The Divine Nature # 2

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

The Divine Nature # 2

Brief Review:

There is None Like God

There is none like God.

God has no opposite. He is far greater than all He has created. Satan is NOT God’s opposite; only an opponent.

·      2 Samuel 7:22 (NASB) "For this reason you are great, O Lord GOD; for THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU, and there is no God besides You…”

The Importance of Knowing God

·      John 17:3 (NKJV) And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

His Infinite Attributes -

Omnipotence, All Powerful.

·      Matthew 19:26 (NKJV) But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

The incident with the young ruler prompted a brief message from Jesus to His disciples. He remarked how difficult it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. In fact Jesus said it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. Since the man was trusting his riches rather than the Lord to save him, he could no more enter the kingdom than a camel (one of the largest animals used by Jews) could go through “the eye of a needle” (rhaphidos, a sewing needle; not a small gate within another gate as is sometimes suggested). This needle’s eye was an extremely small opening. The astonished disciples asked, Who then can be saved? This showed the Pharisees’ influence on them, for the Pharisees said God bestows wealth on those He loves. So if a wealthy person cannot make it into the kingdom, seemingly no one can! Jesus answered that salvation is a work of God. What appears to be impossible with men is what God delights to do (cf. 17:20).

·      Job 42:2 (NLT)  “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.

Omniscient, All Seeing

·      Psalms 147:5 (KJV) Great is our Lord…his understanding is infinite.

God’s greatness is seen in His sustaining power in the universe He created (cf. vv. 8-9, 15-18). He knows each of the myriads of stars (cf. Isa. 40:26). Yet the One who has so much power and understanding (cf. Isa. 40:28) sustains the humble in the face of opposition. This too displays His grace.

·      Matthew 6:8 (NKJV) Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

Omnipresent, He is everywhere

·      Ezekiel 48:35 (NLT)  “The distance around the entire city will be 6 miles. And from that day the name of the city will be ‘The LORD Is There.’”

·  Jeremiah 23:24 (NLT) Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the LORD.

·      Isaiah 66:1 (NLT) This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Could you build me a temple as good as that? Could you build me such a resting place?

God is pictured figuratively as sitting on a throne (cf. 6:1) with the earth as His footstool (cf. Acts 7:49). Because of His majesty no one can build a house for Him to dwell in (1 Kings 8:27); He is the Creator. Yet what He values above His inanimate Creation are people who are humble and contrite (cf. Isa. 57:15) and who follow His word. In one-way or another, this has been Isaiah’s message throughout this book. God wants His people to follow the truth He has revealed to them. For Israel that was primarily the Mosaic Covenant. Pointing the people back to the Word of God, Isaiah was indicating that they needed to obey it if they were to enjoy His blessings.

Our next edition will consider further insights into  God’s attributes.

The Divine Nature

 

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

The Divine Nature

There is none like God.

God has no opposite. He is far greater than all He has created. Satan is NOT God’s opposite; only an opponent.

• 2 Samuel 7:22 (NASB) "For this reason you are great, O Lord GOD; for THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU, and there is no God besides You…”

• Isaiah 40:18,21,22a,25. (NKJV) 18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him? 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 25 "To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?" says the Holy One.

God, who cannot be compared to anyone or anything (cf. v. 18; 46:5) knows everything about His Creation and sustains it. In His strength He created and also controls and sustains millions upon millions of stars, each one of which He, amazingly, has named (cf. Ps. 147:4). In Isaiah 40-66, God is frequently referred to as Creator and Maker, probably as a argument against the lifeless idols of Babylon. He created the heavens, the earth, people, Israel, and darkness, and will create the new heavens and new earth.

The Importance of Knowing God

• John 17:3 (NKJV) And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

Eternal life, as defined here by Jesus, involves the experience of knowing the only true God through His Son (cf. Matt. 11:27). It is a personal relationship of intimacy, which is continuous and dynamic. The word know here is in the present tense, is often used in the Septuagint and sometimes in the Greek New Testament to describe the intimacy of a sexual relationship (e.g., Gen 4:1, “lay”; Matt. 1:25, “had... union”). Thus a person who knows God has an intimate personal relationship with Him. And that relationship is eternal, not temporal. Eternal life is not simply endless existence. Everyone will exist somewhere forever (cf. Matt. 25:46), but the question is, In what condition or in what relationship will they spend eternity?

• Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NKJV) 23 Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, Let not the mighty man glory in his might, Nor let the rich man glory in his riches; 24 But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me, That I am the LORD, exercising loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.

These verses (vv. 23-24) summarized the response God expected from the people. The people were not to boast in their human wisdom or strength or riches for these would not last. Instead a person should boast only to the extent that he understands and knows God. Again the word “know” pictured an intimate knowledge of God (see comments on 1:5). God wanted the people to be intimately acquainted with His kindness, justice, and righteousness. “Kindness” refers to God’s loyal love (cf. 31:3; 33:11; Lam. 3:22). God would stand by His commitment to His people. “Justice” is a broad term that pointed to governing justly. God would vindicate the innocent and punish the guilty. “Righteousness” conveys the idea of conforming to a standard or norm. God’s standards of conduct were supposed to be Israel’s norm.

·

• Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death

This verse contains an open and honest confession to the Philippians. Paul already knew Christ as his Savior. But he wanted to know Him more intimately as his Lord. To know (v. 10) means “to know by experience”. The “surpassing greatness of knowing Christ” is now elaborated in verses 10. This is how Paul wanted to know Him.

Two Kinds of Believers # 3

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

Two Kinds of Believers # 3

Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV) “25…27…that He might present her to Himself a GLORIOUS CHURCH…” This reflects Christ’s goal for the believer – a glorious church without spot or wrinkle and blemish free. Paul further teaches us in Ephesians 4:30 (TLB) Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.

Let’s give a quick review from previous publications.

            Number One: Spiritual sons;

            Number Two: Mature sons;

            Number Three: New Born sons;

            Number Four: Healthy sons;

            Number Five: Wise sons;

           

Number Six: Selfless sons.

Paul points out this fact in Galatians 2:20 (KJV) “…I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:” This doctrine is based on such passages as Romans 6:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 12:13, which explain that believers have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into Christ and into the church, the body of all true believers.

Number Seven: Crucified sons.

·      Galatians 5:24 (NKJV) And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

·      Galatians 6:14 (NKJV) “…the cross…by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Symbol of the Body of Christ

The contrast is vivid as Paul declared his boasting to be in the Cross-of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Judaizers the Cross-was an object of shame; for Paul it was the object of glorying. They gloried in the flesh; he gloried in the Savior. The “Cross” speaks of the atonement of Christ with which Paul was identified (cf. 2:20) and by which the world was crucified to Paul and he to the world.

Not all believers make the required effort to fully overcome the old sinful nature. Paul points this out in Corinthians 1 Corinthians 3:1,3 (NKJV) 1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. 3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? These Corinthians were behaving in a worldly or unspiritual fashion instead of consistently resisting the inclinations of their old sinful nature. Paul pulls no punches when he wrote, Romans 8:7 (NKJV) Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.

What makes the divisions in the body of Christ?  ANSWRER:  The Word of God going through the mind of the believer makes him more spiritual. We are actively partaking of Chrst. The Holy Spirit becomes our motivation, to live His life: The Christ-Life

Two Kinds of Believers # 2

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

Two Kinds of Believers # 2

How can this be? The believers make up the Church or the “Body of Christ”. Isn’t a believer a believer?  What could the causes be for a differential in the church?  Therefore, creating two kinds of believers. After all doesn’t the Apostle Paul declare in - Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV) 25 ….26 that He might…present her to Himself A GLORIOUS CHURCH…This is Christ’s goal – a glorious church, no spots or wrinkles, but holy, and no blemishes. Paul further instructs us in Ephesians 4:30 (TLB) Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.

Let’s look to the Word for the answers to this problem of two kinds of believers.

                                                                       

Two Kinds of Believers

 The two kinds of believers can be characterized as follows.

Number One: Spiritual Sons.

Number Two: Mature Sons.

Number Three: New Born Sons.

v  1 Peter 2:2 (NKJV) “…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

v  Sons with knowledge: 1 John 3:2 (KJV) Beloved, now are we the sons of God,

v  Ephesians 4:13 (KJV) 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:

There Is a difference between being made a son and living as a son. The difference is knowing what is involved in sonship. The difference between being a babe and a son is spiritual knowledge or the Christ-Life. 

Number Four: Healthy Sons.

v  1 Corinthians 3:1 (TLB) “…I have been talking to you as though you were still just babies in the Christian life who are not following the Lord but your own desires; I cannot talk to you as I would to healthy Christians who are filled with the Spirit.

However, this was not true of all at Corinth. When Paul came and preached Christ to them, they believed. By faith they were justified and granted peace with God (Rom. 5:1-2). No doubt Paul taught them all the blessings that came to them as Christians, what Paul called milk. At that time their way of thinking and living was only beginning to be transformed (Rom. 12:2). They were still greatly influenced by worldly thinking and behavior—they were infants in Christ.

Number Five: Wise Son.

v  Ephesians 5:15 (TLB) …”So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise.”

v  Matthew 7:24 (TLB)  "All who listen to my instructions and follow them are wise, like a man who builds his house on solid rock.”

Jesus presented the two options open to His listeners. They were now responsible for what they had heard and must make a choice. They could build on one of two foundations. One foundation was likened to a big rock and the other to sand. The foundation determines the ability of a structure to withstand the elements (rain and winds). The rock foundation represented the Lord Himself and the truths He had been presenting, especially the truth concerning inner transformation. The sand spoke of Pharisaic righteousness which the people knew and on which many were basing their hopes. In storms the first would give stability; the second would result in destruction. Thus hearing and heeding Jesus’ words is wise; one who does not is foolish. Only two courses of action are possible—two kinds of roads and gates (Matt. 7:13-14), two kinds of trees and fruit (vv. 15-20), two kinds of foundations and builders (vv. 24-27).

Two Kinds of Believers

The Lord said to me…”I will test my people with a Plumbline, Amos 7:8 (TLB)

The Plumbline is a blog to encourage the Body of Christ.

Two Kinds of Believers

How can this be? The believers make up the Church or the “Body of Christ”. Isn’t a believer a believer?  What could the causes be for a differential in the church?  Therefore, creating two kinds of believers. After all doesn’t the Apostle Paul declare in - Ephesians 5:25-27 (NKJV) 25 ….26 that He might…present her to Himself A GLORIOUS CHURCH…This is Christ’s goal – a glorious church, no spots or wrinkles, but holy, and no blemishes. Paul further instructs us in Ephesians 4:30 (TLB) Don’t cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way you live. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.

Let’s look to the Word for the answers to this problem of two kinds of believers.

                                                                             

 The two kinds of believers can be characterized as follows.

Number One: Spiritual Sons.

• Galatians 6:1 (NKJV…you who are spiritual restore…considering yourself…

• 1 Corinthians 2:15 (NKJV) …He who is spiritual judges all things…  

A person possessing the Spirit and guided by Him is able to evaluate and apply all things the Spirit reveals. The spiritual man can be judged only by God, not by unregenerate people or by worldly Christians. To have the mind of Christ is to be obedient to God’s revelation (Phil. 2:5-8), as were the spiritual people in the Corinthian church.

Number Two: Mature Sons.

•  Hebrews 6:1 (TLB) “…Let us go on…and become mature…”

• Philippians 3:15 (NLT) “Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things.”

• 1 Corinthians 2:6 (NIV) “We…speak a message of wisdom among the mature…”

In Paul’s disclaimer about his own brilliance he did not mean that God puts a premium on ignorance and rejects wisdom of any sort. There was a wisdom taught by the Spirit that Paul wanted his readers to grasp firmly. Some of his readers had done so (no doubt Paul hoped that someday all would do so). He referred to them as the mature, probably including the individuals mentioned in 16:15-18. My pray is that I would grow spiritually mature today.