravestones of the carnal mind rolls away, and we see Him, not in the empty tomb, but in the garden of our own hearts — and we Live! Praise God — we Live! He calls our name — and we Live! Yes, dear Saints, we hear His Voice, the Voice of the Son of God — AND WE LIVE!
When both the Word and the Anointing of the Spirit come together, there is no more darkness, but there is the Light of Life. We can pore over the scriptures with blurry-eyed fervor; we can stuff ourselves with the Greek and Hebrew; we can go to revivals, seminars, and sonship conventions until we are bursting with scriptural knowledge, but to what avail? Until the two essential ingredients, the Spirit and the Word, become One, and we hear the Voice of the Son of God, we will remain as lifeless as the letter buried in the scrolls.
Not only was the Life of God's Word held in death within the testifying scriptures, but the Word (Jesus) they spoke of was at first confined to a tomb as well. For thirty years He was held in the earthen tomb of the first Adam. He was tempted in all points as humanity, but without the corruption of sin. In maturity, He was raised out of the watery grave of humanity. The promise of Psalm 16:10 was fulfilled in part that day in the river: "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption." The consummation of His deliverance from the hell of obscurity and the corruption of death was in His resurrection.
Seemingly unknown to most, Jesus was as much in hell the first three days of His life as His last three. His first three spanned 30 years in the world, and His last three comprised 72 hours in the tomb. He was in "HELL" both times according to the definition of HADES. It simply means an UNSEEN, IMPERCEPTIBLE, HIDDEN REALM. While he lay in the grave, He was unseen, imperceptible, and hidden from view, but the fact is, He was just as unseen, imperceptible, and hidden from view before He was raised from the waters of the Jordan. His adamic form may have been looked upon, men supposing He was the son of Joseph, but the Son of God was not seen, nor was His Voice heard. After Jordan at least two saw Him as the Son of God, Peter and a woman of the night (Mt. 16:16 & Lk. 37-38), but for the most part He still went unseen: "He was in the world...and the world knew Him not" (Jn. 1:10).
Jesus left the glory He had with His Father, and lowered into the grave of humanity. He was conceived in the dark womb of Mary, and born in the bestial world of the stable. It was there that He was wrapped in the swaddling clothes of death, and then laid as manna in a manger, the feed-trough of beasts of the field. Every aspect of His birth spoke of Him entering the realm of humanity's death, but He did not remain there. His baptism into Jordan and coming straightway up out of the water, signified His victory over that death. It spoke of His dying to that world of temptation, sin, and death. The tomb of Mary's womb did not retain Him, the swaddling clothes of Adam's grave failed to keep Him bound, the stable of humanity could not hold Him, and the world of Egypt that He fled to could not corrupt or enslave Him. He was raised up an overcomer that day, over all things that pertained to the first Adam. Nevertheless, He had to walk out His mastery for three and a half years. At the beginning of His triumphant victory march He was able to see the opening of the heavens and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him. His Father's Voice then came to Him, saying, "Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Mark 1:10-11). From that day forth the Dove, the Spirit of anointing, remained upon the Word made flesh. It was not long afterwards, upon the mount of transfiguration (Mt. Hermon), that God added to those endearing words, "...HEAR YE HIM." What a Command, what a Word to be heard, what a Voice, that of the Son of God. What A WORD He is, coming with THE VOICE that causes those who sleep to awake, those who are dead to live, and those in the graves to rise to life or to age-lasting judgment. This is what we yearn for, we listen for, give ourselves to, this is what we hear — THE VOICE OF THE SON OF GOD!
Elwin R. Roach
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