The Beginning

of

The End of All Things

Part 3

#180.05

Eternity Is Set In Every Living Thing

The finite mind of Adam cannot comprehend such a thought as eternity. Although it is set in the core of his being, the veil over his mind prevents him from seeing the height, depth, width, and breadth of that infinite expanse. Even to use these terms of measurement to describe eternity is an enigma; for height, depth, width, and breadth imply limits with starting and stopping points, and there are no starting and stopping points to eternity, nor are there limits. One might as well try to measure God. How high, deep, wide, and broad do you suppose He would measure to be? Can't be done, can it?

Therefore, to be more accurate when using these words in connection with eternity, we could perhaps rephrase the sentence to read similar to this: "Although eternity is set in the confines of Adam's being, the veil over his mind prevents him from seeing the heightless, depthless, widthless, and breadthlessness of that infinite expanse." Try as we may, even this is a futile attempt in clarifying it; for to say something is heightless, depthless, widthless, and breadthless would be saying that there is no height, no depth, no width and no breadth to it, and we know that the infinite expanse of eternity has all the above, yet without measure.

By now we are wondering how it could be possible to express in human terms that which has been seen and heard that which streams from the infinite realm of eternity. Anyone who has had a revelation from on high will know that it is a great struggle! The fact is, after writing and mailing each Pathfinder, I never feel that I have adequately sketched the picture in words that I see and has been painted upon the canvas of my spirit; but since there are no better ways that I know of to express it, the articles go out as you receive them, while trusting the spirit of revelation will ignite the same in you and pierces any veil that may be present. And from the mail received, we conclude that it is taking place. It is exposing and bringing forth that eternity which is set in every living thing.

It is no small wonder that the scriptures of the Bible were muddied by their translators, and they have been muddied, especially when referring to eternity. Rather than a pure, crystal-clear river of life flowing from its pages, we see a river of water mixed with the finite dust of the earth. This mixture, of course, has served very well as cherubim in keeping the way of the tree of Life. Only by the revelation of the Spirit of Jesus Christ can we see beyond that dark veil to drink and share the crystal-clear water flowing out of the Garden of Eden. Even then, it is possible to mingle our own thoughts with it, yet our goal is always for unmixed, unlimited, unadulterated, pure understanding and expression of the breadth, length, depth, and height of all things eternal.

One of the shining lights and vanguards of God's eternal purpose, the apostle Paul, said something about this:

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Eph. 3:14-20.

The Amplified has it this way: "For this reason [seeing the greatness of this plan by which you are built together in Christ], I bow my knees before the Father {of our Lord Jesus Christ,}

"For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named [that Father from Whom all fatherhood takes its title and derives its name].

"May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened {and} reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality].

"May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love {and} founded securely on love,

"That you may have the power {and} be strong to apprehend {and} grasp with all the saints [God's devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];

"[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!"

These verses speak of the enormity of Christ's love, and that love is as endless as eternity itself. This love reaches beyond every boundary and limit in all the universe and draws back into itself everything that was ever removed from it, and Jesus Christ is the center of it all! Whatever was in Him in the Beginning and came out of Him, which was all, will come back to Him in the End. Even if one makes his bed in hell, He is there and will carry that person back home. There is no place to where he could go and be forever lost from the one who died for him; for each person has a homing device planted in him, and when the time is right, the Father will stir that device by revealing the home he left. It is then that he is drawn back to his Beginning. Eternity is set in every living thing, and there is a day when our Lord homes in on that eternal device and like a beacon guides each soul back to where it once was in Him.

Sometime ago Margit and I spent a couple of days with our dear friends, Dan and Connie Fraser. They have a piece of paradise in Arkansas with their log cabin nestled in the cozy woods of the Ozark mountains. All who have been there know what I mean.
It was a beautiful Sun/Son filled morning as we walked through the forest beneath a canopy of trees in their front yard. I picked up a freshly-fallen acorn, and I asked, "What do you see in this acorn, Dan?" He said, "A bunch of little acorns." "Look deeper and farther, and tell me what you see." "An oak tree!" he said.

"That is right, but there is more. From that oak tree thousands of acorns are born and fall into the earth, and should the conditions be right, each of those fallen acorns produce an oak tree. And in turn, each of those oak trees brings forth thousands of acorns and thousands upon thousands of more oak trees. Therefore, in each acorn there is a forest. However," I continued, "if the conditions remain right for each acorn to germinate and grow, it would not be too long before every square acre of land on this continent would be covered with oak trees. From this continent the acorns would be carried abroad to continue their heritage and production of life on the other seven continents of the world, and covering them as they did on this one.

"Moreover," I added, "even if only one of those acorns happen to be carried by a spacecraft to another planet that is hospitable enough for plant growth, that acorn could bring forth its own oak tree with the process continuing. And the spread of those trees from this single acorn could cover that planet, and the acorns from that planet could be carried to other planets all over the universe, and after a time, every compatible planet in the whole universe could be covered with oak trees, and to think that all of it is contained in this one, small, insignificant acorn is incomprehensible. But let us not stop there; for even though the universe is filled, there is no end to the universe and all those uncountable acorns still have eternity set in them and are waiting to be planted, to die, and bring forth trees of their own."

Dan was impressed with my foresight, or at least, I would like to believe he was. Nevertheless, that was not the end of the story. I continued:

"Now that we see that eternity is set in this acorn, where did it begin? When did it begin?

"We can see that it came from the tree that overshadows us here in your front yard, and this tree came from an acorn that grew on, perhaps, that larger tree over there, and that tree, of course came from another acorn from a tree somewhere in these mountains. And if there was a way to trace it back, we would see that it continues in reverse as far as it goes forward. Eventually we would see this acorn upon a tree somewhere in the Garden of Eden; but even then, we have not plumbed the depths of its origin; for eternity had its mark set upon it, and before there was ever a man to til the ground, it was there in the Beginning, the Beginning of Jesus Christ who is eternal and has no beginning."

I concluded my thought by saying that "God is love, and Jesus is love manifested. Since God and love are eternal, so is Jesus Christ, the manifestation of love. Although He is both the Beginning and the End, there is no beginning or end to Him. Also, as far as we can see into future of this acorn, which is without end, that is how far we can see in the past, which is without beginning. Truly, eternity is set in every living thing. So goes the saga of the little acorn. How can the human mind measure it?"

People, of course, are not acorns; but like acorns, they have fallen from the tree of eternal Life. They have been planted into the earth to die, and then to come forth in Christ to live and produce other trees. That life, however, is locked within their hard shells, and they will never come forth to be as it was in the Beginning, at least, not until He who is the Beginning quickens that eternity which is set in them. When Deep calls unto the deep, and that which lies in the heart of those depths hear the call, it will come forth and live. I believe Job was speaking of this when he said:

"For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant" Job 14:7-9.

It is interesting that the Hebrew word neta not only means a plant, as it is used in the verse, but it also means collectively, a plantation (Strong's).

The world has been cut down, and from the appearance of things, it seems impossible that it will sprout again. Adam was cut off and his root has waxed old in the earth. His stock as been dead in the ground for a long time, and it seems that its tender branch will never again know the warm rays of the sun; but praise God, through the scent of the water of the word it will bud again, and bring forth like a great plantation!

This is not unlike a forest of oak trees that grows from a single acorn wherein eternity has been set. For as it is in the acorn, it is also in the tree of mankind.

There is always a drawing back home of that which has fallen from the tree of Life. There is an eternal yearning, pulling, gathering, drawing, dragging of the fragments back together into the whole. Jesus, He who was lifted up, is the one doing the dragging, as He said He would. We see an example of this gathering back to Him when He multiplied the fish and loaves:

"When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost." John 6:12. You see, nothings is lost! Every fragment is gathered to Him.

Moreover, we see the ministry of the elect. They are not set apart to be revered and served, as it is common with the clergy; but rather, the elect are called to serve the people. They are the broken bread to the nations. "For we being many are one bread, and one body...." 1 Cor. 10:17. This bread is blessed, broken, and then served so others may eat. As it was with our Lord, so it is with us. He said, "Yet I am among you as the One who serves" Luke 22:27, and "...the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." Matt. 20:28. It is not unusual to see men and women who desire more than anything to be a minister and to be recognized as such. But their vision of a minister is not one that serves people as a waiter or waitress, or a bus-boy. They see ministers as people worthy to be worshiped, and they have missed the target altogether.

It is in the nature of man to thrive on recognition and honor. He has always felt that anyone who is called to the ministry is a little more special than most, and is set above those he "serves." But according to our example, it is not that way. Ministers, as the word implies, are called to serve others. There is nothing wrong with being a spiritual under-shepherd to the people, one who always directs them to the chief Shepherd. Such is a humble calling, a calling that never suggests the minister is superior to anyone.

It was common for Paul to be abased Phil. 4:12; but it is not unusual for ministers to refuse abasement at all cost. Rather than to be abased, they will lord it over people as they receive adulation, praise, and worship from their people. We often see everything except the pouring out of their lives for others. They may be workaholics putting in sixteen hours a day seven days a week; but are all those hours of labor for the people or for themselves? However, let us not misunderstand. Workaholics are not necessarily lords over people; for countless workaholics are humble servants, and one's spirit and motive will determine if he is a servant or a mini-lord.

Whether any of us receive praise or blame for what we say and do should make no difference to our walk; for neither the praisers nor the blamers called us into service. Our calling was that of our Lord Jesus. And although we may have a love for the people, it should not be that love which is the primary factor in serving. It is our love for Him, and until there is no one anywhere who does not know Him and His love, that burning desire to serve will remain, and we will never cease from that service until there is not one man left in hell.

If our service is not undergirded by our Love for Christ, it will not be long before defeat sets in, and then heartbreak. If the foundation of our service is born out of zeal, self-aggrandizement, emotions, sympathy, and/or mere love for the people, failure is inevitable; for we will be confronted with a great deal of misunderstanding, hatred, and disdain from many of them. A longtime friend of ours knows firsthand about rejection from those she loves due to sharing a wonderful truth. She wrote:

Exile

Smiling, unsuspecting, I confessed.
"I believe in the enduring, unending mercy of God," I said.
They turned on me, with vengeance, these trusted friends.
They met in groups to plot against me.
Their voices raised into a fevered pitch
Of anger, malice, hatefulness,
Shrieking for my exile;
When it was done, they locked the door against me and returned
To singing their songs, reading their verses,
Folding their hands in pious prayers for the lost,
Content in their conviction.
They had rid Christ's body of the dangerous, perverse and corrupt filth
Of faith in the enduring, unending mercy of God.

Patsy Jackson

Although religious people who are void of the Spirit of Christ and His love are deaf, blind, cold, and heartless, their institutions serve a purpose as being holding tanks until the time of their restoration. Until then, it is as the student of religion and historian, Walter Houston Clark, suggested, saying that religion often acts like a vaccination: "One goes to church and gets a little something that then protects him or her against the real thing." Another has said: "One of the main functions of formalized religion is to protect people against a direct experience of God." We believe this to be very true, and if the foundation of Patsy's love had been only for the people, and if her relationship with her Lord was like an inoculation against Him, she could have easily been cast into the darkness of despair and ceased her pressing toward the mark of the prized of the high calling. And with the deep wounds inflicted upon her, it would have been very easy for her to never again serve people anywhere or at anytime. And we have seen this happen to people who were rejected by those they loved. However, Patsy's motivation was and still is her love for God.

As it is for Patsy, no amount of rejection will stop us from serving our broken bread to hungry people. For that matter, rejection is a part of our breaking so others may eat, and after the nations are served this broken bread, there will be a great multiplication of it, twelve baskets full of God's government over the entire earth.

Every fragment of that multiplying word -- every man, woman, and child -- will be gathered together into the End. Every broken peace will be joined together with the whole, and the meekness we have been noticing for sometime will then abound everywhere: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious." Isa. 11:6-10.

The wonder of it! Eternity having been set in the tiny acorn of the man called Jesus Christ, waiting to fill the universe with the plantation of mighty Live-oak trees! My, my, my, my, my! As Terry Miller would say.

To be continued...

Elwin R. Roach

The Beginning of The End of All Things.
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