THE HEAVENS DECLARE

Part 44

CANCER —THE CRAB

The eleventh of the twelve Signs to appear on the starry stage is that of CANCER — THE CRAB. In the midst of the Sign of Cancer is one of the brightest nebulous clusters in all of the heavens. This cluster of stars is called Praesepe, meaning The Multitude, The Offspring, The Innumerable Seed. The church is this vast heavenly multitude which has sprung from the faith of Abraham.

Long millenniums ago God told Abraham to look unto the heavens and if he could count the stars, so would be the number of his seed. It is important to understand that the divine plan of God in redemption begins with Abraham. Before Abraham, God dealt with several important individuals. But God did not deal with them in the light of His ultimate and eternal purpose, only in relation to the time in which they themselves lived. Abel was a righteous man and offered sacrifices in accord with the will of God, but he offered for himself alone. He was not specially chosen in relation to the ultimate and eternal purpose of God. Enoch, too, walked with God, but only in an individual walk. In Noah's day all mankind was living in the depths of corruption, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and survived the deluge, but yet we do not find that he was chosen or called in relation to the ultimate and eternal purpose of God, but only in relation to the situation and need of his own day.

But it is when we come to Abraham that we encounter the first example of a man specially chosen of God with the future in mind — the eternal purpose of God in consideration. This is why we say that the divine plan of redemption begins to be worked out with Abraham. When Jesus came to confirm or ratify with His own blood the promises to the Fathers, it is not said that these were the promises to Able or Enoch or Noah, but the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And when Jesus came to confirm and ratify with His own blood the promises to the Fathers, it is not said that He took upon Him the seed of Adam — but "He took on Him the seed of ABRAHAM" (Heb. 2:16). He came not as Adam's "seed," but as Abraham's "seed." All the promises of God which embody the redemptive and eternal plan and purpose of God were made to two specially called and chosen people — Abraham and his "seed" (Gal. 3:16). So everything begins with Abraham; he is the starting point of everything in the redemptive and eternal purposes of God.

There is neither time nor space to examine the many facets and ramifications of God's promises to Abraham, but you can read of them in the book of Genesis and ask God for wisdom and understanding. He was to become "a great nation." He was to become "a multitude of nations. God said, "Kings shall come of thee." Abraham's posterity was to "spread abroad to the west, the east, the north, and the south." Abraham was not only to have a multiplicity of seed or offspring, but one particular "seed" through whom ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH WOULD BE BLESSED. This singular seed "is Christ" and yet it is a corporate seed composed of many members — the sons of God (Gal. 3:16; I Cor. 12:12). When Abraham received these staggering promises, what did he do? He believed them! "...to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all; (as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations; according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform" (Rom. 4:16-21).

When Jesus Christ came to this world of the seed of Abraham, He came as a seed. Abraham was the seed from which sprang the millions of the house of Judah and the hundreds of millions of the house of Israel. But Paul, in unfolding this great mystery, fastens the hope of all creation not on Abraham himself, nor on the hundreds of millions of Judah and Israel, but on one particular seed, and that seed is CHRIST. This he does in Gal. 3:16 by saying, "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which IS CHRIST. Therefore of all the vast multitudes as the dust of the earth, the sands of the sea, and the stars of heaven in number, the one seed of greatest importance, and the only seed which is made the heir of all the promises given to Abraham, is Jesus Christ.

It is a thing of magnificent wonder that our Lord is called the seed of Abraham! It seems a most singular thing that in that long ago Eden the Lord God told the serpent that the seed of the woman would bruise his head. Why did He not say that the man that should come from the woman would bruise the serpent's head? Why did He refer to that man as "her seed," the seed of the woman? It will be a great blessing to your heart to understand the vital truth that "seed" is not only the product of some other life before it, but seed is also that which reproduces itself and its kind many thousand fold from generation to generation. On a certain day some Greeks approached the disciples of Jesus with the request, "Sirs, we would see Jesus." This request was promptly carried to Jesus by Andrew and Philip, and our Lord gave this strange and very remarkable reply, "The hour is come that the Son of man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit" (Jn. 12:23-24). In this cryptic statement Jesus likened Himself to a seed, a grain of wheat, which was to fall into the ground and die. He would be sown as a seed into the earth and be raised again. Not only would He be raised in glorification, but in centuries yet to come this seed, which was Jesus Christ, would produce a vast harvest of many sons of God in His exact image and likeness. No seed is raised from the earth as just a singular seed, there is always an increase, the natural law of development being "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Only one seed was planted in the earth, and the Christ who came out of that Palestinian tomb was not the harvest — merely the blade breaking the ground. The multitude that will appear in the time of harvest will be the seed of the seed, the increase, the full corn in the ear, every one bearing the image and likeness of that Christ seed which was planted in death.

I am certain that our Lord's reply was a mystery to those men to whom He spoke. They made their earnest request, "Sirs, we would see Jesus," and He responded with His mysterious dissertation. We are not told whether Jesus ever consented to have these Greeks interview Him, but in answer to their request He gave the strange reply, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." His message to them was simply this: If they saw Jesus at that time they would see only one seed, one grain in the image of God — the man Christ Jesus. But there would be more, much more to Christ than appeared to them that day! A whole universal field of ripened grain was to follow in His likeness, born of that original seed, imbued with the very same life, raised in the same resurrection, who would be the SONS OF GOD and THE CHRIST even as He is a Son of God and the Christ of God. The many sons would form ONE CHRIST, Head and body, each having the seed of life in himself. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, appeared as the firstborn among many brethren (Rom. 8:29). And you, my beloved, will understand a great mystery when you understand that ALL who are products of and partakers of the life of Him who is the seed of Abraham themselves become T-H-E S-E-E-D OF ABRAHAM.

Those in these last days whom God is giving, by His Spirit, understanding of the whole mystery of God in Christ that is in the scriptures, know that the whole mystery and purpose and plan of God in Christ is revealed in the family of Abraham, and in God's dealings with the family of Abraham, from Genesis through Revelation. This mystery begins in Genesis 12, where God called Abram from Ur of the Chaldees, and gave Abram a promise saying, "Leave your home, your country, and your father's house, and go into a new land that I will show you, and I will bless you, and make your name great, and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed." Few of God's people today and not very many of God's ministry fully understand this promise that was given by God to Abraham. What God was really saying was that some day, yea, in these last days He would ultimately bring forth a perfect seed, a many-membered perfect seed, a descendant from the line of Abraham who would rule and reign and govern this earth, solve all the world's problems, and bring perfect blessing to all the families of the earth.

Now the apostle Paul, in the book of Galatians, tells us that when God gave this promise to Abraham, if He had said seeds, instead of seed, singular, then the promises of God to Abraham would be fulfilled to the Jews in the State of Israel, or in the great Israel nations of Europe and America, the natural descendants of Abraham according to the flesh. But the apostle tells us by the Spirit, that since God said seed, singular, and not seeds plural, then the seed that God was referring to which would bless all the families of the earth is THAT SEED WHICH IS CHRIST, and since we are the body of Christ, then we the body of Christ are that ultimate seed of Abraham that God promised in the long ago would come forth in the earth, and ultimately govern the earth, solve all the world's problems, and bring blessing to all the families of the earth. Therefore, the whole Bible from Genesis 12 through Revelation 12, is just the divine record of God progressively working in every generation through the family of Abraham to purify and perfect the line of Abraham, until ultimately in these last days He would bring forth from the line of Abraham a perfect seed, a many-membered perfect seed, who would govern this world, rule and reign in the earth, solve all the world's problems, and bring perfect blessing to all the families of the earth.

When once one's eyes are opened to this mystery in the scripture it is very easy to follow the lineage of Abraham, generation after generation, down through the ages, and see how God has been working in each generation to progressively purify the line of Abraham more and more, to ultimately bring forth that perfect seed. Therefore, when we follow the line of Abraham down through the scriptures we find that out of Abraham came Isaac; and Isaac was the seed in his generation. Then out of Isaac came Jacob; and Jacob was the seed in his generation. Then out of Jacob came twelve sons, a many-membered seed; and they were the seed of Abraham that God worked through in their generation. Then out of twelve sons came twelve tribes of Israel, and they were the seed that God worked through in their generation. Out of them came twelve more tribes in the next generation, and they were the seed in their generation.

Finally, two thousand years ago, out of the twelve tribes came Jesus, and HE WAS THE SEED while He was here. Then Jesus, while He was here, purchased a bride with His own blood, the woman the Church (Eph. 2:22-32), and on the day of Pentecost His Spirit roared back into this Church which is His body (feminine), and this people were born again of the incorruptible seed of the Word (Christ) of God, which liveth and abideth forever. The first generation of spiritual Israel was born, and they were the seed of Abraham in their generation. The ministry of that generation planted into the spiritual womb of the Church the incorruptible seed, the Word of God, and the second generation of spiritual Israel was born, and they were the seed in their generation. Out of them came the third generation of the true Israel of God, and they were the seed in their generation. Finally now, in these days, out of them has come us, the present generation of Israel, the seed of Abraham. We are the seed of Abraham that God is working through in our generation, and out of us is going to come a many- membered manchild who will grow up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ, be changed into the incorruptible, immortal, eternal nature of God, and become that perfect masculine seed through whom Christ will reign throughout the age and the ages of the Kingdom of God on earth, solve all the world's problems, and bring perfect blessing to all the families of the earth, even as God promised Abraham in that long ago.

All the wonderful promises of God made to Abraham were given to only two people — Abraham and his seed. That seed, according to Paul, is Christ. Then follows the enlightening proclamation: "For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Gal. 3:21). No wonder Paul cries out in the very next verse: "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male or female: for YE ARE ALL ONE in Christ Jesus. And IF YE BE CHRIST'S, THEN ARE YE ABRAHAM'S SEED, AND HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE PROMISE" (Gal. 3:28-29).

We are still talking about the Sign of Cancer, The Crab —The Multitude, The Offspring, The Innumerable Seed. It is interesting to note that crabs are hard- shelled animals with roundish, flattened bodies and five pairs of legs, the front pair of which end in large claws. Most crabs live in the sea, some of them swimming with paddle- shaped legs. A few are found in fresh water, and some spend most of their lives on dry land. The land crabs of the West Indies are found even on top of high mountains, but they return to the sea once a year to breed. Thus, the crab is an animal born of the water, as the Church which is His body is "born of water and of the Spirit." Its many legs indicate multitudinous development and numerous members, as the family of God has multiplied exceedingly. The name CANCER comes from a Latin root meaning To Hold or Encircle, and the Greek equivalent is about the same. The term was chosen for the crab because of its ability to take hold of something and hold it firmly with its large claws. And so it is with the elect of God. Having like Mary of Bethany, "chosen the good part," or, like the patriarchs, "embraced the promises," or, like the apostles, "lain hold of the hope set before us," they apprehend by faith the incorruptible and heavenly inheritance, and embrace the promise and hope of His glory with a grasp so firm and strong that it shall not be taken away.

Like the crab which lives in two elements — water and land — so the elect of God lives in two elements: the earth and also the heavens. This is a great mystery which only the spirit of wisdom and revelation from God can unfold to our hearts in this hour. In that long ago beginning, at the dawn of our Creator's omniscient plan of the ages, "The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there He put the man whom He had formed" (Gen. 2:8). Memories of Eden, exquisite as dreams, weave their threads of light into the traditions of all peoples. There is not a nation under heaven which does not date the beginning of our race from some distant period of purity, peace, and concord with nature and with God. The hieroglyphics of Egypt, the clay tablets of Assyria, the Edda of Scandinavia, the legends of Tibet, and the bas- reliefs of Rome, tell the same story of primitive blessedness. All go to prove the truth of the statement that the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and put there the man whom He had formed.

When we come to the Garden of Eden it is evident that it is more than merely a piece of real estate somewhere over in Mesopotamia! No such place has ever been found, neither the angel with the flaming sword to keep men out. No wonder that men have sought for it, but they have sought for it in vain. The Garden of God is not a physical place located on this or any other planet. It is a STATE OF BEING. It is a higher existence for man than this cursed state we find ourselves in by physical birth. It is the state of being that man was in when he was first brought forth from the creative hand of God and placed here upon earth. It represents man — in the presence of God! Man with the incorruptible life of God accessible to him! Man as master and lord over all things! Man living above sin, sickness, pain, limitation and death! Blessed realities, one and all! And yet — the Garden also represents man together with all the factors and conditions, both internal and external, of being and environment, which ultimately were to lead to his ruin and alienation from God. In one sense, man was the Garden. And yet, man was in the Garden. The Bible reveals it as a "Garden within a Garden." Man both in a state of being and an environment — the two corresponding. Ah the conditions that surrounded man were also obvious realities within the heart of man. The original man with his nature, characteristics, capabilities and potentials is what we see in the Garden of Eden. This was man in the Garden! It is a Garden within a Garden, a world within a world.

Some years ago Gene Edwards shared a word of revelation with which I heartily concur. In the following paragraphs I will share as faithfully as I can the concepts he set forth. In that wonderful day when the Lord God planted a Garden in Eden for the man in His image, God stood in the boundary between heaven and earth and did a most incredible thing. He stretched forth His hands of omnipotence and took this terrestrial ball in one hand as with the other He grasped the heavenly realm. He moved the two toward one another. He brought the spiritual realm, the timeless realm, the dimensionless realm toward planet earth and moved earth toward the heavenly realm. The two moved closer and closer until they kissed each other. The two realms touched — entering into union with one another. The area where heaven and earth met together and overlapped He called Eden. The place where these two realms met, overlapped, and interfaced became unlike earth and unlike heaven, that which had never existed before — not heavenly and not earthly — the Kingdom of Heaven on earth! The only thing it can be likened to is the resurrection body of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was visible, but utterly spiritual. He brought His physical body out of the tomb and appeared in a body possessing an earthly form and appearance, but it was a glorious metamorphosed body limited neither by time or space. Here in this realm where heaven and earth meet and mingle all that is visible becomes spiritual, and all that is spiritual becomes visible. Everything upon this earth which is seized upon by the spiritual is transformed by the spiritual, and there is created here the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. When you take the heavenly and the pristine earthly and join them together, what is formed by that blessed union is far more beautiful and glorious than either.

Man, formed of the dust of the ground, lay just outside this realm of the interface. God came to man there — just beyond the shining Eden, just outside the glorious spiritual- physical realm. God came to man in the lowlands of the earth realm. He breathed into the man, so magnificently formed of the earth, He breathed into him the spiritual realm, the life- giving winds of heaven, the breath of divinity. Out from the mouth of the almighty Creator came a brilliant, dazzling, sparkling effervescence like living stars that surged with divine power into the nostrils of Adam and flowed through his body and soul, permeating every cell of his being. That wind, that spirit, that breath, that celestial air, that divine and heavenly life animated the clay model, creating within a dimensionless quality, condition, and state of being. All the animal kingdom and each of the myriad life forms on earth has a "breath of life" — the air of earth's dense atmosphere. Man is the only being into whose nostrils GOD BREATHED THE BREATH OF LIFE. Man's "breath of life" is not air — it is the Spirit of the Almighty which giveth understanding — intelligence and wisdom! Only the light that God IS was more glorious than this exquisite creature — man in God's image! And the magnificent wonder is that this man could see right into the heavenly, spiritual world. The animals can't peer into that realm, the birds are unable to communicate with that realm, the fish have no knowledge of that realm — no creature on earth can see beyond this gross material realm except the man in God's image. Please mark this! Here is a physical, visible creature who can see the unseen. He is not frightened by it, nor is he intimidated by anything or any creature he beholds in that glorious realm. He is at home with who he is and who they are. He looks around and all things are open to him. He sees all, perceives all, understands all. The face of God bent down and looked into the face of man, and man looked up into the face of God, and they looked like each other! They looked like Father and son. They bore an incredible, remarkable resemblance. God stretched forth His hand, Adam stretched forth his hand, and stood up from the dust and faced his Creator. He belonged to this planet, but the winds of heaven were within him. He belonged to the heavens as well as the earth. He is the only creature which has ever been, is now, or ever shall be that BELONGS TO BOTH REALMS!

Consider with me, precious friend of mine, What is the natural habitat of man? He is spirit — his natural habitat is the heavens! He is dust — his natural habitat is the earth! Both? No! Neither? Yes! Neither. And yet, in some strange, mystical way — both. This glorious creature God created — where is his "home? Ah — God prepared the place for man as soon as He created man. He created a place that corresponds to man's true state for man to inhabit. The earth, dear one, contrary to all that you may have been taught, is not the natural habitat of man. And neither are the heavens the natural habitat of man! The Garden — and only the Garden — and no place but the Garden is your natural habitat. That's where you belong — that is your true world, your homeland, your motherland — that unique realm where heaven and earth meet and mingle — the Kingdom of Heaven on earth! The Garden was not heaven, neither was it earth. It was a realm where God could walk, and where man could walk and talk with God. It was the dimension of the spiritual body — spirit and body, heaven and earth, visible and invisible, celestial and terrestrial, blended into one. The greatest of the glories of heaven was in that Garden — the tree of life was there. And that was man's habitat. It was not merely where man was — it was what he was.

This great truth of man's STATE OF BEING constituting the Garden of God is one of the tremendous themes which courses its way like a mighty river through the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. In the book of Revelation the Garden of Eden finally becomes the wonderful City of God — which City we are (Rev. 21:9-11; Isa. 60:2,14). "And I saw the New Jerusalem ...having the glory of God: and her light was like a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. And in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall serve Him: and they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever (Rev. 21:10-11; 22:16).

How do you suppose the tree of life was transferred from the Garden of God to the City of God? The simple truth is — it wasn't! The Garden still exists. The Garden is in the City. The Garden IS the City. In this City two realms interface once more — the new heavens and the new earth — not two separate entities, but that place where heaven and earth are joined, the Land of the Interface! This is where righteousness dwells — the new mind and the new body. That is your world, my beloved. You and I belong to an interface. We are an interface. We are part heavenly and part earthly; part spiritual and part physical; part visible and part invisible. What is the New Jerusalem? It is the place of union with God in the interface where heaven and earth overlap. We are a colony from the heavens inhabiting the earthlies. We belong to neither and we belong to both. We are of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are in the Lord Jesus Christ. He, more than any other man, is an interface of these two realms. He is the second man, the last Adam. He reveals in Himself the true purpose of God in man. Only in Christ can one understand the true nature of all things. He is of both these realms and He is in both of these realms. He is in both and He is in neither. It is a great mystery. Oh, the wonder of it! He is a MAN seated in the higher than all heavens! We who have been born of water and the spirit are of His species. We are bone of His bone, flesh of His flesh, mind of His mind, spirit of His spirit, life of His life. We belong to His realm. We walk with Him today in the Garden of God, in the City of God, in the LAND OF THE INTERFACE, for it is the only place where we can comfortably move in both realms. And yet it is not both realms — nor is it either realm — it is a combination, a union of the two — a NEW CREATION IN CHRIST JESUS! That's what you are! You are spirit and you are body. That is our destiny — to be both in union in one! That is our habitat. And redemption progressively brings us into our inheritance in this blessed Land of the Interface. The salvation of the soul, the redemption of the body, will complete the work. Let us press on, saints of God! The full splendor and bountifulness of this precious Land lies just before us! As the crab lives in two elements — water and land — so the New Creation Man lives in two elements: the earth and also the heavens!

Dr. Seiss wrote: "In the progress of the crab's development and growth it undergoes important changes. The most marked of these is the periodic throwing off of its old shells and the taking on of new ones. It has to shed its hard shell every so often, for the shell stops it from growing. In its earlier life these changes involve alterations of the whole form and shape of the animal." And so the body of Christ, in the process of its growth and development into the image of God again, passes from processing to processing, from change to change, and from glory to glory! God's purpose in redemption is not to just deliver us from the penalty of our sins, but to re- create us, to make a new creature of us, a new kind of man in the image of Him who created us. This marvelous change involves the whole man, spirit, soul, and body. Many seem to think that a spiritual body is not a LITERAL body. In other words, that it is not a REAL body, or not actually a body at all, but a consciousness or a spirit. "Literal," says Webster, means real; not figurative or metaphorical. "There is a NATURAL BODY, and there is a SPIRITUAL BODY," saith the Lord. Does any one suppose the apostle here teaches that there is a "real" body, and there is a "figurative" or "metaphorical" body; and as we have borne the image of the "real," we shall also bear the image of the figurative? One would suppose they so read, from their exceeding blindness in not recognizing any but the animal body as the "true" body. These seem fearful lest, if the idea be entertained that Christ was resurrected in any other than an animal body, it will lead to the rejection of a LITERAL resurrection. We do reject the idea of saints being raised "a NATURAL body;" and if that is rejecting a LITERAL resurrection of the saints, we must plead guilty, and beg to be excused simply on the ground that the Almighty has said, "It is raised a SPIRITUAL BODY" (I Cor. 15:44).

Now will someone inform me why it is unscriptural, or fanatical to maintain that Jesus Christ has a SPIRITUAL body; and, as the saints are to be like Him, that they are raised spiritual bodies. I hear some talking about coming into immortality in their present body, living for a thousand years or forever in a body that eats, drinks, sleeps, drives, and goes to the bathroom. It will never happen. Because some seem to think that a spiritual body is not real, but is only a metaphorical body; and that nothing is real except it be "of the earth, earthy," is no reason why those who can discern spiritual things, which the natural man cannot, should remain in darkness. The realm of the spiritual is a realm which, to those who touch it, is ten thousand times more real than the natural world. Man has been excluded from this heavenly realm ever since that calamitous hour when he stretched forth his inquisitive hand to discover by his natural senses that which is good and that which is evil. On that unhappy day his eyes were closed to the celestial world to discover the physical and the natural and to be instructed in this barren realm of death. And yet that heavenly realm is as close to us today and it was then, the only difference being that our darkened vision cannot see it!

By His resurrection from the dead Jesus opened up to man again the spiritual- physical realm — the Land of the Interface. "The same day, at evening, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in their midst" (Jn. 20:19). "And after eight days, again His disciples were within, then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in their midst, and said, Peace be unto you" (Jn. 20:20). "And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight" (Lk.24:31). Such language was never applied to the movements of Jesus before His crucifixion, and is used only in speaking of spiritual beings. The spiritual body of Jesus, and its clothing, which appeared suddenly while the doors were shut, did not go out the door, but simply disappeared or de-materialized into the same elements from which He had fashioned them but a few moments before. He vanished out of their sight, and was no longer seen of them on the physical plane, though doubtless He was still with them — invisibly present; and so also much of the time during those forty days. Jesus only demonstrated TWO BODIES WHILE HE WAS ON EARTH: the natural body and the spiritual body. There were no others. The first was a body of limitation that grew hungry, thirsty, weary, and died. The second was the body of the resurrection, a body of glory, unlimited, spiritual, supernatural. He never demonstrated a physical body that put on immortality but remained the same. Many brethren today are expecting PHYSICAL IMMORTALITY; they look in the mirror to see if the aging process has slowed or stopped; they count the wrinkles to determine whether there may be fewer today than before; they are expecting LIFE in an UNSPIRITUAL BODY! Again I say, It will never happen! No man can be physically immortal who has to either eat, drink, or sleep in order to sustain his life. No man is immortal as long as he can drown in water, burn in fire, be crushed under the wheels of an eighteen-wheeler, have his head severed by sword, choke on a piece of meat, bleed from a cut, or be buried in the earth. Hear it! There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. Those are the only two choices you have, my friend.

It follows of necessity that man's being, under the curse of sin and death, because it is unsuited to the spiritual world, must be changed by the power of God. A bird would need a mighty change to be able to live under the water, or a fish to live in the air; but the Lord promises a much more striking change to those who are predestined to be manifested as the sons of God with power. Unknown millenniums ago Job uttered an inspired statement as he sat among the dust and ashes of his desolation and affliction. "If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait UNTIL MY CHANGE COME. Thou shalt call and I will answer Thee; Thou wilt have a desire to the work of Thy hands" (Job 14:14-15). Never did Job utter a statement which bears out the absolute faithfulness of God to His creatures than in this passage. He says, So what? If a man comes to the point where he goes by way of the grave — shall he live again? Is that the end? And then he answers his own question. He made reference to an APPOINTED TIME OF WAITING, through which we must pass until OUR CHANGE COME. We will not be left in this "unfinished state." We will not be forgotten in this low realm of the earthy, this side of the Land of the Interface. There is much more work to be wrought in us before we are fully changed. But even physical death will not deny us that fulfillment, because sooner or later, HE WILL CALL, and we will answer, because it is not dependent upon our state or condition, but upon HIS CALLING AND PURPOSE, and He has a desire to the work of His hands, the end is secure in the FAITHFUL CREATOR'S DESIRE to finish the work of His hands; His desire is towards us and that is the guarantee of our full redemption.

Paul sets forth the majesty of that supernal glory that now appears like a beckoning beacon before the anointed vision of the sons of God: "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (I Cor. 15:49). We are to bear both — made one. He also explains exactly how this ineffable change is to take place within the elect. "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are CHANGED into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Cor. 3:18). "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind" (Rom. 12:2). "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour ...who shall CHANGE our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil. 3:20-21).

Literally Paul says that we are being METAMORPHOSED into the image of the heavenly, and that God will METAMORPHOSE even our vile bodies. The Greek word METAMORPHOO means simply "to change into another form." It comes from two words: META — which means "beyond," and MORPHE — meaning "form." "Beyond form" — or changed into another form. From this Greek root comes our English word "metamorphosis," which means to change from one form, shape, or substance to another. Our Lord through death and resurrection was changed or transformed — metamorphosed — from the lowly Jesus of Nazareth they had known to the glorified Christ of resurrection, ascension and exaltation. And this is just the word that is used with reference to the experience of believers who are to come into the same image of Christ Jesus. The metamorphosed body is not a body that looks like our present body infused with life while it continues to eat, drink, sleep, sweat, and do all the other things natural men do. IT IS A DIFFERENT KIND OF BODY, IN A DIFFERENT FORM. IT IS A SPIRITUAL BODY, FASHIONED LIKE UNTO HIS GLORIOUS BODY.

Metamorphosis is that change which takes place from within. We are not transformed by external forces acting upon us, but by the breaking forth of a new inner life from within, the very life of Jesus! Let us carefully consider the wonder of this thing, because it is certain that METAMORPHOSIS has already begun in us and will continue until the complete transformation has taken place. Too many of the Lord's people sit with folded hands, waiting for a change in some sweet bye and bye, when God's Word clearly shows that this process of change has already begun. This is what must take place in us: we must be changed from what we started out to be, into a creature vastly different in form and nature. But do not look first for the change in the outward. Look not at the skin tone, the wrinkles, physical strength, healing of the body, as signs of metamorphosis. The change begins within, in spirit and soul, in nature and character, in mind and understanding, in consciousness and manifestation.

There are certain times and seasons when God brings to life truths that have been allowed to lie in grave clothes for ages and dispensations. As a seed lies dormant in the winter months and then bursts into life in the warmth and rain of spring, so also has the truth of God been allowed to lie in death throughout the wintry night of our walk in Babylon's religious systems now at last to burst into a fruitful harvest in the spring of God's purpose to bring many sons to glory. There came a wonderful day when Christ came into our lives. "What a wonderful change in my life has been wrought, Since Jesus came into my heart," we sweetly sing. But did you ever wait in holy reverence for the Spirit to reveal the eternal truth of those words to your deepest heart? Oh yes, we received Him — as a saviour, as a thought, as an idea or an ideal, as a truth, as a presence, as an experience, as an ethereal kind of spirit, something vague and intangible dwelling by faith in our hearts. The Spirit of the Lord is quickening, however, that there is SUBSTANCE to that MAN within us. When the incorruptible life of the Christ conceived within us, we must realize that He was conceived within as the EMBRYO of a SPIRIT- BODY. Not just a spirit, but a SPIRIT- BODY! This is the Man who belongs to the Land of the Interface — where heaven and earth are merged and fused.

When Paul speaks, then, of being strengthened with might in the INNER MAN, he is speaking of SUBSTANCE within us. When Peter speaks of the HIDDEN MAN of the heart, he is speaking of GLORIFIED FLESH that has been born into the believer but is hidden beneath the veil of Adamic flesh. A MAN is not a spirit. A MAN is spirit, soul, and body. The first MAN was of the earth, earthy. The second MAN is the Lord from heaven. The first MAN was of the earth, embued with the wind of heaven. The second MAN was from the heavenly realm, and took upon Him a body. It is this second MAN who has come into us in His life. Jesus never said, "Except you receive My Spirit, you have no life in you." Rather, He said, "Except ye eat the FLESH of the Son of man, and drink His BLOOD (spirit), ye have no life in you" (Jn. 6:53). As we feed that man within with the FLESH SUBSTANCE and the SPIRIT LIFE of the resurrected and glorified MAN, this infant spirit- man begins to grow and when he is fully formed he will burst forth from the cocoon of Adamic flesh and stand in splendor and majesty as a NEW CREATION MAN — body, soul, and spirit! This man will then live fully in the Land of the Interface.

All our lifetime we have been subject to the bondage of corruption and death which is rooted in the CARNAL MIND. Ah, "to be carnally minded IS DEATH" (Rom. 8:6). That is God's own definition of death, and according to inspiration death is IN THE M- I- N- D! "It's all in your mind," they say, and though it may be spoken in jest, it is a wondrous and divine truth, nonetheless. In the same chapter a truth is introduced showing that the transformation of the body begins with the renewing of the mind, for, says the apostle, "to be spiritually minded IS LIFE..." (Rom. 8:6). Ah — life, also, is in the MIND! And he continues, "If the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also QUICKEN YOUR MORTAL BODIES BY HIS SPIRIT THAT DWELLETH IN YOU" (Rom. 8:11).

If ever a reason was given for a change of mind, a change of thinking, a raising of consciousness, this must be it: "Be ye metamorphosed BY the renewing of your mind." It is the termination of our old way of thinking — of the carnal consciousness of sin and death — and the activation of a new way of thinking — the spiritual consciousness of LIFE IN CHRIST that brings the change, works the change, and completes the change until our transformation into the heavenly is consummated in spirit, soul, and body. Make no mistake about it! Paul declares forthrightly in Rom. 12:2 that this transformation, this change, this metamorphosis begins with the casting off of the corrupt and carnal mind which carries the mentality of sin, limitation, and death, and replacing it with the mind of Christ which is the mind of life and glory and virtue. We have heard a great deal about the corruptible putting on incorruption and the mortal putting on immortality. We have embraced many theories about how this would be accomplished, but in one majestic sweep of inspiration the apostle brushes aside all theories to tell us that we shall be transformed BY THE RENEWING OF THE MIND.

Mind means thought, intellect, reason, understanding, sense, thinking principle. Thought is thinking. The renewing of the mind means renovation, reconstitution, re-programing of our thought patterns and processes. It means a new mind- set. A new consciousness, awareness, reality. The old mind, carnal and human as it is, is always thinking thoughts of sin and death. It leaves us mortal, corruptible, and unchanged. The new mind is the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is the intellect, the thought patterns, the thinking principles of Him who has conquered both sin and death and abides forever in the life and immortality of the Land of the Interface. The mind of Christ is a transforming mind! It renews not only the mind, but the body as well. Our minds, our THINKING must be raised from the level of the natural, carnal minds we were born with, and it must be spiritualized. This is not an instant change, it is not attained with one grand leap, but a continuous renewal as the voice of the Spirit unfolds within us the mind, thoughts, and outlook of God. These are thoughts of love, of righteousness, of life and light and power and incorruption and glory which transform into the image of God. If we wait in holy reverence in God's divine presence He will teach us how to think out of our divinity instead of our humanity.

Every life has a certain nature and consciousness. The higher the life, the loftier its nature and its consciousness. The law of a life belongs to the realm of its consciousness. For example, our youngest son, in his teen years, was a lover of hamsters. He had a hamster which from the time of its birth had never eaten anything but hamster food. One day he gave it an insect. Immediately, the hamster bit off the insect's head and then proceeded to eat it. Now this unique action of biting off the insect's head before eating it is a feature of the "instinct" of the animal. It is in his nature, a part of his consciousness. Though you breed countless generations of hamsters, and not one of them ever sees an insect, the moment you present one of those distant descendants with an insect he will promptly bite off its head and then eat it. He requires no training whatever. This is the LAW of its life — its innate nature and consciousness. It is programmed in its mind to think and act a certain way. Nature abounds with tens of thousands of examples of this law of life- consciousness in the marvelous life- forms God has created on this planet. The law of the physical life pertains to the order of consciousness. Everything is what it is and acts as it acts out of CONSCIOUSNESS. Old Adam thinks and acts out of the consciousness of sin and death. "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others" (Eph. 2:3).

The law of the spirit of life is the life of God Himself, which is the highest life; therefore it is the richest in consciousness. This life within us causes us to be full of divine consciousness, and this consciousness is the consciousness of DIVINE LIFE. The law of life within us is this consciousness. So — as we put off the carnal mind which is filled with the consciousness of limitation and death, and are renewed in our mind into the mind of Christ which is the consciousness of life, our spirit, soul, and body will become infused with not only the life of God, but also with the law of God's life — divine nature — and we will walk in righteousness rather than sin, and we will think thoughts of life instead of death.

As soon as we are regenerated, awakened to the life of God within, this law of life definitely causes us to have a certain consciousness. Our responsibility is to obey the sense of the law of life, thus thinking and acting out of the consciousness of life rather than death. In the beginning, the consciousness of this law of life may be comparatively weak and infrequent. Yet if we are willing to obey the first sense, though it be weak, the consciousness following will be stronger and stronger. We have to begin by submitting to this first weak consciousness and continue to submit. In this way the law of life can work within us unceasingly until it reaches every part of our whole being. Thus the life within us will be enabled to expand outward and increase in depth and height until corruption is swallowed up into life in every fiber of our being. The cry is ever, Thou mighty Christ, come forth in me! Few believe that the spiritual body can be put on here and now even as we stand upon our feet. Do you? Do you believe it is possible for you to be changed, transformed, metamorphosed in your whole man here in this life? "We shall not all sleep, but we SHALL ALL BE CHANGED, " saith the Lord. Since you cannot by any natural process perform this for yourself, are you willing and ready to come under the deep secret law of letting the mind of Christ cancel out the carnal mind, of letting the law of life nullify the law of sin and death in the secret chambers of your consciousness?

Just as the crab is altered in its whole form and shape, and sheds its old shells and takes on new ones, so we, in the process of our growth and spiritual development, pass from dealing to dealing, revelation to revelation, consciousness to consciousness, experience to experience, victory to victory, putting off the old man with his deeds, putting on the new man which is renewed after the image of Him that created him, laying off this "body (consciousness) of death" in order to be "clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." In like manner we put off the hard shells of former religious dogmas, forms, exercises, etc. The old religious outlook, the immature spiritual mentality, the limited understanding of yesterday is a shell which restricts our growth and prevents us from "going on to perfection." For this very reason the apostle exhorted the saints, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit" (Heb. 6:13). How we resist crawling out of those old shells! But these very changes are being mightily wrought out in us in this significant hour under the spiritual Sign of CANCER — THE CRAB!

URSA MINOR

The first Decan, or minor constellation, in the house of Cancer is URSA MINOR — THE LESSER BEAR. However, The Lesser Bear is not the ancient meaning of the constellation of URSA MINOR. No bear ever existed with such a long uplifted tail as is shown in modern atlases of the constellations! No traces of a bear are to be found in any of the ancient Zodiacs of Chaldea, Egypt, Persia or India. Rather, what we have is a SHEEPFOLD — the original meaning of Ursa Minor. It was the Greeks who changed it into a bear. The second Decan in the house of Cancer is URSA MAJOR and these two constellations refer to a little fold and a great fold. Far away in the depths of my spirit I receive the witness that the sons of God are the "little flock" while the church at large is the gathering together of all the people of God of all classes and companies, the "larger sheepfold" — URSA MAJOR.

The most important star in the whole heavens is also the major star in the constellation URSA MINOR, the company of the sons of God. It is called Al- Ruccaba which means "the turned" or "ridden on." It is known today as "Polaris" or the "Polar" or "North Star" and is the star upon which the entire heavens now seem to turn. This central star does not appear to revolve in a circle as does every other star. The North Star draws the attention of navigators and surveyors all over the northern hemisphere as a fixed point outside earth to establish direction and angle. This lustrous star can be none other than our Lord Jesus Christ who is Himself the brightest star in all the glorious constellation of God's sons, and the fixed point outside our earthiness from whence we derive our sense of direction and destiny in God. "And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all HE MIGHT HAVE THE PREEMINENCE" (Col. 1:18). "Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we ...speaking the truth in love, may grow up INTO HIM IN ALL THINGS, WHICH IS THE HEAD, EVEN CHRIST" (Eph. 4:13-15). "For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that HE MIGHT BE THE FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN" (Rom. 8:29). "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make THE CAPTAIN OF THEIR SALVATION perfect through sufferings" (Heb. 2:9-10).

It is interesting to note that Polaris has not always been the North Star. In ancient times (approx. 6,000 years ago) when the constellations were first mapped, the Pole Star was not Polaris, but, rather, it was the star Draconis, the main star in Draco, the constellation of the Dragon. This is a fact fraught with deep meaning. At that time the Dragon, that ancient Serpent, which is the Devil and Satan, deceived mankind and brought them into the fall, precipitated their banishment from the Land of the Interface, from whence they were driven into the lowlands of the earth, and from that time the Dragon became the Pole Star which marked the central gate, or hinge, or governing point of earth's motion. So it seemed that even as they looked up into the heavens, all of the heavens rotated around the Dragon. And yet the Dragon was in for a surprise! With the gradual procession of the equinoxes, that has changed— the Dragon Star is now far away from the Pole, while the Lesser Sheepfold, with its super- star, Polaris, has come into its place and the whole heavens now revolve around, and the earth receives its direction from, the mighty Christ of God! Oh, the mystery of it! Oh, the wonder of it!

The Pole Star, our Lord Jesus Christ, has been revealed from heaven. We are coming ever nearer to the long- awaited reign of URSA MINOR — the manifested sons of God. The whole creation for six thousand years has ceaselessly groaned for the manifestation of the sons of God. That blessed manifestation has been long in coming, but it will surely come. The heavens declare it! God's immutable word proclaims it! And the prophets of God across the land and around the world in this significant hour bear blessed witness to the imminence of this wonderful event. Once in the fullness of time God sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for the world, and when the fullness of time comes once more, nothing will hinder the manifestation of the sons of God. The Lord Himself will bring them forth in the manner so vividly described in Revelation, chapter twelve. "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And she brought forth a manchild, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne" (Rev. 12:1-2,5).

It is my conviction that the key to this symbol of the birth of the manchild is to be found in the sixty- sixth chapter of Isaiah, which is the original source from which the figures are derived. Jerusalem is there represented as a woman in travail, who is delivered of a manchild (Isa. 66:7-8). "Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child. Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children." As the manchild, or the children of Zion, in the prophecy, signify the faithful in the land, or in Jerusalem, so the manchild born of the woman in Revelation denotes the faithful disciples of Christ who overcome all things to grow up into the fullness of Jesus Christ. As Israel brought forth the faithful remnant who was the salvation of the nation, so shall the church bring forth the sons of God to deliver not only their mother, but all creation. The true church is personified as the persecuted parent of a persecuted offspring; she gives birth to a manchild, but a manchild who is also a government. This manchild is destined to "rule the nations with a rod of iron, and is caught up unto God, and to His throne." These are statements which seem to many only applicable to the Son of God Himself; but they are in truth affirmed in the book of Revelation to be the privilege and reward of every elect saint called to sonship: "To him that overcometh will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron" (Rev. 2:26-27). "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne" (Rev. 3:21).

Nothing is dearer to the heart of God than sonship. Father has on hand a work greater than His original creation — He is bringing many sons to glory. The way may be rugged and tedious; but its end is glory. And it is the way along which our Father is bringing us; for, since we believe on the Son, we have the right to call ourselves sons (Jn. 1:12). And there are many of us. Many sons, though only one Son. We do not go solitarily along the narrow way. We are but part of a multitude, a vast company. The glory of which we now speak, and into which Jesus has entered, is not for Him alone, but for us also. "Many sons" are to be His joint- heirs; reigning with Him on His throne, sharing His unsearchable riches and His everlasting reign.

The great Italian sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini, told of receiving a block of marble with one flaw. Because of this flaw, no artist would submit a design — except one. In the public square of Florence a fence was built around that piece of marble, and a little shack was erected for the artist. For two years the sculptor labored. Then on a certain day a vast multitude of the citizens of Florence assembled in the public square; the fence was torn down, and the shack was taken away. At this unveiling all of Florence beheld the result and marveled. Since then, Italy and all the world has marveled at Michelangelo's "David. I myself have stood in awe and amazement before the incredible beauty and majesty of the statue now in a Museum in Florence. In that block of marble was a statue; others did not see it, but Michelangelo did. And, precious friend of mine, in the lump of clay which is you, the almighty Father sees an image too — the image of Jesus Christ! And God is working unceasingly and tirelessly to form the image of His Son in you. No truth has come with more soul- gripping force and power to the elect of the Lord than the beautiful hope of sonship to God. Well indeed may we yield ourselves into the hands of heaven's skilled Sculptor that HE may form His Son in us, for the mind of omniscience has ordained that that sonship should be the HOPE OF ALL, CREATION.

No truer words have been penned by the hand of scribe or prophet than the following words from Douglas Wilson. "We do not know the full potential and power of what we have within us. Someone says, 'But I do know, and it is the Christ in me. Yet again I say that we do not know. We do not know the Christ. We know that the seed of His life is planted within us, BUT WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT IS COMING FORTH. Some of us know a bit of sensation within us now and then, but we have yet to come to a full revelation of the Christ in us, THE HOPE OF GLORY. This is the birth that will yet take place and it will happen as surely as there is a God who is in all authority. When this birth takes place, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO HlDE IT. For many days Mary could hide the fact that she was pregnant or with child, but there came a day WHEN IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO HIDE IT. It was possible for Egypt to hide for years the fact that it was pregnant with a growing child of God, but there came a day when Egypt could hide it no longer. We read in the book of Acts that when the time of the promise drew near, THE PEOPLE GREW AND MULTIPLIED IN EGYPT. When life began to come to the child, Egypt was uncomfortable, and the child was uncomfortable, and in consequence of this there was a great struggle until the birth was accomplished and Israel, the son, was delivered.

"Do not wonder at the struggle the world is passing through. Do not wonder about the struggle that is going on within your own self. God is preparing now to bring this great manchild to the birth. And we shall see it. Mary could have gone on for seven or eight months saying, 'I do not believe I am with child. I do not believe I am pregnant.' She could have declared herself with such words right up to the last minute, BUT THE BIRTH TOOK PLACE AS GOD HAD PLANNED. God's people all over the world can cry, 'We do not believe it. We do not believe it. It cannot be true.' BUT IT WILL COME TO PASS. We still have a sovereign God. Israel was God's son, born out of Egypt. Jesus was God's Son born out of Mary. This next man is the son of God born out of God Himself. We have seen that there are at least seven great revelations of God. The first was Adam. The second was the ark of Noah. The third was the tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness. The fourth was the temple of Solomon. The fifth was Jesus Christ. The sixth was the church and the seventh is the combination of God and man. This is by far the greatest. God and man as one creature, or THE NEW CREATION. This is what is even now coming to the birth. Jesus was God's pattern and we are all to be like the pattern that God first showed forth. We will be like the pattern in nature and character, but we will be given our own works to do.

"When this is brought forth, we will then see that God was keeping the world busy as He was preparing to bring to pass this birth that would bring forth a royal priesthood to administer God's Kingdom to creation. This is the man in God's image presented in the very first chapter of Genesis. This is the great corporate man possessing the life of God Himself. It will be the consternation of the orthodox preachers and teachers of the Bible. This is the thing to be seeking God about in this hour. This is no day in which to be promulgating doctrines and creeds and religious activities, or to carry on business as usual, for the time is upon us in which God will bring onto the stage of history HIS SONS" — end quote.

The realm of sonship is the realm of the interface — the shimmering Garden of Eden, the glorious City of God. It is the dimension where God and man become one, where heaven and earth overlap, where eternity and time are joined, where the invisible and the visible merge, where the spiritual and the physical are interfaced. The outer life of the sons of God — their external form and visible ministry — are likened to the trunk and branches of a tree. It is, so to speak, an upside- down tree whose visible exterior is seen in the earth realm, but whose invisible roots come from heaven. The Land of the Interface must be understood by the "ascending roots" of the sons of God!