UNDERSTANDING MAN- GOD'S DREAM
Let's meditate on these: THE DREAM OF GOD IS MAN THE DREAM OF MAN IS GOD GOD SEEKS TO FULLY POSSESS MAN MAN SEEKS TO FULLY POSSESS GOD MAN IS GOD'S INHERITANCE.....( Eph 1:18) GOD IS MAN'S INHERITANCE....( Num 18:20)
Scientists are probing into two unseen worlds. One is a world too vast and far away to be seen by the eye and the other is a world too small to be observed by the eye. I want to give you three
words in this connection, together with their meanings.
First, we find the word MICROCOSM. This word means a little world: anything regarded as a world in miniature: man, viewed as an epitome of the universe. This word comes from two words in the Greek. One is MICROS which means little or miniature. The other is COSMOS meaning world. Thus we have the meaning of LITTLE WORLD.
The word MACROCOSM, on the other hand, means the great world, or the universe. It also comes from two words. One is MACROS meaning great and the other is COSMOS meaning the world. We noted above that the word MICROS carried the meaning of "man viewed as an epitome of the universe."
This word EPITOME means, among other things, A CONDENSED REPRESENTATION of something. The word MICROCOSM then gives us the meaning that man is a CONDENSED REPRESENTATION OF THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!
Thus, man is the CONDENSED REPRESENTATION of all the universe or Man is all the universe in miniature.
MAN IS NOT ONLY A SPIRIT BEING ( HEAVENLY OR FROM THE REALM OF SPIRIT) BUT A SPIRIT THAT HAS A SOUL AND LIVES IN A BODY.
After the original creation, God then began to move to bring the whole vast creation into FELLOWSHIP and harmony with Himself. In order to accomplish this God made MAN in the image of the creation(Man Formed Out Of The Earth), but also in the image of Himself- SPIRIT( From The Realm Of The Spirit) ..(Num 16:22, Gen 2:7) MAN is therefore the bridge or connecting link between God in His spiritual existence( HEAVENLY ) and the creation in its visible and material constitution. God put both Himself and the whole universe into man in miniature--a microcosm of the macrocosm( Job 32:8, Prov 20:27, 2 Cor 6:16)
God sees the whole universe in His Man.
"GOD WAS IN CHRIST RECONCILING THE WORLD"..2 COR 5:19
The fall of Adam affected the entire creation because his spirit was linked up to all things.
ADAM WAS THE EPITOME OF THE UNIVERSE- MICROCOSM OF THE MACROCOSM THIS IS WHY THE FULL REDEMPTION OF MAN MARKS THE LIBERATION OF THE ENTIRE CREATION...(ROM 8:21) GOD TOUCHES HIS CREATION IN MAN- A MICROCOSM OF THE MACROCOSM. MAN IS THEREFORE GOD'S TARGET AS FAR AS THE KINGDOM IS CONCERNED.
In that wonderful day when the Lord God planted a Garden in Eden for the man in His image, God stood in the boundary between heaven ( invisible realm of the spirit) and earth and did a most incredible thing.
He stretched forth His hands of omnipotence and took this terrestrial ball in one hand as with the other He grasped the heavenly realm. He moved the two toward one another.
He brought the spiritual realm, the timeless realm, the dimensionless realm toward planet earth and moved earth toward the heavenly realm. The two moved closer and closer until they kissed each other. The two realms touched - entering into union with one another. The area where heaven and earth met together and overlapped He called Eden. The place where these two realms met, overlapped, and interfaced became unlike earth and unlike heaven, that which had never existed before - not heavenly and not earthly - the Kingdom of Heaven on earth!
Eden was just the beginning of the great work.
The end of the process of fusion will be seen in the NEW JERUSALEM- THE PERFECT MAN THE DREAM IS TO FUSE BOTH REALMS TOGETHER FOR AN ETERNAL HABITATION.
The only thing it can be likened to is the resurrection body ( GLORIOUS BODY) of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was visible, but utterly spiritual. He brought His physical body out of the tomb and appeared in a body possessing an earthly form and appearance, but it was a glorious metamorphosed body limited neither by time or space. (John 20)
Here in this realm where heaven and earth meet and mingle all that is visible becomes spiritual, and all that is spiritual becomes visible. Everything upon this earth which is seized upon by the spiritual is transformed by the spiritual, and there is created here the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. When you take the heavenly and the pristine earthly and join them together, what is formed by that blessed union is far more beautiful and glorious than either- THE PERFECT MAN. THIS IS THE DREAM OF GOD FOR ALL MEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD( RULE OF GOD AS LIFE) IS TO BE SEEN IN MAN AND THROUGH MAN MUTUAL HABITATION Let's meditate of these :
God is the habitation of Man(Psalm 90:1, 91:9)
Man is the habitation of God (Exod 25:8, 2 Cor 6:16, Rev 21:3)
Mutual habitation( John 17:21, 23)
ADAM belonged to the heavens as well as the earth. He is the only creature which has ever been, is now, or ever shall be that BELONGS TO BOTH REALMS! Consider with me, precious friend of mine, What is the natural habitat of man? He is spirit - his natural habitat is the heavens! He is dust - his natural habitat is the earth! Both? No! Neither? Yes! Neither. And yet, in some strange, mystical way - both . This glorious creature God created - where is his "home"? Ah - God prepared the place for man as soon as He created man. He created a place that corresponds to man's true state for man to inhabit.
The earth, dear one, contrary to all that you may have been taught, is not the natural habitat of man. And neither are the heavens the natural habitat of man!
The Garden - and only the Garden - and no place but the Garden is your natural habitat. That's where you belong - that is your true world, your homeland, your motherland - that unique realm where heaven and earth meet and mingle - the Kingdom of Heaven on earth!
The Garden was not heaven, neither was it earth. It was a realm where God could walk, and where man could walk and talk with God. It was the dimension of the spiritual body - spirit and body, heaven and earth, visible and invisible, celestial and terrestrial, BLENDED INTO ONE.
The greatest of the glories of heaven was in that Garden - the tree of life was there. And that was man's habitat. It was not merely WHERE man was - it was what he was (STATE OF BEING).
This great truth of man's STATE OF BEING constituting the Garden of God is one of the tremendous themes which courses its way like a mighty river through the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. In the book of Revelation the Garden of Eden finally becomes the wonderful City of God - which City we are (Rev. 21:9-11; Isa. 60:2,14). In eden we see God meets man, but in the new Jerusalem we see God FUSED into Man ( Rev 21:9-11)
To fully live in heaven is to posses CELESTIAL BODY OR RETURN TO SPIRIT EXISTENCE.
To fully live on earth is to possess TERRESTRIAL BODY LIMITED TO TIME AND SPACE.
All these bodies( terrestrial & celestial) are limited with respect to realms of operation.
Those in the heavens (spiritual realm) cannot fully live on earth without a terrestrial body.
Those living on earth cannot fully live in heaven without leaving behind this body for a celestial one or simply to be in spirit existence.(1 Cor 15:40-49) Thus, the invisible could not fully interrelate with the visible.
Due to all these limitations, God sought for a BEING- MAN to bridge the gap. He sought for an EQUILIBRIUM IN HIS CREATION MAN is therefore the bridge or connecting link between God in His spiritual existence( HEAVENLY ) and the creation in its visible and material constitution( EARTHLY). God put both Himself and the whole universe into man in miniature--a microcosm of the macrocosm ( Job 32:8, Prov 20:27, 2 Cor 6:16).
THE BODY REQUIRED TO FULLY LIVE IN BOTH REALMS SPONTANEOUSLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY IS CALLED A GLORIOUS BODY. We are not seeing the reality of this dream because man is still being formed unto perfection ( fully heavenly and fully earthly).
JESUS IS THE ONLY MAN WITH THIS GLORIOUS BODY .HE REVEALED THIS GLORIOUS REALITY AFTER RESURRECTION.
He was visible, but utterly spiritual. He brought His physical body out of the tomb and appeared in a body possessing an earthly form and appearance, but it was a glorious metamorphosed body limited neither by time or space. (John 20)
GOD TAKES MAN THROUGH THREE MAIN STEPS TO ACHIEVING THIS GLORIOUS GOAL .
Isa 43:7 [Even] every one that is called by my name: for I have CREATED him for my glory, I have FORMED him; yea, I have MADE him. 1.THE CREATION 2.THE FORMATION 3.THE MAKING
The man God wanted to MAKE was not the first Adam . The dream was to MAKE Man in His own image after His likeness.
.." And God said, Let us MAKE man in our image, after our likeness".....Gen 1:26
Yet God started with the creation of Adam instead of the MAKING of Adam. ......"So God CREATED man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them".....Gen 1:27 God then formed Adam in Gen 2:7 "And the LORD God FORMED MAN [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul."
This reveals a sublime truth that Gen 1:26 is prophetic and yet to be FULFILLED because Adam never got to the MAKING STAGE- PERFECT MAN
Adam could not even complete the stage of FORMATION. He discontinued the process due to DISOBEDIENCE-FALL.
Adam could not reach the peak of God's dream because He couldn't eat of the tree of life .The tree of life could have gradually formed and made him the perfect man- IMAGE OF GOD Isa 43:7 [Even] every one that is called by my name: for I have CREATED him for my glory, I have FORMED him; yea, I have MADE him.
Now, creation, formation and making are progressive work of God in His dream Man. Let's look at the Hebrew definitions
Create- 'Bara' means to dispatch i.e. set on sail Form- 'Yatsar' means to mold into a form like a potter does Make- 'Asah' means to accomplish
The progressive work was stopped in the first Adam when sin set in-He missed the mark. Because of that God needed to restart the whole process in a new MAN THE NEW CREATION.............CREATION THE NEW MAN...…..................FORMATION THE PERFECT MAN.................MAKING
THE NEW CREATION- CREATION
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
The new creation man is born of the Word and the Spirit. This man is transplanted from the humanity (the old creation) into the newness of life. ..."Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever"... 1Pe 1:23
The new creation man is still a BABE.
1Pe 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
THE NEW MAN- FORMATION
This is the man who is being formed by God. He is a building under the construction of God
God is very patient with him and it could take years for the building to be completed. This is because it needs the right food (mortar) for proper stability and growth.
Gal 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
The formation process is the most tedious stage.
Eph 4:24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Utmost care ought to be taken in the alignment of the heavy lively stones and pillars lest the whole building collapses (1 Pet 2:5, Isaiah 28:16) This stage also speaks of the TRANSFORMATION OF THE MIND- SALVATION OF THE SOUL ( 1 Peter 1:9, Rom 12,Col 3)
At this stage we see the outworking of the LIFE OF GOD and the building of the NATURE OF LOVE (2 Cor 4:10,Phil 1:20, 1 Cor 13, Rom 5:5).
THE PERFECT MAN- MADE MAN
The last STAGE is called the PERFECT MAN This man has finished up with the formation process and is thus made in the image. This man has the image and life of God- Christ.
This man is so perfect in everything. Not limited to time and space. He doesn't lack in any aspect of God. He can sit on the throne of God ( gained the nature of the throne) Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
This man does not desire to go to heaven ( spirit realm) for he is 100% heavenly and 100% earthly.
Here in this realm where heaven and earth meet and mingle all that is visible becomes spiritual, and all that is spiritual becomes visible.
This is the hope of all men when mortality shall have put on immortality.( 1 Cor 15:53-54) .At this stage we see the body TRANSFIGURED AND GLORIFIED.
Creation groans and awaits the UNVEILING OF THIS MAN.
His unveiling brings the deliverance of creation from the bondage of corruption.(Rom 8:19-21) IT'S NOT ABOUT WHERE WE ARE GOING BUT WHAT WE ARE BECOMING.
WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS NOW AT THIS STAGE- - PERFECT MAN-SAME STATURE AND MEASURE
" IT DOES NOT YET APPEAR WHAT WE SHALL BE"...(1 JOHN 3:1-3)
TRANSFORMATION
The gospel of the Kingdom is not the good news that we shall go to some far- off heaven somewhere and live forever in an external paradise. As extraordinarily marvelous as that would be, God has something for us far, far better than this! Going to a place called heaven is not what Jesus had in mind when He proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven. The religious tradition concerning “going to heaven” is so strong that it distorts people’s ability to perceive and understand what is written in the Word of God.
JESUS did not say that , “Except a man be born again he cannot get to heaven.” THAT’S NOT WHAT JESUS SAID! It is a perversion of the word of our Lord. Jesus wasn’t talking about going anywhere — He plainly said that unless a man is born again by the Spirit of God he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
The gospel of the Kingdom of God has absolutely nothing to do with dying and going to heaven — it has everything to do with the rule of God coming into this earth. Redemption is not just a change of location — it is a transformation of the state of being. The Father’s desire is not that we leave the world behind someday to “fly away” to our mansion in the sky. His desire is for us to leave the world behind right now and press forward each day deeper and deeper into the depths of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth- MAN'S TRUE HABITATION AND STATE OF BEING. ( John 17:15, Rev 5:10)
MAN= 100% HEAVENLY & 100% EARTHLY
Heaven is all around us but we must be RAISED out of our natural consciousness in order to touch it.
But the dimension of heaven is ten thousand times MORE REAL than this gross material realm to which our mortal form has been subjected.
........ "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God..... Set your affection (EXERCISE YOUR FACULTIES) on things above, not on things on the earth".....( Col 3:1-2)
And now in spirit we are eternally joined unto Him in His own incorruptible sphere of life and state of being. He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit - in heaven!( 1 Cor 6:17)
The following words of the Apostle Paul are freighted with meaning and spiritual significance.
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we LOOK for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the WORKING whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil. 3:20-21). The opening statement of this beautiful passage declares that, "Our conversation is in heaven." The word conversation is from the Greek word POLITEUMA meaning "citizenship." It is not our words or our talk that are in heaven , but our citizenship - our habitation( spiritual state) and residence with full civil rights.
"From whence WE LOOK." "FROM WHENCE we look." It does not say, "from whence we SHALL look." Nor does it say, "from whence the Lord shall come." "From whence WE LOOK FOR THE SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST: who shall change our vile body..."
It does not at all say that the Lord Jesus Christ shall come from heaven, although that is how our superficial reading has taken it. Nothing is said here about where Christ dwells, or where He is coming from. The subject is not where Christ is, but where WE ARE and WHAT WE ARE DOING THERE. Where are we? "Our citizenship (residence, homeland) is in heaven(elevated realm of the spirit)." This lovely passage shows the believer to be a heavenly man, positioned in the heavenlies.(Eph 2:6)
And what are we doing there? From that lofty vantage point and exalted state of consciousness we are LOOKING FOR THE SAVIOUR to change our vile body.
Just as a man may sit in a firetower steadily looking for the tell-tale signs of smoke that alert him to a forest fire, so WE SIT IN HEAVEN LOOKING FOR THE SAVIOUR TO CHANGE OUR BODY.
The message is clear - we are not on earth looking for our Saviour to come crashing down from heaven. Rather, from our exalted seating in the height of heaven we look for this change, for we know the Christ there, we belong to Him there, we are joined in one with Him there, we are heavenly because He is. LOOKING UNTO JESUS to extend the work of salvation and exaltation to the body-realm, so as to present the whole being in the power of eternal life in the true sphere and home of that life above.( Rom 12:2)
We are to possess a fully developed body which belongs to the heavenly.
"As IS the heavenly, such are they also THAT ARE heavenly...we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” (I Cor. 15:48-49).
This change from death to life takes place as Christ rises from within us, coming out of heaven (spirit) to manifest finally in the visible world. As we find Christ in us and our union in Him as the source of our life, tremendous changes take place.
Usually JESUS reveals Himself in the spiritual world to each one in degrees of glory differing in intensity according to the STATE of each soul's spiritual development.
Since we have not yet EXPERIENCED all fullness of CHRIST, we desire an appearance of the Lord to further complete this great work of TRANSFORMATION.
1Jo 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not YET APPEAR what we SHALL BE: but we know that, when HE SHALL APPEAR , we SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for WE SHALL SEE HIM AS HE IS. Oh! the mystery of it! It is not from earth that we look for heaven to swoop down and change us; it is in heaven that we look for our outer man to catch up with our inner man. "FROM HEAVEN we look..." Hallelujah!
"BEHOLD I SHOW YOU A MYSTERY" Our change from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible is a promise of God that can no more fail or pass away than any other of God's promises.
"Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye... for this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (I Cor. 15:51-53).
This scripture has always been applied to the RAPTURE THEORY which is misleading.
.." We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed"..
All saints whether alive now or asleep (cloud of witness in the heavens) are progressing unto perfection and will be CHANGED ULTIMATELY. ( Heb 12:1,Heb 11:40)
The next words read, "in a moment." The Greek word used here for "moment" is ATOMOS. This passage is the only place in the Greek New Testament where this word is used. ATOMOS is the word from which is derived our English word "atom." The word carried the meaning in the Greek of that which is UNCUTTABLE or INDIVISIBLE The translators have taken this to mean that our bodies shall be changed in "an atom of time," that is, in an instant of time so brief that you could not make it any quicker, or reduce the time in any measure.
We can understand their reasoning, but it seems far a field from the facts. There are other Greek words that do mean moment, an infinitesimal period of time. If the Spirit intended this to be - in a moment - then why did He use the word ATOMOS instead of the word that actually means Moment.
For instance, in II Cor. 4:17 we find the statement,
"For our light afflictions which are but for a moment..." This word "moment" comes from the Greek word PARAUTIKA which means instant or momentary. So why did the Spirit use the word ATOMOS instead of the word PARAUTIKA when He said, "We shall all be changed, in a moment ... if He meant moment? And why do the translators persist in translating it "moment"? There must have been a reason for the Holy Spirit to use the word ATOMOS, that God has kept hidden from the translators.
Does not this word ATOMOS indicate that we shall be changed in the ATOMS of our bodies, in the very structure and substance of our outer house?
We shall be changed in ATOMS, in ATOMICAL STRUCTURE, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump!
Certainly this is much more in harmony with the subject: "There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (I Cor. 15:44, 49).
Certainly this involves a change in our atomical structure! Something is already changing within our ATOMIC STRUCTURE (Rom 8:10). HOW? IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE .....
Following these words the apostle hastily adds this enigmatical phrase, "in the twinkling of any eye." "Twinkling" is from the Greek word RHIPE meaning "a jerk" of the eyes. RHIPE is from the root RHIPTO, a word which indicates a sudden motion; to hurl with a rapid movement; a stroke; to toss; to fling.
The twinkling of an eye relates not so much to TIME as it does to the ACTION and MOTION involved.
It is not a question of how quickly the eyelids flutter, but the fact of a movement, a jerk, a change of direction, a SUDDEN REFOCUSING OR LOOKING AWAY.
If I were reading a book and I heard the door open, I would swiftly dart my eyes in the direction of the door to see who is entering. I would LOOK AWAY from the book and quickly REFOCUS my sight on the person coming through the door. This abrupt motion, this sudden refocusing of vision, this rapid change of eye contact is what is indicated by the Greek word RHIPE.
When our attention is unexpectedly attracted by a sudden burst of revelation and spiritual understanding there is that instantaneous "turning away" from our former concepts, beliefs, actions and ways, to behold and embrace the truth and glory of God disclosed by inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This sudden change in perspective, this immediate transformation of consciousness satisfies precisely the meaning of the Greek phrase - "in the twinkling of an eye." It bespeaks of refocusing, illumination, understanding, perception and perspective.
Furthermore, it has absolutely nothing to do with a so called "rapture of the saints," or the "second coming of Jesus." Plainly and unquestionably it concerns O-U-R CHANGE,
O-U-R TRANSFORMATION into the image of Christ.
( GLORIOUS BODY= 100% HEAVENLY 100% EARTHLY)
It says nothing about us being "raptured" in the twinkling of an eye; what it does say is that "WE SHALL BE CHANGED in a moment (in atoms), in the twinkling (re-focused vision) of an eye." REFOCUSED VISION GUARANTEES A CHANGE "BEHOLDING as in a glass the glory of the Lord, WE ARE CHANGED into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (II Cor. 3:18).
Beholding - we are changed! It is the same message - "We shall be changed ... in the twinkling of an eye!" We are changed by a beholding, by a looking, by A LOOK.
We are changed by BEHOLDING , BY A LOOK.
The time factor could also be part but the emphasis is on THE DIRECTION OF THE VISION
The Psalmist cries out, "Turn us, O Lord. Cause Thy face to shine and we shall be saved" (Ps. 8O:3,7,19). It is only as we turn in the direction of the PRESENT GLORY that we can know transformation!
You can read the history of revivals, you can study the exploits of men of faith in centuries past, you can reminisce about the great visitations of God yesteryear. There is not enough power in such things to transform you.
And there no need to cry, "Lord, do it again!" for our God is ever progressive in His dealings and the outworking of His purposes, and He doesn't retrogress to "do it again." This is a New Day and God will do a New Thing!
Transformation comes only in the light of the present glory and revelation of Jesus Christ. We must turn, to behold Him as He is, not as He was
LOOKING UNTO JESUS- THE RESURRECTED, ASCENDED AND ENTHRONED LORD.
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