May 2000

By Carole Forde

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o summarize this series, we see that the "Salvation" God "works into us", which we are told to "work out"(Php 2:12-13) is HIS OWN LIFE! For He says, "Your Life is hid with CHRIST IN GOD; and when CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE (SALVATION) shall appear, then you shall appear with Him in glory!" (Col 3:4)
                What a magnificent bequest! What greater Legacy could anyone hope for? Jesus Christ was sent to the earth as God’s Prototype, the "Firstborn of every creature", or "Earnest of the Spirit"! (Col 1:15; 2 Cor 5:5) And by our fusion of soul with His Spirit, we are thus "A kind of *Firstfruits of His creatures, begotten of His Own Will with the Word of Truth!" (Jas 1:18)

[*This identity of God’s "Firstfruits" as His First Resurrection Sons permits us to correct an important lack of punctuation in 1 Cor 15:22-24! With the simpleinsertion of a comma, an already glorious Truth is made even more wonderful!"As in Adam all die, so then in Christ shall ALL be made alive; but every man in his own order: (1st) CHRIST (2nd) the FIRSTFRUITS, then afterward, (3rd) all who belong to Christ (the Second Resurrection saints) at His coming.Then comes the end, when Jesus shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God the Father; when He shall have deposed all rule, and all authority and power (in opposition to His own)!!"]

               The "Firstfruits of God" can only manifest HIS LIFE! Therefore, we should be possessed by an all-consuming ambition for that holy estate! Likewise, we should be filled with utter repulsion for any other life to inhabit our being! Still we must understand that this Life of Christ comes "NOT by might, NOT by (human) power, but BY MY SPIRIT, says the Lord"! (Zec 4:6) "It is good for a man to hope and quietly wait for the Lord’s Salvation (LIFE)!" (La 3:26) "They that wait upon the Lord shall receive new strength; and then rise up with wings as eagles!" (Isa 40:31)

Hear these 7 key points in Acts 17:24-2.

1. "God made the world, and everything in it";
2. "He is LORD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!"
3. "He gives Life, breath, and all things to all !"
4. Our life is but a BREATH [God-breathed; Gen 2:7]
5. "He has made ALL nations on earth of ONE BLOOD (HIS)!"
6. "He has predetermined all our times and boundaries (life and death)!"
7. "We all live, and move, and HAVE OUR BEING IN HIM!!"

                As each natural man can only live his own natural life, so each spiritual man can only live his own spiritual life! The Natural Man, Jesus, had to face His solitary Cross; as now we must each face our solitary crosses! The Spirit of Christ manifested Miracles here on earth, with the greatest being His overcoming of death, to sit at the Right Hand of the Father. By that same Spirit in us, we must each manifest a Life of Miracles, and we, too, shall be delivered from this death and ascend to the Throne of Glory! But only as Christ manifests His Life in us, can we "walk out" that Life! Man is only "Reconciled to God by the Death of His Son; but more important than reconciliation, we are SAVED BY HIS LIFE !" (Ro 5:10) Why else would God name His Son, "JESUS" meaning "SAVIOR", Who said, "I AM The Way (to Life), The Truth (of Life), and The LIFE!"
                 So, beloveds, the hour is upon us: Christ is about to burst our borders and reveal Himself to all the world in a surrendered people! it is more imperative than ever before that we lift our eyes from the things of our former fleshly world; and from the outward condition of others around us, and just concentrate on the Christ-Life in OURSELVES! The Word of the Lord to us at this time, dear brethren, is this: "WORK OUT Y O U R O W N S A L V A T I O N !" Amen