Creation - Incarnation - Human Living - Crucifixion - Resurrection - Becomming a Life Giving Spirit - Exultation
My intention in this thread is to talk about the PROCESS that the Triune God passed through in order to accomplish His eternal purpose.
These stages are steps in a procedure. They are not random and unrelated acts in the Bible. They are stages of the process of God dispensing His life and nature into man. The goal is for God to put Himself into His people to be lived by them and be expressed from within them.
Here again is how we should think of these steps:
1.) God had to create a universe to accomplish His plan to impart Himself into His creatures to be - human beings.
2.) The Logos of God became a man to define and explain what divine Life is.
3.) This incarnated God-man Jesus had to pass through human living to prepare a God/man Spirit to be our life which He would dispense into His lovers.
4.) He died a redemptive death to purchase from the custody of the law under which man fell through Adam's disobedience.
5.) He resurrected - overcoming death, conquering death, and proving the indistructible nature of this God/man union.
6.) All that He attained and obtained was compunded into the life giving Spirit and prepared to be imparted into His lovers.
7.) This Godman Jesus ascended to the highest peak in the universe to be the Adminstrator and Executor of the testament of dispensing the life giving Spirit of the processed Triune God into His people.
The history of God in the Bible is a history of the process He went through to accompish His eternal purpose of dispensing Himself into man for a mingling of divinity and humanity.
When I was young and read the last book of the Bible I couldn't understand why God put up with so much trouble just to make everything right in the end. The Bible concludes with a city called New Jerusalem where there is no death, no tears, no sin, no sorrow, no disease, no war, and no evil at all. There is eternal life, eternal love, and eternal light and joy.
I thought to myself "Why didn't God simply do this from the beginning and avoid all the heartache?" It seemed like an unrealistic comclusion to a comic strip.
Some years latter I changed in my understanding of the Bible completely. I saw that arriving at the New Jerusalem was a matter of warfare. It was a battle with many opposing forces to overcome. Then I learned that the history of God was a history of a process He passed through in order to obtain this New Jerusalem. There was a long preparation that God must go through in order to obtain a city of God mingled with man.
The seven steps are a good outline of the basic process that God passed through to obtain in the end of history a city of God and humans united in incorporation:
1.) Creation
2.) Incarnation
3.) Human Living
4.) Crucifixion
5.) Resurrection
6.) Tranfiguration to life giving Spirit
7.) Exultation and enthronement
Today God is no longer the "raw" God. He is the "processed" God Who has prepared Himself to be dispensed into man for mingling and for the production of New Jerusalem.
Two great "becames" in the Bible prove that the eternal trinity also has passed through a process to accomplish His goal of building New Jerusalem:
"The Word BECAME flesh" (John 1:14)
"The last Adam BECAME a life giving Spirit" (1 Cor. 15:45)
These two instances of the word "became" prove that the Triune God has passed through a process preparing Himself to be imparted and dispensed into man for the producing of New Jerusalem at the conclusion of human history.
Originally posted by jaywillIn the Lord's Prayer there is the phrase "on earth as it is in heaven." Do you find any places, experiences in the world today that you think would be like "the new Jerusalem"?
When I was young and read the last book of the Bible I couldn't understand why God put up with so much trouble just to make everything right in the end. The Bible concludes with a city called New Jerusalem where there is no death, no tears, no sin, no sorrow, no disease, no war, and no evil at all. There is eternal life, eternal love, and eternal light and j ...[text shortened]... into man for the producing of New Jerusalem at the conclusion of human history.
Originally posted by kirksey957According to the prayer you're refering to Jesus said "Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." So I think where on earth the will of God is taking place that is an experience on earth as it is in heaven.
In the Lord's Prayer there is the phrase "on earth as it is in heaven." Do you find any places, experiences in the world today that you think would be like "the new Jerusalem"?
The Apostle John refers to the believers walking in this world as He [Christ] is: "... he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. that we may have boldness in the day of judgment because even as He is so also are we in this world" (1 John 4:16b,17)
This passage speaks of the brotherly love flowing from brother to brother out of the abiding in God and God abiding in them. This brotherly Agape love gives the believers boldness because they know that they are on earth and in the world as Christ is - " ... as He is so even are we in this world"
Actually this process that I speak of joins man to heaven. There is installed into the believer's innermost being a connection, a channel between earth and the third heavens. When we walk and live in this connection we are in what Matthew calls "the kingdom of the heavens"
There is rejoicing and giving of thanks and praise in the heavens. When we praise God on the earth we sense we are touching the heavens. Praise in spite of adverse circumstances always causes man to ascend within and sense that she is rising above in transcendence. This is because what is going on on the earth in the praising one is the experience of heaven. Since the surroundings are not always favorable it is an act of faith. It is "the sacrifice of praise".
There is much praising and giving of thanks in Paul's letters. It is not because he was comfortable or in favorable circumstances. It was his praising in faith. The joy of the Lord is our strength. He praised and thanked God in faith. God's will in heaven was carried out on the earth in this faithful praising one. So thanksgiving and praise is a big item of God's will to be carried out on the earth as it is in heaven.
We are not rejoicing in our circumstances. We are rejoicing "in the Lord". There is a difference. In troubles and trials we are to "rejoice in the Lord".
If you are able to rejoice in the Lord in spite of your circumstances I wager that you certainly are carrying out the Father's will on earth. God is said to be enthroned on the praises of His saints. So praising and thanking God in spite of your circumstances enthrones God in your life. And the continual enthronement of God in your heart "metabolically" transforms your whole being into the image of Christ.
Thanking God and rejoicing in Christ is pure faith. It means you are not walking by sight but you are walking by faith. If a believer can learn this lesson early in their Christian life he will be victorious and overcoming. It is like a boat going down a river and being obstructed by a rock in the middle of the stream. The human way is to worry about how the big rock can be removed. God's way is to raise the level of the flow of the water.
Praising God and giving thanks in the face of problems and troubles raising the level of internal grace within, impowers one, energizies one, and causes the believer to be victorious. As a result he or she is built into that living holy city that God is building - New Jerusalem.
They are being transformed into a son of God and Christ is making His home in their hearts through faith. His will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.
God has gone through a process in order to dispense Himself into man. In the end of the Bible we have the prophetic vision of the outcome of God's work. It is pictured symbolically. The New Jerusalem is not a physical city 1500 miles high floating near the surface of the earth. The vision of the New Jerusalem is a profound symbol symbolizing the outcome of God's process to dispense Himself into man.
The 12 manner of precious stones which constitute the walls of the New Jerusalem symbolize transformed human beings. Through heat and preasure and water these gems are produced. The symbolism is that through the adverse troubles of human life since the fall of man God has added the flowing of His consummated and processed Holy Spirit. The product is the transformation of men of clay into gems of precious stones. The holy city is built up by the transformation of God's people through their troubles of life in conjunction with the dispensing of the Holy Spirit - the Third Person of the divine Trinity.
Here is a passage which proves that man is transformed from glory to glory by the Holy Spirit:
"And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.
But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit." (2 Cor. 3:17,18)
From the born again experience the believer is to behold and reflect the glory of the Lord. Then the Holy Spirit will transform them from one degree of glory, to another degree of glory, to another degree of glory, etc, etc, into the glorious image of Christ. The regenerating Spirit is also the transforming Spirit. And the final result of His regenerating and transforming work is building the believers up as transformed people into the holy city New Jerusalem.
Since the city comes out of God's dispensing and God's impartation of His nature into man it is symbolically seen "coming down out of heaven from God" in the book of the Revelation.
In Revelation many profound things are made known to us "by signs" (Rev. 1:1).
Originally posted by kirksey957Do you still think I'm like him?
In the Lord's Prayer there is the phrase "on earth as it is in heaven." Do you find any places, experiences in the world today that you think would be like "the new Jerusalem"?
I think I will never be able to do anything similar to what he is doing here.
Originally posted by ahosyneyThere are areas in which man will not be like God ever. But aside from these areas God wants man to be not only like God but be God. That is God wants to expand His life and family into man. This is why the Triune God passed through this process.
Do you still think I'm like him?
I think I will never be able to do anything similar to what he is doing here.
In these areas the believers will never be like God.
We will not be creators of universes.
We will not be objects of worship.
We will not be omniscient.
We will not be ominpresent.
We will not be omnipotent.
Though we do not partake of any of these attributes of God He venertheless desires sons of God. He desires a corportate expression of Himself.
God desires to wrought Himself into man. God desires to work His life and nature into man for a mingling of God with man. But remains the Source of this mingling of divinity and humanity. And man ever remains the dependent party as the receiving to the dispensing of God into man.
In the vision of the New Jerusalem you have the water of life flowing out of the throne of God and being channeled throughout the entire city. This is symbol of the Triune God dispensing and imparting His life and nature into His people. Since He is eternal this flowing of God into man continues for eternity.
The walls of the city are adorned with 12 manner of precious stones. These stones symbolize the human beings transformed into the image of Christ by the flowing of the Spirit of divine life from the throne in the middle of the city. God is on the throne in the Lamb. And the water of life is pouring out of the throne into the city.
This is a picture of the divine Trinity. This is a symbol of the dispensing of the Triune God into man.
The Lamb of God is the 'lamp". And God within the Lamb is the light. The Lamb of God is the Son of God as the Redeemer. The light within the lamp of the Lamb is the Father. And the water pouring out of the throne of God and of the Lamb is the consummated Holy Spirit.
God reign and rules by flowing His life and nature into man from His triune being.
Originally posted by jaywillBut why did God go to all the trouble of permitting this conflict-between-good-and-eveil rigmarole to occur?
When I was young and read the last book of the Bible I couldn't understand why God put up with so much trouble just to make everything right in the end. The Bible concludes with a city called New Jerusalem where there is no death, no tears, no sin, no sorrow, no disease, no war, and no evil at all. There is eternal life, eternal love, and eternal light and j ...[text shortened]... into man for the producing of New Jerusalem at the conclusion of human history.
Why can't there just be heaven, eternally?
Originally posted by PawnokeyholeThat question may be too hard for me to answer. I do notice that the history of the universe is headed in that positive direction. I also notice that it seems in the ancient distant past it was so; one divine will and ideal.
But why did God go to all the trouble of permitting this conflict-between-good-and-eveil rigmarole to occur?
Why can't there just be heaven, eternally?
So I think what we are dealing with is an interruption in a paradise situation in which another will besides the will of God was introduced into creation. This temporary disharmony of the divine will with a opposing will is the source of tragic misfortune.
But at the same time it seems to be an opportunity for God to display the depth of His wisdom by overcoming a contrary situation of mammoth proportions. The New Testament speaks of God displaying His wisdom to the authorities and principalities in the heavenlies. I concude that this must mean evil authorities certainly who have set themselves up by their decision to be an opposition party to the Creator:
"And to enlighten all that they may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things,
In order that now to the rulers and he authorities in the heavenlies the multifarious wisdom of God might be made known through the church" (Eph. 3:9-10)
Through the adversity of the rebellion of angels and man God will eternally display His multifarious and many faceted wisdom. The Satanic revolt furnishes a dark backround upon which the Triune God displays for ever afterwards His inconquerable and indistructible divine life and wisdom.
Your question is a philosophical one long wrestled with by theologians. And I don't think I can completely answer it. But we do have the promise that "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Rom. 8:28)
God has the unique ability to turn out all things for good to those who love God and are called according to His eternal purpose. It seems that God waited for adversity of a cosmic and grand nature before He fulfilled His eternal purpose of producing sons of God as His eternal corporate expression.
But I do notice that the great dichotomy in Genesis is not between good and evil. It is between divine life verses the knowledge of good and evil.
Remamber that there was not a tree of good and a tree of evil. It was not that Adam was to take the tree of good and was forbidden to eat of the tree of evil. No, both good and evil were on the same forbidden fruit.
" ... the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (Gen. 1:9)
One source in the unverse was of divine and eternal life. That represented God dispensing Himself into man to bring man into an organic union with God. The other tree was of the knowledge of good and evil. It seems a tree of independence from God. It promises independence but in reality it brought man into bondage to death, to God's enemy, and to corruption of every kind.
We have to deal with the situation as it is. Thankfully, we are not left alone to do so.
I previously wrote that the gems, the precious stones of the wall of New Jerusalem represent the transformed humans into sons of God.
In Genesis the precious stones are just lying around in the garden. In Revelation they are built up into a city with a wall.
The wall is for the protection of God's interests on the earth. The wall is to keep out of God's kingdom that which is contrary to His will. In the garden man was to guard the garden. Adam failed to guard the garden and the creeping enemy crept in and deceived man into Satanic bondage. In New Jerusalem the wall of the city is there to keep God's enemies out. The wall is composed of precious gems symbolizing the transformed sons of God.
This suggests that it is easy for God to create the creation. It is not so easy for God to work Himself into His creation. It is easy for God to say "Let there be ..." and creation exists. It is cosiderably more work for Him to impart and dispense His life and nature into man to build man up into a walled city - a kingdom in which all that is contrary to the divine will is kept forever outside.
Never forget that the Bible opens with a garden and closes with a city. The garden becomes the city. The city is protected with a wall. The wall is of sons of God transformed into God's expression through the dispensing of His life. They are brought into organic union with God. They are the mass production of Christ - the sons of God transformed into His glorious image.
Therefore are two great operations of God. The second is greater than the first, I think.
First there is God creates. Secondly there is God dispenses Himself into His creatures.
First God calls into existence a environment for His creatures to exist - the universe. Second God goes through a process in which He consummates Himself into a form in which He can impart, dispense, and transfuse Himself into man.
Jesus Christ is the standard model of what God is after. He created the universe to be owned by and filled with a collective and corporate entity which is like His Firstborn Son Jesus Christ.
God went through a process to mass produce sons of God in the image of His Firstborn Son Christ. To understand the nature of the universe then we have to look at Christ and study the process of the Word becomming flesh (John 1:14) and the last Adam becomming a life giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45)
Reality is more fascinating than fiction by far.
Originally posted by jaywillI notice you don't use inclusive language when discussing your theology. Many women reading your thoughts might feel left out.
Therefore are two great operations of God. The second is greater than the first, I think.
First there is God creates. Secondly there is God dispenses Himself into His creatures.
First God calls into existence a environment for His creatures to exist - the universe. Second God goes through a process in which He consummates Himself into a form in which ...[text shortened]... life giving Spirit [b](1 Cor. 15:45)
Reality is more fascinating than fiction by far.[/b]
Originally posted by kirksey957You have not read all my posts carefully.
I notice you don't use inclusive language when discussing your theology. Many women reading your thoughts might feel left out.
Look back through this thread and I think you will see a couple of references to "she" in reference to humankind.
Occasionally and unexpectedly I do shift to "she" in reference to a typical person.