SPIRITUAL WARFARE
(continued)
“And I saw heaven
opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful
and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war…and
he had a
name written, which no man knew, but he himself”
(Rev. 19:11-12).
It sounds beautiful — our Lord
and Captain has this wonderful name and it is just His, a secret name, a title
so important, a treasure so valuable that it is not to be shared with any other.
But that is
not
the portrait the Holy Spirit is painting! You see, this “unknown name” is just
the reason this great battle of chapter nineteen is about to take place —
because He has a name, or a nature, that
mankind does not know!
No one but those who are part of His many-membered body, made
one in Him,
know the full and true nature of God’s Christ.
There is a great symbolic
battle described in Ezekiel, chapters thirty-eight and thirty-nine. In this
battle the Lord comes forth and fights against Gog and Magog and gains the
victory. The Lord then explains the purpose of His great triumph, saying,
“So
will I make my
holy name
known in the midst of
my people Israel; and I will not let them
pollute my
holy name any more:
and the
heathen
shall know that I am the Lord, the Holy One in Israel”
(Eze. 39:7). If, then, we are going to consider the revelation that the Lord is
riding into battle bearing a name that no man knows but He Himself, we shall be
obliged to recognize that that is not a good thing — it is a bad thing that His
name is not known!
The “names” of God and Christ are never mere empty designations. They are
expressions of the divine nature and character. The fact that no one has known
them and still does not know them except Christ Himself means more than the
names are secret. It means rather that no one knows them
in their own personal experience.
In other words, no human being outside of Christ experientially
shares these divine qualities and attributes in the divine nature of Jesus which
are represented by His name. For example, men may hear the name “Christ,” but if
they have never personally experienced the “anointing” which we have received of
Him, they really don’t have the foggiest notion what the name “the Christ” is
about!
Therefore, the great truth
that the Holy Spirit would make real to us today is that the wonderful purpose
of the battle, is that HIS NAME SHOULD BE KNOWN! His name is His nature, and I
am certain that every reader of these lines is aware that men in general, and
believers in particular, are abysmally ignorant of the true
nature
of our
Lord Jesus Christ! The deepest desire of our Lord is that the seed of God in
every man should germinate and spring forth, producing the life and image of God
in man.
As Elwin Roach once pointed
out in one of his papers,
The Pathfinder,
it is most interesting to note that the only place we find
names
written
upon
people
is in the book of Revelation! There is one time in the Old
Testament, of course, that Aaron’s name was written upon the rod of Levi, which
was symbolic of the people themselves, that is, the entire tribe of Levi.
Aaron’s name — his nature, his position, his office, his authority as high
priest — was written upon the tribe of the priesthood that the rod represented,
and now, we see the fulfillment of that type in the last book of the Bible. Let
us take a moment and notice the exclusive verses where we read about names being
uniquely written upon people.
“Him
that overcometh
will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and
I will write upon him the name of my God,
and
the name of the city of my God,
which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and
I shall write upon him my new name”
(Rev.
3:12).
“I looked, and, lo, a Lamb
stood on the mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having
His Father’s name written in their foreheads”
(Rev. 14:1).
“His eyes were as a flame of
fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had
a name written,
that no man knew, but He Himself” (Rev. 19:12).
“And He hath on His vesture
and
on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS”
(Rev.
19:16).
The
new name
is the
new nature
of the resurrection power and glory of our ascended Lord. It is not the name
Jesus, or Lord, or Christ, or even the name The Word of God. As members of His
body we have within ourselves the conscious experience of the reality, power,
and authority of all those names and many more. But none of these are His new
name! None of them are the secret name that
no man knows but
He Himself! It is the name or nature of the resurrected, ascended, glorified,
enthroned Lord Jesus Christ in the heavens of the Spirit! Many would settle for
the name of Jesus which means
Saviour,
and that is a
glorious name, but it is not the name that
no man knows but Him,
for millions have experienced Him in that name which has been called upon them.
This secret name that none of us has fully experienced yet is the name that Paul
yearned to know within himself when he cried, “Oh! that I might
know Him in the power of His resurrection,
and in the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death;
if by any means I might attain to the
resurrection out from among the dead.
Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus. Brethren, I
count not myself to have apprehended:
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching
forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:10-14). Can it be made any
plainer? We have experienced Christ in many of His names, putting on more and
more of His nature and character, but that name which is THE POWER OF HIS
RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, GLORIFICATION, AND ENTRHONEMENT — that
full redemption in spirit, soul, and body
— we do not yet fully
know that name!
We will
know it when we ride with Him upon the white horses! And when that great battle
is ended “all shall (fully) know Him, from the least of them, to the greatest.”
HIS GARMENT SOAKED WITH BLOOD
“And He was clothed in a
vesture
dipped in blood…”
(Rev. 19:13).
The imagery of the scene in
this passage is rooted in one of the prophecies of Isaiah, wherein we read, “Who
is this that cometh from Edom, with
dyed garments
from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of
his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save! Wherefore art thou
red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth the winefat?
I have trodden the winepress alone: and of the people there was none with me:
for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and
their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my
raiment.
For the day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my
redeemed is come. And I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that
there was none to uphold: therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me; and
my fury, it upheld me. And I will tread down the people in mine anger, and make
them drunk in my fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth” (Isa.
63:1-6).
It is strange that any
should interpret this as speaking of Jesus’ sufferings on the cross, yet that is
how many interpreters view it. The cross, however, does not reveal
warfare,
but the great love, reconciliation, and redemption of God in Christ!
Furthermore, in the scene above it is not
His own blood
that is shed in
weakness and in
meekness and in
sacrifice, but
the blood of foes
trampled in wrath.
He is on His way to
battle! And
“every battle of the warrior is with confused noise and
garments rolled in blood”
(Isa. 9:5). The language is symbolic, of course. Jesus does not wield a literal
sword of steel; His sword is the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God.
He does not go out physically killing multitudes of people, and soaking His
garment with their blood. Rather, His warfare is spiritual, He slays the enemies
within man, which
appear as the man,
but are not the man that God intends. Oh, yes! He slays men, but it is the
natural man — the
human consciousness, the carnal mind, the ego, self-will, lust, deception, fear,
rebellion, bondage, and every sin of the old
Adamic man. Wielding His powerful sword of the spirit He comes upon the world of
natural, carnal-minded, sinning men, and He comes to judge and to make war! His
flaming eyes picture to us the holy passion that burns in His bosom at this
moment, now that He is ready to subdue the earth and establish His righteous
kingdom in the hearts of all men everywhere!
He wears many diadems, royal
crowns, symbolic of victories won in the past. This is not the first time He has
won the battle! Spiritually, He has already overcome sin, the devil, death, and
hell within Himself. And on His white horse of conquest He has already ridden
into the lives of His called and chosen elect, pressing the battle, conquering
and to conquer. He overcame, subdued, and conquered all who now ride with Him
upon white horses, conscripting them into His own heavenly army. And therefore,
many crowns that formerly belonged to them He has already placed on His own
head. The battle now revealed before the wondering eyes of the Patmos seer is
only the grand climax of the holy war this captain has fought throughout the
ages.
The same truth is indicated by
the fact that as He rides forth with His army, even before He smites the nations
with His sword, His garment is
already soaked in blood! This is not the blood of Calvary: for the garb He
wears is the garment of battle and of victory. But it symbolically indicates
that the Man from Edom, with sprinkled garments as from Bozrah, has judged many
an enemy before, all through the age since all judgment was committed unto the
Son, while now the final scene has come, in which He shall tread the winepress
of the passion of God unto a glorious consummation. And this is also indicated
by the sharp sword that proceeds out of His mouth. He shall surely not deign to
fight as the princes of this world fight, with their swords and spears (guns in
the modern world) in hand. No, He shall simply consume the enemy by the word of
His mouth. His Word is His Sword! For it is a word of power! It is a word of
judgment! And it is a word of life! It is a word that slays the natural man and
quickens the spiritual man! It mutilates the flesh and makes alive the spirit!
It destroys the outer man and raises up the inner man! By it the enemies are
defeated. By it they are judged. And therefore, He is now come as He was
pictured long ago in the second Psalm, for the purpose of treading the winepress
of God and ruling the nations with a rod of iron! He shall be Lord of all!
Frankly, I never cease to be
amazed at those who profess to yearn for the sons of God to be manifested, who
continually quote the scripture about the whole creation groaning, waiting for
the manifestation of the sons of God,
because THE
CREATION ITSELF ALSO SHALL BE DELIVERED FROM THE BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION INTO THE
GLORIOUS LIBERTY OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD — and then when you tell them that the
sons of God, who are the armies out of heaven, shall really, truly, actually,
factually, completely SET ALL CREATION FREE they get all bent out of shape and
call you a heretic, or ask foolish questions like, “What good is it to believe
that?” They are still afraid someone might not get what they
deserve — eternal
damnation! I have no hesitation in telling you that if God is not going to do
what He said; if the Christ isn’t going to actually
draw (Greek:
drag)
all men
unto Himself; if
the whole creation and every creature is not going to be delivered into the
glorious liberty of the children of God; if God will not make
all men alive in
Christ, just as
all men died in
Adam; if the last enemy, death, and hell shall never be
destroyed to
never again exist anywhere in God’s great universe; if the devil is going to
possess the souls of the vast majority of men forever, and thus be the victor;
if God is never going to become “ALL
in all” or
“everything to everyone everywhere,” which is the meaning of that term; then I
fail to see what is the
purpose
in all the qualifying for manifest sonship, for a glorious ministry in the age
and the ages to come, for THERE IS NO MINISTRY FOR THE SONS, AND NO FINAL AND
TOTAL TRIUMPH FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD! We may as well forget about sonship;
forget about being kings and priests unto God; forget about setting creation
free; and FORGET ABOUT BEING IN THE ARMY OF THE LORD, RIDING OUT OF THE HEAVENS
OF THE SPIRIT ON THE WHITE HORSES OF UNIVERSAL CONQUEST! If no such army exists,
if redeemed men are not in it, and if it shall not ride forth and fight until
all flesh everywhere is slain by His sword,
then let us content ourselves with our current church programs,
and be satisfied that while untold billions are damned to the flames of hell
forever God shall at least have His sweet little handful of saints to dance and
shout with Him over the hilltops of that glory world above!
The next step in God’s
great kingdom program is the ruling of the nations with a rod of iron. There are
many victories beyond that before God is truly all-in-all! According to the word
of the Lord there is yet an age and also ages to come! “That in
the ages
to come He might
put on display the exceeding riches of His grace in…us through Christ Jesus”
(Eph. 2:7). We are now standing at a transition of ages; the church age is
swiftly drawing to a close and the age of the manifestation of the sons of God
is nigh at hand. This is not
the end-time as
many Christians are wont to think. This is
an end-time, but
not the
end-time. Every age has its “end,” and there are yet ages to come! There was an
end-time two thousand years ago when the age of the law was brought to its
conclusion, and the age of grace dawned upon the earth. The true and final
“end-time” the Bible presents speaks of the final consummation of all ages, the
climax and end of all times and dispensations, when God’s plan of the ages is
fully fulfilled. All words about THE END-TIME close with Jesus reigning supreme
over everything everywhere. “Then cometh
the end,
when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He
shall have put down
all rule and
all authority and
power. For He must reign until He hath put
all enemies under His feet.
And when all
things have been
subdued unto Him,
then shall the Son also be subject unto Him that put all things
under Him, that God may be ALL IN ALL” (I Cor. 15:24-25,28).
The word “subdued” means “to
line up as a troop or an army in subordination or surrender.” The verb appears
three times in the passage above, in verse twenty-eight. Literally from the
Greek it reads, “Now when the universe shall be lined up as a troop in
subordination to Him, then also Himself the Son shall be lined up as a troop in
subordination to the One lining up a troop in subordination to Him, in order
that God may be everything to everyone everywhere.” What a word! What a plan!
What love! What wondrous love! What a victory! What a glorious consummation! The
might of God’s strength which operated in Christ, raising Him from the dead, was
sufficient to exalt Him to the highest pinnacle of the universe, thus insuring
that all His enemies would be subdued unto Him, that is, reconciled unto Him,
that every opposing power would be made subordinate to Him, that all sin and
death in every realm and in every man and in every creature throughout all the
unbounded heavens would be so swallowed up of HIS LIFE until God would be ALL IN
ALL, bless His glorious name! The conquest of Jesus Christ and the armies out of
heaven! Truly it is not just for this age, but extends to all ages and all
realms. May the truth of it flood our hearts that they may, indeed, be
illuminated with the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ!
This kind of total subjugation
to God is that which is now being wrought in the “firstfruit company” of God’s
elect. Have you really
surrendered
yourself to God? This is what God demands. In numerous places, in various ways,
in different words, God says the same thing over and over again. And yet,
sometimes it seems that we fail to get the message: Yield yourselves to God!
Submit yourselves to Christ! Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice! Lay down
your life! Present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead! Yield
not your members as instruments of unrighteousness but as instruments of
righteousness unto God! Put off the old man! Put on the mind of Christ! Come out
of the harlot Babylon! Walk in the Spirit! Bring every thought into captivity to
the obedience of Christ! Again and again, God says the same thing. The first
thing a private learns in the army is
submission.
If we would ride with Christ in His heavenly army, that is the
first thing we, too, must learn. And what He now requires of us, His
firstfruits, He ultimately requires of the whole creation!
It seems that, usually, we are
ready to do almost anything but surrender ourselves to God. I recall the time
when the British general came to surrender to Washington. The general began with
a flowery speech in which he praised Washington for his magnificent military
tactics and the way he had conducted the campaigns. He was eloquently praising
Washington when Washington suddenly interrupted him with these words: “Your
sword, sir!” Similarly we come to offer God the flattery of our lips, the praise
of our hymns. And God is saying to us, “Your sword, sir!” Surrender is what God
wants! Total surrender of all our will, our ways, and our lives! It is, in fact,
during the process of conquering us and taking from us our fleshly sword that
His garment becomes soaked with blood! But, praise His name, He will conquer us,
take our fleshly sword, conscript us, retrain us in the ways and tactics of
spiritual warfare,
and raise us up to ride with Him in His army. Oh, the wonder of it!
The following words by
George D. Watson will help us see the unsurpassable beauty and majesty of what
it really means to be SUBDUED UNTO GOD. “Before God can launch us out into the
breadth and sweetness of His service, and entrust to us great things for
Himself, we must be perfectly subdued in every part of our nature to His will
and the disposition of His mind. We must be subdued in our hearts, in our wills,
in our words, in our tempers, in our manners; subdued through and through so
thoroughly that we will be flexible to all His purposes and plans. We must be
subdued so that harshness, severity, criticism, sluggishness, laziness,
impetuosity, and all wanting our way, even in religious matters, must be subdued
out of us. Conversion will not finish this work.
“We must be subdued, not
merely in our opinion, not merely think ourselves subdued, not only subdued in
the esteem of our friends and fellow workers, but subdued so perfectly that the
all-seeing eye of God can look us through, and the omniscient One knows that we
are subdued. God must conquer the man that He can trust with His great thoughts
and plans. The Holy Ghost must saturate us with a divine conquest, before He can
use us to conquer other souls. The Lord will begin to subdue us with gentle
means; and if we sink lovingly and promptly into His mind, the work will be
done; but if we have flint or iron in our nature, and it is necessary, He will
use heroic means and put us between the millstones and grind us to powder, until
He can mold us without any resistance to His purpose. We must be so subdued that
we can hold our tongues, and walk softly with God, keep our eyes upon Jesus,
attend to our own work, and do God’s will promptly and lovingly, glad to have a
place in His Kingdom.
“Oh! it is grand to be
absolutely conquered by the Holy Ghost, and swing out a thousand miles from
everybody and everything into the ocean of God’s presence. When we are subdued
in the sight of God, He will work miracles in us, and power in experience, in
healing, in finance, in service, in gentleness, and in sweetness of the inner
heart life; miracles of grace that will astonish us and surprise our friends,
and utterly amaze our enemies, when they come to know the magnitude of what God
has wrought. Let us get subdued in every way, in everything!” — end quote.
Oh, the ineffable glory to be
revealed when ALL RULE AND ALL AUTHORITY AND ALL POWER AND ALL ENEMIES AND ALL
THINGS SHALL BE SUBDUED UNTO CHRIST AND GOD SHALL BE ALL IN ALL! That is the
goal of the Rider of the white horse and those blessed ones who ride with Him.
What expectation this evokes in our hearts!
A little seed is the beginning
of a great tree. A mustard seed becomes a tree in which the birds of the air can
nestle. That great day when Christ shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father,
and God shall be All in All — that is the great tree of the kingdom of God
reaching its perfect consummation and glory. Ah, beloved, let us take the seed
of that glory into our hearts and let us bow in lowly surrender and humble
submission, saying with a broken heart and contrite spirit, “Amen, Lord; this be
my one thought, this be my life — to yield myself to the unutterable yearnings
of the Holy Spirit that I may not rest, but ever keep my vision set on that day
— the day of surpassing glory, when in very deed God shall be ALL IN ALL.” God
help everyone who reads these lines, God help us all to yield ourselves to Him,
that we may be in the fullest and total sense the FIRSTFRUITS OF HIS KINGDOM.
This is the beginning, the power, and the glory, of the kingdom of God! Amen!
HIS NAME — THE WORD OF GOD
“And He was clothed with
a vesture dipped in blood: and
His name is called The Word of God”
(Rev. 19:13).
My heart leaps within me
for joy as I contemplate this beautiful theme of
His Name —
The Word
of God. It is an
instructive thing to know that God has
never been
silent. God’s a talker! This truth is basic to spiritual understanding. Had God
remained silent, we would either not exist at all, or our situation would be
desperate. If God is a talker, then we had best be listeners. “God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners
spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days
spoken unto us by
His Son…by whom also He made the worlds” (Heb. 1:1-2). “In the beginning was
the Word,
and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God…all things were made by
Him” (Jn. 1:1-3).
“And God said,
Let there be…and there was” (Gen. 1:3). God has always been a talker, but the
writer to the Hebrews tells us that all God has ever spoken is now
embodied in Christ.
“God hath spoken unto
us by His Son.”
The Amplified Bible says, “But in the last of these days He has spoken to us
in the person of a Son…”
The Greek text, however, reads simply, “God has spoken to us IN SON.” IN SON! Or
God spoke to us in One who has the character that He is a SON, revealing the
realm and relationship of sonship to God. It means more than the idea that God
spoke through
His Son; it signifies that God spoke
in son,
that is, SONSHIP IS THE MESSAGE! God spoke through Christ’s Sonship. “If you
have seen me, you have
seen the Father.”
Sonship is the revelation of the Father. Therefore, it was more
than the words that Jesus spoke; it was the life He lived! HE was the message!
HE was the word!
Ah, dear heart, Look at
His
sonship, and then look at the
whole realm of sonship;
look at all the enChristed ones who make up the vast family of His “many
brethren,” and IN THEM you see the message God is sending into the world! When
you see the sons, at last you see what God is like. In the publishing world, it
is sometimes said that a particular book is a definitive work. In other words,
the book is a standard by which all future work will be judged or compared.
Sonship
is the definitive revelation of God, the standard for all time.
Jesus is the firstborn of this Word Company, and the pattern and prototype of
all that it says. He is uniquely and supremely THE WORD. If someone asks what is
revealed in this definitive revelation, we could say, it’s all in the little
preposition “with.” He is “God
with
us,” in union
with us, one
with
us. It’s more than simply being present. That is the mystery!
The Greek term for
“Word” in our text is
logos. There are
two primary Greek words from which our English “word” is translated —
rhema and
logos. When you
study the scriptures you have to get beyond the surface or “letter” of the word
and find its true spiritual meaning, intention, and reality — the “spirit” of
the word. The “letter” is the outer shell or husk, whereas the “spirit” is the
inner kernel, the nutritional substance. Jesus said, “My words
are spirit and
they are life”
(Jn. 6:63). Jesus was talking about the “spirit” of the word — its inner life
and power! When we talk about the
spirit of the
word, we are talking about the
“logos” of the
“rhema.” The
rhema signifies a
word expressed or spoken, whereas the
logos denotes the
inner power, intention, reality, and revelation of that word. If someone was
making you a proposition and you just weren’t interested and were perhaps even
annoyed by it, you might tell them, “Go jump in the lake.” The “rhema” of that
word would be for them to find a nearby lake and literally jump into it. But the
“logos” of that word (the inner meaning, true intention) is for them to stop
trying to convince you and just leave you alone. The outward understanding of
words does not really convey the true inner meaning. Nowhere is this more true
than when you begin to try and understand spiritual truth that is being
expressed in human terms. And this is just the reason most Christians and nearly
all preachers have completely
missed the true
meaning and message of the book of Revelation! They focus on the
letter of the
word and never uncover the
spirit
of the word!
Nobel laureate professor
of biology at Harvard University, the late George Wald, may have provided us an
insight into the wonder of life in an essay he wrote entitled “Life and Mind in
the Universe.” He wrote,
“It has occurred to me lately — I must confess with some shock at
first to my scientific sensibilities — that both questions (the origin of
consciousness in humans and of life from non-living matter) might be brought
into some degree of congruence. This is with the assumption that mind, rather
than emerging at a late outgrowth in the evolution of life, has existed always
as the matrix, the source and condition of physical reality — the stuff of which
physical reality is composed is mind-stuff. It is mind that has composed a
physical universe that breeds life and so eventually evolves creatures that know
and create science, art, and technology-making beings. In them the universe
begins to know itself.”
That is science, not
theology, speaking. But it is also theology! “In the beginning was
the Word
(logos)...and the
Word was God…all
things were made by Him!” “Logos” is the Greek word for “logic,” “intellect,”
“word.” Hundreds of years before John penned those words the Psalmist wrote, “By
the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the
breath of His mouth” (Ps. 33:6). And before that we find the opening sentence of
the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).
That is the traditional reading. But there is a problem here. The Hebrew word
bereshit
in its simple
sense translates as “In the beginning
of.”
But there is no object in the Hebrew text for the preposition “of.” So we would
have to read it, “In the beginning of God created the heavens and the earth.”
Yet — that doesn’t sound right, does it? So let me ask, “In the beginning of
what?” The compound nature of “Bereshit” holds the clue to the meaning of the
statement. The ancient Hebrew text has the “B” of “Bereshit” written twice the
size of the remaining letters of the word. And that has significance! A more
accurate rendering of the verse is “(B) With
(reshit) a first
cause God created the heavens and the earth.” And what was that “reshit,” that
first cause
of Bereshit? The apostle John gives us the answer: “In the beginning was
the Word, and the
Word was with God,
and the Word was
God.
The same was in
the beginning with God. ALL THINGS WERE MADE BY HIM; AND WITHOUT HIM WAS NOT
ANYTHING MADE THAT WAS MADE. IN HIM WAS LIFE; AND THE LIFE WAS THE LIGHT OF
MEN.” Oh, yes! The “first cause” is said to be “the Word.” “And God
said,
Let there be…and there was.”
By the
logos,
the will, intent, inner power, reality, and revelation of His word God created.
It was not merely a
rhema, a spoken
word; no, it was the inner kernel, the divine substance, the inward will, the
purpose, yea, the very
heart and
nature of God
that spoke all things into existence! It’s as though He spoke
Himself into
manifestation
outside Himself!
Ah, this solves the puzzle of the origin of sentient life able to be aware of
its own existence and to explore the very mysteries and powers of creation, as
well as the ability to know and fellowship and participate with the Creator! We
are the offspring of God,
a word out of
The Word, and
therefore we have mind and conscious being and spiritual identity, for we are an
emanation of the One who brought us forth into being. Speech originates in
thought, thought is consciousness, words are thought converted into sound, and
creation is that sound converted into substance. Truly, we are created
by the Word!
Oh, the wonder of it!
From the earliest dawn
of history there have been means of communication between men. At one time smoke
from fires was the way one group connected to another, sending signs and symbols
to communicate their message. Then progressively they used flags, riders on
horses, books, the telegraph and then eventually radio, telephone, and
television. Now it is fax machines and computers and even wireless means of
communication with much of our international communication coming via satellite.
But God has been into wireless communication from eternity via His Living Word!
His satellite of love, wisdom, and power sends messages to us,
but
our dish has to be pointed in the right direction in order to receive His
message! We have to point our hearts, our minds, our paradigms, our attitudes in
the right direction, toward
spirit and away
from flesh,
toward God’s
speech and away
from
man’s words.
An abundance of
scripture points to the fact that Christ, the Word, was before Bethlehem. He is
just as real in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament. The great
difference, of course, is that in the New Testament
He became
flesh. “The Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us.” The Word did not become a philosophy, a
theory, or a concept to be discussed, debated, or pondered, but a
Person
to be
seen, heard, touched, handled, known, and experienced! “The Word became flesh
and blood and moved into the neighborhood.” That’s how Eugene Peterson describes
this event in The
Message.
Others have rendered it to say that Jesus “tented” among us.
That’s what happened when Jesus came into the world, the Living Word of God
moved into our neighborhood and set up camp!
How could the Word
become flesh? How could God become a man? The literal here has it, not that the
Word “was made” flesh, as we have it in the King James Bible, but that the Word
“became” flesh. There is a vast difference between these two propositions! If I
say, “The wood
was made into a
chair,” it denotes an action upon, an action from without; some person or force
beyond the wood acted upon the wood and the wood, by no involvement on its own
part, was made
into a chair. If, on the other hand, I say, “The young man
became a doctor,”
it denotes an action on the part of the subject. Nobody outside of the young man
forced him and somehow “made” him a doctor, but he himself went to medical
school, studied, burned the midnight oil, passed the exams, fulfilled his
internship, and thus
became
a doctor. “Was made” bespeaks of an action upon the object from
without, whereas “became” bespeaks of a personal accomplishment from within.
How could He who was God
become a man? Look again at this statement by the inspired apostle: “In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…and the
Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (Jn. 1:1,14). It says,
“In the beginning was the Word,” and it does
not
say, “In
the beginning was Jesus,” because Jesus wasn’t in the beginning. It was not
until the Word
became flesh
that He was Jesus. The Son of God is not the Word — the Son of God is “the Word
made flesh.” The passage quoted above tells us that only after the Word became
flesh did we behold the glory of the Son, the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. The truth is just this — In the beginning was the Word — and
there was no Son of God
until the Word became flesh.
People talk about the “eternal” Son of God. The Bible speaks of no such thing.
The Word is eternal, not the Son. Of the Son the Father says, “Thou art my Son,
this day
have I
BEGOTTEN
THEE.” Nowhere do we
read that on a certain day the Word was begotten. No! The Word was “in the
beginning.” But when the Word becomes flesh — then you have the Son! The Son is
the Word, yes, but the Son is more than the Word — the Son is the Word in
another form — made flesh! John speaks of the eternal Word of God and then shows
how the Word became flesh. From that moment on he never speaks again of the
Word, he calls Him
Jesus. Isn’t
that amazing? Before Bethlehem He was the Word, He was God; but when He came to
Bethlehem and took upon Him flesh He became Jesus, the
Son of God. This
is precisely the message the angel gave to Mary that blessed day in Nazareth,
“Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call
His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be
called
the Son of
the Highest…”
(Lk. 1:31-32).
Jesus said, “Before
Abraham was, I AM.” Also He said, “My Father worketh hitherto (has always been
working) and I work.” He and the Father were working long before Bethlehem! As
we have already pointed out, He was working in the very first verse of Genesis.
The prophet Micah prophesied that the Christ would come forth from Bethlehem but
that “His goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting.” His footprints were manifested in this world through long millenniums
before the prints were made in His hands. Not only is Christ referred to in the
first verse of Genesis, but there are also many evidences of His presence
throughout the Old Testament.
There is a remarkable
statement occurring in the record of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden: “And
they heard the
voice of the Lord God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from
the presence
of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8). The expression for
God is rather unusual — “The voice of the Lord God.” Then, to add to the
strangeness of the verse, it is stated that “the voice of the Lord God
walked in the
garden.” Now, it is very unusual to have a voice walking! It reminds us of the
old play on words, “Did you ever see a board walk or did you ever see a horse
fly?” However this statement is not so unusual when we discover that the One who
is the Living Word of God
identified Himself as the “alphabet of God.” He said, “I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end (of the alphabet)” (Rev. 21:6). Four times in the book of
Revelation Christ so identifies Himself as the complete alphabet of God! No
wonder John was able to say of the One riding the white horse of conquest, “…and
His name is called
The Word of God!”
As you know, words are formed from the alphabet. Every word in human language is
formed from the letters of the alphabet. The voice is the word made articulate.
The alphabet is translated into a word, and the word is energized into a voice.
Christ is thus the
voice of the Lord God.
Time after time throughout the Old Testament we read the prophets
saying, “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying…” They were hearing the
Christ!
Have you not noticed how
we often connect the word
word with certain
people? For example, the boss is the person who has the what? The final
word. The news
reporter is the person we ask, “What’s the latest
word? We
introduce a world-famous designer by saying something like, “Here’s the woman
with the word
about fashion.” To connect someone with the word
word is to
suggest that such a person has expertise and, therefore, authority. We pay
careful attention to people with expertise and authority. Now the scripture goes
one step further. John, both in his epistles and in the Revelation, reveals the
great truth that our Lord not only
has the Word, but
that He is
the Word. That’s a giant step! But that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit would
make real within our hearts. In the Old Testament the prophets heard the Word,
received the Word,
had the Word. But
Jesus didn’t merely have the Word — He
is the Word! He
is the Truth! He
is
the Life! He always has been. He always will be.
Our hearts respond with
reverence when we read John’s first encounter with Christ in his visions on
Patmos. “And I turned to
see the voice
that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in
the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man” (Rev.
1:12-13). There was a voice walking in the garden of Eden, and John turned to
see a voice on the Isle of Patmos. The voice of the Lord God in the Garden,
which Adam saw,
and the voice on Patmos, which John
saw,
are identical.
The steps of The
Word of God, the Christ,
can be followed through the scripture record all the way between Genesis and
Revelation. In Genesis, chapter eighteen, Abraham served dinner to the Lord who
came and talked
with him. Jacob wrestled with a Stranger at night, but at dawn he found out that
it was Someone more than just a man. When the wrestling was over and after he
had been blessed (through words) by this Being, notice what Jacob said: “And
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have
seen God face to face,
and my life is preserved.” It is a deep mystery, but Jacob
wrestled with God, He touched God, he saw God, and he talked with God face to
face! It was Christ, the Word, who from the bush on mount Horeb spoke to Moses,
saying, “I AM THAT I AM…thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM
hath sent me unto you.”
It is a glorious tribute
to our Lord Jesus Christ to measure the time of our calendar from His birth in
Bethlehem, but actually the expression “Before Christ” is blatantly inaccurate!
You cannot get
before Christ in
time! He stood on the threshold when time began as “The Ancient of Days,” and
now He is revealed as who He is — THE WORD OF GOD that
liveth and
abideth forever!
Yet, it is not enough to know that Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God. Even
the devils know that, and tremble! We also have the word
logos used in I
Peter 1:23, “Being
born again by the
Word
of God…” As sons
we are not born of the Son, we are born of the Word who became the Son. Can you
not see the mystery? Just as the Word became flesh to become Jesus the Son, so
the Word must become flesh
within us, that
is, become substance — reality, concreteness, solidity, form — thereby revealing
our sonship! To be born of the Word, we shall speak and emanate truth
because we have become truth. That is His name because that is WHAT HE IS!
You see, my beloved, you
came into this world out of the bosom of the Father. Before the Creator formed
you, He knew you. He didn’t know you in your present physical form as Joe Smith
or Sally Brown, just as He didn’t know the Word as Jesus of Nazareth until the
Word became flesh. He knew you
as spirit. Paul
states it so clearly when He says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ: according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love…having
predestinated us unto
placement
as sons by Jesus Christ unto Himself”
(Eph. 1:3-5).
Never doubt this reality for a moment — the only way God could have known you,
loved you, chose you in Christ, and predestinated you to sonship
before the foundation of the world
is that you truly existed in and with Him before the appearing of the worlds.
Nothing can be plainer than that! The question follows — If we were chosen “in
Christ” before the foundation of the world — whom or what were we chosen in? Who
was He then? “In the beginning was
the
Word, and the
Word was with God,
and the Word was
God.” The truth is just this: If we were chosen in Christ before the world
began, then we were chosen IN THE WORD! To be “born of the Word” is to be
a word out of
The Word!
Oh, yes! GOD IS BRINGING
FORTH A WORD COMPANY, and He will perfect that which concerneth them, bringing
it to a successful conclusion at His appointed time. His elect, His chosen, His
sons are to be a certain kind of firstfruits of Himself. God is causing His Word
to
become flesh, substantial, to take form, to be real and powerful within us
so that we do not merely speak the words of God, but that our name, as His name,
should be called
The Word
of God!
He will finish the WORD, He will complete and fulfill His WORD by
bringing forth a WORD COMPANY, a seed through whom all the world shall be
blessed. Ray Prinzing often said, “The message and the messenger must become
one.” It is not just a word which he speaks, it is WHAT HE IS. And when we
become a manifestation of the Logos, it is because from this Word we are born.
Ah, this is why HE who
IS the Word of God comes riding out of the heavens of God’s Spirit upon a white
horse in righteousness to judge and make war — and the armies which were in
heaven follow Him, they also ride upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. Those comprising this glorious army HAVE THEMSELVES BECOME THE
WORD OF GOD. They are the Word Company! God fights His battles by His Word! Not
just a verbal declaration, but a Living Company who were chosen “in the Word”
before the foundation of the world! Yet they
do speak
out of their state of being! Oh, the mystery of it!
God is equipping His
elect sons by revealing the power of words — the Word. Thus saith the scripture:
“But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine
heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:)
or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the
dead.) But what saith it? THE WORD IS NIGH THEE, EVEN IN THY MOUTH, AND IN THY
HEART…” What word? “The word of
faith which we
preach” (Rom. 10:6-8). It is the word of power, the word of salvation, the word
of the kingdom, the word of life over death. When you realize how powerful words
are, by virtue of believing words that are God in you, and which can change and
transform you, then you will understand just how “at hand” the kingdom of God
really is. You see, the Logos — the speaking —
is God.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was God.”
And the Word still is God! So when Jesus appeared on earth all He had to do was
say,
“Be made whole,” and the power of the word worked, for His word
was God in expression and manifestation.
The essence of divine
words is God. This is not so difficult to understand when you realize that
everything in life is moved by words. There isn’t anything that isn’t done by
words. The method of educating our children is with numbers and letters. With
numbers and letters, configured in various forms, you raise the educational and
functional level of a human being from
nothing at the
time of birth, to become a surgeon, a politician, an architect, a nuclear
physicist, or accomplishment in a vast number of fields. We have surgeons that
perform heart transplants. They are people just like you and me. The only
difference is the words of letters and numbers that are ingrained within their
thinking. The combinations of that learning, the disciplines of those sciences
of mathematics, medicine, politics, etc., have given to them a different
personality and potentiality. They have a consciousness that enables them to
open you up and change out the organs of your body. Let me ask you something —
would you let me
open up your rib cage and take your heart out? Of course not —
and I wouldn’t ask you to! And you know why — you know the knowledge contained
in those words and letters which produce that skill are not in me! The words and
letters used in medical school have not trained me to be a doctor.
The greatest doctor
started out as a baby with no knowledge, no ability, no accomplishment, no
skill. He started out with nothing in his head — just like you and me! The only
difference is that someone took the time and expended the energy to instruct him
and put the knowledge of medical science into that person who by the
assimilation and experience of that knowledge became that reality. You see,
Jesus said that the kingdom of God is no more a mystery than a man planting seed
in soil. He said that if you would plant the seed in the ground and water it,
while the sun shines upon it, it will produce a plant that you can neither
understand nor explain. He said, “So is the kingdom of God.” If you will just
take the time and effort to plant the Word of God in your mind and heart, and
water it with the Spirit by exposing yourself to His presence, and give it the
light of inspiration, it will grow of itself and make you something you weren’t!
You will grow up into the WORD COMPANY!
Brother Carl Schwing
expressed this same beautiful truth when he wrote: “The knowledge of the truth,
brings forth the reality. To behold the truth, is to become the truth. To become
the truth, is to establish the truth. WE MUST LIVE BY EVERY WORD OF GOD THAT
PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF THE LIVING GOD! And those words are not just words
for the speaking…they give life…they are life…they create life. The Word of God
is the continual progression of God…leading ever into the fullness of Himself.
Even as He has no beginning or end, so it is with His Word…ever progressing,
ever expanding, ever increasing…and it is, my brothers and sisters…the
incorruptible seed which fell into the fertile ground of our quickened spirits,
to blossom forth as the sons of God…that they might become the Living Expression
of His Word…the Word that will give life to all that was, and is, and is to
come. Speak, O Spirit of the Mighty God, and bring the ‘many membered’ Word
together…breathe upon them till they rise up as a mighty Son-Company unto Thee.
Give birth, Thou Eternal One, to the Everlasting Gospel…that Thy Sons might
stand in the presence of Thy person and proclaim that Gospel ages without end.
Hallelujah!”
Are you living in the
past?
Remembering what Christ said…
To disciples ‘way back then…
Is this your Daily Bread?
Does God’s word come
at "second hand,"
That He’s said to another…
And has His word just filtered down
From brother on to brother?
You think God’s
mute…forgotten how
To speak to folks today?
And all He says, is what He’s said
‘Has nothing more to say?
God’s speaking now!
He speaks the same
As first His word was heard,
In fact, "King James" is not His name;
His name’s "THE LIVING WORD."
Who has an eye, then
let them read
Things that the Bible said.
But let him hear, who has an ear —
Hear God! For He’s not dead.
God’s not just book,
of ink and paper,
A version or translation
Of history — but greater;
He’s "right now" revelation.
Yes, read the
scriptures, they are fine…
Heavenly words — anybody’s version.
He’s more than chapter, verse, and line,
Our Lord’s a "real live" person!
— By Bob Robin
