THE PATHFINDER

PUBLICATION #34

(October/November 1988)

RETURNING OF THE WORD

(Part III)

SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

HOW WILL HE DO IT?

HAVE ALL OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY?

ARE ALL THINGS REALLY OF GOD?

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

THE PRIME INGREDIENT

YE SHALL GO OUT WITH JOY

"IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD." "THE WORD THAT GOETH FORTH OUT OF MY MOUTH SHALL NOT RETURN UNTO ME VOID, BUT IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH THAT WHICH I PLEASE, AND IT SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING WHERETO I SENT IT." For "GOD WORKETH ALL THINGS AFTER THE COUNSEL OF HIS OWN WILL." And "GOD WILL HAVE ALL MEN TO BE SAVED AND COME TO THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUTH," WHICH WILL "BE TESTIFIED IN DUE TIME." "THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING AND WORTHY OF ALL ACCEPTATION. THESE THINGS COMMAND AND TEACH." [Jn 1:1; Is 55:11; Eph 1:11; I Tim 2:4,6; I Tim 1:4:9,11].

            In our previous study (RETURNING OF THE WORD, Part II) we had discussed how men have made God in their own image, making Him as themselves. From their creative imaginations they have told dreadful stories of how He and Jesus will eventually fail in the great task of saving mankind from corruption and will commit the lost to an eternal pit of hellfire. Hence, they have God and our Lord missing the mark of their intended target.

            We had also related that if people really believe these doctrines of eternal damnation as being true, then what in the world are they doing still having babies? Surely, if one believed that there might be even a chance in a million of one or more of their children not getting saved before dying, then they would STOP HAVING BABIES...IMMEDIATELY...!!!

            Fortunately, however, with some light of the purpose of God for humanity, there is no need for such drastic measures. We see that all of God's creation will be drawn into Christ and liberated from the bondage of corruption to enjoy the liberty of being born of God. We have this assurance because, as we had written, JESUS who is the Word, THE LOGOS, is totally IMMUTABLE, for He is born of God, making Him the very SUBSTANCE of GOD HIMSELF. There is no power or influence in the entire universe that can circumvent this Word. It is literally impossible for this Word who was sent forth from God to return void. He will emphatically accomplish what He was sent to do! Isaiah 55:11 declares it!

 SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD

            What should we do then? Knowing that this infallible, pristine Word, JESUS, will accomplish and prosper in that which He was sent to do; namely, "...to be the Saviour of the world." [I Jn 4:14]. Are we to just rest in this thought and sit back on our free laurels and wait for Him to do it? Should we stop preaching, teaching or witnessing? And since we are assured that at the consummation of the fullness of times everyone is going to be gathered together in Christ [Eph 1:10], should we throw away our pens and stop writing books and studies such as this one? Although these thoughts are not good ones, they are plausible, because without knowing what some of the logistics are, one could very easily come to such conclusions; and incidentally, there are a few out there who are doing just that. They are sliding into various snares, saying, "Well, what the heck! If Jesus is going to save everyone, regardless, there is no reason for us to do anything; and besides, I am getting sick and tired of all these tears, sweat, and labor anyway -- so we might as well go ahead and live like we've always wanted to and enjoy life a little before Gabriel blows his horn."

            It is one thing for people to abuse the Holy teachings of Christ out of ignorance and miss entering into His richness because of living like the devil, but there are others who actually contest God's great purpose for mankind. They have also posed the same questions mentioned above and have made the same statements about why preach and teach if everyone is going to eventually get saved. Statements like this makes me wonder what their vision of Sonship is, and I question if they understand what God's strategy is of His predestined goal for creation. Many of them teach about the manifestation of the sons of God, but obviously they haven't seen what its purpose is or what the calling of Sonship is all about! [Rom 8:19-21]. If they did, I believe we would see them beating their swords into plowshares, and in the midst of their plowing we would hear them singing and telling the world of this great love! What a song it would be to creation's lonely ear, as these former contestants of reconciliation would be seen joyously dancing before the King until there is not one man left in hell!

HOW WILL HE DO IT?

            Indeed, The WORD/THE LOGOS/JESUS CHRIST that goes forth out of the mouth of God shall not return unto Him void, and HE shall accomplish that which pleases Him, and HE shall prosper in the thing whereto He was sent.

            It is good to know the will of God concerning man, and what assurance there is in understanding that it is by the awesome power of the substance of God Himself, JESUS CHRIST THE LOGOS, that His purpose will be fulfilled. It is tremendous to receive such grand things by the Spirit of revelation, and the peace of mind and genuine love that comes with it surpasses all understanding. However, as wonderful and irrefutable as these things are, God has not birthed only one Son into the world to do it all single-handedly. He has not made Jesus to be some mystical force that will some day just sort-of cosmically draw everyone together in Him and make things right. And God has never intended for the one man Jesus to be the totality of His glory. But He has birthed untold thousands and is bringing these many sons unto glory to complete the body that is growing up and being placed into Christ, into Him who is "THE HEAD, THE FIRSTBORN among MANY BRETHREN" [Heb 2:10, Eph 4:15, Rom 8:29].

            The word AMONG in this verse is the Greek word EN, which is more accurately and more often translated IN. The King James has this word translated as IN 1,863 times in the New Testament, while it is rendered AMONG 114 times. Technically, EN can be translated AMONG in this verse, for in the Greek language the context of a sentence can determine the meaning of prepositions. We can see it both ways here. Jesus is certainly One of many brethren, and He is indeed AMONG us; however, we are also keenly aware that His Spirit, His Life, His very substance is actually IN us as a direct result of our birth. It is as when He spoke in John 14:17, and referring to Himself as the Spirit of Truth, He said, "...Ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be IN (EN) you."

            Christians sometimes fail to realize to what degree He is IN us, and that we are truly the OFFSPRING of God. And it is evident the vast majority haven't the slightest notion of why we have even been born of Him. It is easy to hypothetically say, "I have been born again, Jesus is my Saviour, I have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, and I get to go to heaven," or "I am now seated in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, and He has called me to be one of the manifested sons of God." But what is this saying? For one thing, it is saying a little more than, "Oh boy, I am saved now and will fly away someday," or "There's coming a time when God is going to turn me loose on the world and everybody is going to know it!" Brethren, there is much more to it than that! There is some real substance present, and there is something special about this substance!

            This substance has all the attributes of the Holy God of Love, for it was conceived by the SAME Spirit and born of the SAME Father that Jesus was born of. This makes it the very ESSENCE, MATTER, and SUBSTANCE of God Himself. I Peter 1:23 trumpets this with crystal clarity, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the WORD [LOGOS] of God, which liveth and abideth forever." I don't want to be redundant, but please listen, JESUS was that LOGOS [Jn 1:1], JESUS was the very EXPRESSION OF THE SUBSTANCE OF GOD [Heb 1:3], and it was in JESUS that the FULLNESS of the GODHEAD dwelt bodily [Col 2:9]! Therefore, since Jesus was the Logos, and the word Logos signifies the very expression and substance of God, and the epistle of Peter said we were born of the LOGOS of God -- THEN WE ARE LIKEWISE WORDS THAT ARE THE EXPRESSION AND SUBSTANCE OF GOD WHICH HAVE GONE FORTH FROM HIM AND WILL PROSPER IN THE THING WE WERE SENT TO DO! SIMPLY SPEAKING, BRETHREN -- WE CANNOT FAIL!!!

            We don't seem to have much trouble in believing that Jesus, as the Word, possesses the immutable power and mandate of God, but even though we are born of the same Seed, when it comes to ourselves, it sometimes is a different matter. Nonetheless, it still stands, the substance of God is the substance of God; and whatever it is that He sends His substance to accomplish, that thing will be accomplished, or else it will be returning to Him void.

HAVE ALL OLD THINGS PASSED AWAY?

             "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." [II Cor 5:17-19].

            Permit me to share with you the above verses using both columns of the Diaglott with the parentheses ( ) being mine (as I see the context of the subject). The words that form a chain of thought and relate to one another will be in the UPPER CASE (CAPITAL) letters, and the bracketed [ ] words bring out the tense that the Diaglott does not show:

  "For, if any one be in Christ, he is a New Creation; THE OLD THINGS [have and] are passing away; behold! they [have and] are becoming NEW. But THE ALL THINGS (that are NEW) are from THAT GOD (not THE OLD MAN) who has reconciled us to Himself through CHRIST, and has given to us THE MINISTRY of THE RECONCILIATION; namely, that GOD (the very SUBSTANCE of HIMSELF) was in CHRIST RECONCILING the World to Himself, not counting to them THEIR OFFENCES; and has deposited in us (this SAME) WORD (THE LOGOS, i.e. HIS VERY SUBSTANCE) of THE RECONCILIATION (that overpowers and destroys THE OFFENCES and institutes ALL NEW THINGS)."

            Something happens when we become these New Creatures as a result of being IN CHRIST. For one, the old things of the old man HAVE AND CONTINUE TO PASS AWAY. The reason we say "have and continue to pass away" is because these two words "ARE PASSED" are translated from the Greek word "PARELTHEN," which means "TO COME NEAR OR APPROACH". This Greek word is also in the indicative, aorist, active tense, and the following is as close as we can briefly explain it in the English: The indicative mood is something being spoken of that has happened, is happening, or definitely will happen. The aorist tense is active but is not confined to any one period of time. It is in the timeless mode. The active voice represents the subject as acting. Therefore, in this verse we have the OLD THINGS as HAVING BEEN PASSED AWAY, yet there can still be THE ACTION OF THAT PASSING or APPROACHING IN PROCESS.

            From this we can see it to be the same as when the sun has been manifested from the heavens and established in the earth. We might immediately see some of the outward realities of its work, but it could take ages for the fullness of it to take its complete form in the earth. When the sun began to shine countless eons ago, the old things of the earth (its darkness) immediately passed away, and every new thing about it was as a result of the sun shining upon it. All things were new to the earth at the moment of the shining of the sun upon its unstable surface, and nothing would ever be the same. Nonetheless, its processing was not complete, for God was still using the sun to finish outwardly what was already done in the heavens. Therefore, concerning the earth we can say, "The OLD THINGS HAVE AND ARE PASSING AWAY: behold! they HAVE AND ARE BECOMING NEW." Hence, the Greek indicative, aorist, active mode.

            Until recently not just a few of us were a little dismayed when we would read these verses that seemed to state very clearly how EVERY THING of the old man had passed away and ALL THINGS are now new, for evidence spoke for itself that there was still a process involved, and our lives did not reflect that fullness. However, after seeing the Spirit of this word and grasping somewhat the meaning of the indicative, aorist, active tense in the Greek, we are able to continue on and let the "Sun" in us finish what He was sent to do.

ARE ALL THINGS REALLY OF GOD?

            Reading it in this light also enables us to see that THE ALL THINGS THAT ARE OF_GOD are speaking of ALL THE NEW THINGS IN THE NEW CREATURES. In other words, dear friends, adultery, murder, rape, homosexuality, envy, strife, jealousy, lying, greed, rivalry, back biting, and the likes ARE OF THE EARTHY FLESH and ARE EMPHATICALLY NOT PRODUCTS OF THE HEAVENLY GOD! The things that are of God are Holy and Righteous. They are those NEW things we see in the NEW BORN ONES that radiate Light, Life and Liberty. They are products of unfeigned LOVE!

            The only time the negative spectrum of God is seen, such as, darkness, death and desolation is when it is necessary to destroy the disease of rebellion. He will then withhold His shining and bring evil (calamity) in the streets as a form of corrective judgment. [Is 45:7-12, Amos 3:6]. There is no immorality, depravity, dishonesty, wickedness, or wrong of any kind to God's evil. It is likened to when a father chastises a rebellious son with the rod of correction. To the son the rod is very dark and painful, even evil, but it is not sinful. Only if the rod was used maliciously, without a just cause, would it be an evil in the sense of sin. These new things in the new creations that are of God, however, are pure and Holy and righteous, and certainly do not estrange men from Him -- but rather, they RECONCILE people unto Himself!

            Some people who misunderstand what reconciliation is are using this verse, among a few others, to justify every lust of the flesh imaginable. They say, "It is written that `YE ARE GODS' [Ps 82:6], and there is `ONE GOD and Father of all' [Eph 4:6], `ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD' [II Cor 5:18], and `GOD CANNOT SIN' [I Jn 3:6,9]. Therefore, since I AM A GOD that helps to make up the ONE GOD, and ALL THINGS ARE OF GOD, then EVERYTHING I DO IS OF GOD and THERE IS NO SIN IN IT." With this type of reasoning, some have gone so far as to say, "There is no sin, that it is only a figment of our imagination, and we shouldn't let our conscience bother us if we look upon our friends wife, or even consummate that lust."

            There are others, of course, who do believe it is possible to commit sinful acts, but they reason that since all will eventually hit the target of paradise due to all being made alive in Christ at the end of the fullness of times [I Cor 15:22, Eph 1:10], it is all right to exercise their carnal desires. They say, "The word sin in the Bible simply means to miss the mark, and regardless of what I am doing, I will not be ultimately missing the mark. I might be zigzagging a bit, but I am always going somewhat in that direction. Don't worry about it," they add, "I'll finally make it...when I get tired of the things of the flesh."

            We agree that SIN in the Bible does mean TO MISS THE MARK, but dear friends, we are not to be ricocheting bullets from the guns of God! Such lives of carnality are deliberately aimed by man in some other direction than the target of Christ, and the ricochet (or crooked path) only takes one deeper into self and farther from Christ rather than closer. The fact is, people do not get tired of sin by entertaining it. This theory is like adding the fuel of lust to the fire of desire and expecting it to burn itself out. It just doesn't work that way. No doubt, in one of the ages to come they will eventually be truly made alive in Christ, as Paul tells us in I Cor 15:22, but the time in getting back is greatly extended, and there will be a great loss and an awesome lake of fire to travel through. Let us not forget, it doesn't matter if we do embrace the doctrine of "Ultimate Reconciliation," sin is the road of death that leads to the lake of fire..."And DEATH and HELL were cast into THE LAKE OF FIRE." [Rev 20:14].

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

            "...And hath given to us the MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION." [II Cor 5:18c]. It is vital to know the doctrine of reconciliation, but the ministry is what we want to notice here. Inspired doctrines are living tools that help and enhance the ministry, but without the God given ministry (service) the doctrines would be useless. They would be nothing more than the letter that kills.

            There is a misconception of what the ministry of reconciliation is. It has been largely assumed that anyone who believes in and teaches that all of humanity will eventually be saved has the ministry of reconciliation. This may be true to a degree, even if the words they speak are life to the hearers, but this is only one tool of the ministry. The ministry of reconciliation is the service of God to the world and His Church that can be manifested in any number of ways. It can be in word, deed or action. The ministry of reconciliation comes in the form of ANY WORD, ANY DEED, ANY ACTION, OR ANYTHING ELSE that is of Christ and causes men to be RECONCILED TO GOD. This is what THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION is. THE PRIME INGREDIENT

     There is a PRIME INGREDIENT that reconciles men to God and enables one to have such a ministry. It is not acquired by going to seminary, sitting under great teachers, or burning the midnight oil studying all the lexicons and other good books we can collect, and, as good as tapes are, it is not obtained from them either. This ingredient has one origin only -- namely, GOD! It can't be bought or taught, borrowed or stolen, and we can't barter for it. Once Again, "ALL (NEW) THINGS ARE OF GOD;" especially THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION.

            The INGREDIENT that gives this ministry its total effect is found in this verse: "To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us (placed in us, Grk) THE_WORD OF RECONCILIATION." [II Cor 5:19].

            Since the theme of this study series has been THE WORD (THE LOGOS) RETURNING TO GOD IN TOTAL VICTORY, you are probably not surprised that this word W-O-R-D in the above verse is LOGOS in the Greek. Isn't it good to know that the word which has been placed in us has advanced beyond just a learned doctrine, and that it is a product of God and not man? In knowing that the Logos of God is the very substance of Himself, perhaps we can now see with much more clarity, it is by birth that the true essence, the prime ingredient is placed within us. And it is this ingredient that is the true reconciler of man unto God.

            We have seen that Jesus, the Logos of God, will emphatically accomplish what He was sent to do, and we have been genuinely comforted by this thought, but now it is being unveiled how He will perform it. Of course, many have known for some time that the groaning creation will be delivered when the sons of God are manifested [Rom 8:19-21]. However, it seems that we have mistakenly reveled in the doctrine of sonship, thinking that these teachings were the "word of reconciliation" that would deliver the world. Many had not realized that we don't receive the Logos through the process of learning, but rather, WE ARE BORN OF IT! [I Pt 1:23]. There is a vast difference!

            It is this ingredient, THE LOGOS OF GOD, HIS VERY ESSENCE, that begins to reconcile anyone to God. If we minister a word that draws one to Him, then it is that SUBSTANCE. If we do something that causes a person to be at peace with God, again, it is Him, that wonderful WORD OF RECONCILIATION that was placed in us when we were born of that very thing. The flesh has no part in this work.

YE SHALL GO OUT WITH JOY

            We understand that the Word that goes forth from God shall not return void, and we know that Jesus is that Word. We also know that Jesus is the Head of a many membered body, and the ones who are born of the Spirit of God make up that body. With this basic knowledge, we can now look again at Isaiah 55:11 and see some additional things in it; however, we will not only cover this one verse but will examine verse ten and the ones following: (Words that have RELATED THOUGHTS have been placed in CAPITAL LETTERS.)

  "For as THE RAIN cometh down, and THE SNOW from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

  So shall MY WORD be that goeth forth out of My mouth: IT shall not return unto Me, void, but IT shall accomplish that which I please, and IT shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent IT.

  For YE shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before YOU into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." [Is 55:10-13].

            We see that not only was Jesus called the Word of God (Jn 1:1), but in this passage of scripture His people, YE, are also called the WORD; and this corporate body has gone forth from Him to accomplish something. Let us read these verses again but with the veil removed and notice some things and see what it is:

  For YOU shall come down as the RAIN and the SNOW from the heavens and water the parched earth returning not void, for YOU will cause it to bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

  YOU, MY ESSENCE, MY WORD shall go forth out of My mouth; YOU shall not return unto Me void, but YOU shall accomplish that which I please, and YOU shall prosper in the thing whereto I have sent YOU.

  For YOU shall proceed from Me with joy, because YOU KNOW YOUR ORIGIN and WHERE YOU ARE GOING and WHAT YOU ARE SENT TO DO, and you shall be led forth with peace: the mountains (the great kingdoms of the world) and the hills (the lesser kingdoms of men) shall break forth before YOU into singing, and ALL the trees of the field (every individual in the earth) shall clap their hands.

  Instead of the continuously piercing thorns of the adversity which afflict and prompts Adam to curse God shall come up the fir tree of never dying, everlasting worship of God; and instead of the vexing brier of the desolate wilderness shall come up the myrtle tree -- the dwelling of God; and it, the myrtle tree, shall be to the Lord for a name for He shall be living therein. This tree shall also be an everlasting sign that I Live in them and shall not be cut off.

            GREAT GOD ALMIGHTY!!! What an awesome thing we are called to do! Can you hear it? Can you see it? Furthermore, can you believe it? If so, then shout HALLELUJAH!!! If not, then wait to be watered of the rain, and you too will break forth into singing and clapping your hands along with the other trees of the field!

            Concerning people being trees we note Isaiah 61:3 where He calls His people "TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, the PLANTING OF THE LORD, that HE MIGHT BE GLORIFIED." We can also read Isaiah 41:17-20:

  "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.

  I will open RIVERS in high places, and FOUNTAINS in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a POOL OF WATER.

  I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together:

  That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it."

            Nehemiah, and those with him, after coming out of the captivity of Babylon, they found written in the law that one of the things the BOOTHS were to be made of for the feast of TABERNACLES were branches from the MYRTLE TREE. [Neh 8:14-18]. Myrtle trees are not mentioned often in the Bible, but when they were, it appears that they were significant of something very special. They related to LIBERTY, GREAT JOY, GLADNESS, A DWELLING WITHIN (whether of man or God), or THE GLORY OF GOD BEING MANIFESTED. In Zechariah 1:11 we see the Spirit of prophecy proceeding from the angel of the Lord (THE MESSENGER OF JEHOVAH), and he is seen standing in the midst of the MYRTLE TREES while revealing God's mysteries to Zechariah. There are many things that could be opened up concerning trees, especially the myrtle tree, but for lack of space and time suffice it to merely say, when THE RAINING WORD (THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD) come down from the heavens and touch the dry earth, ALL THE INDIVIDUAL TREES OF HUMANITY WILL LIVE AND CLAP THEIR HANDS WITH GREAT JOY! There will be no more thorns or briers; and there will be no more tears or sorrow, and pain and death will be destroyed, for all the former things will have passed away and ALL THINGS MADE NEW [Rev 21:4-6]! SO BE IT ACCORDING TO HIS WORD THAT CANNOT RETURN VOID!!!

Elwin R. Roach

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