April 2003

RAISING UP A REDEEMER

(Part Two)

Two foes beset the electrical age: power failures.

            Power outages can disable electrical devices and bring modern civilization to a standstill. In an old Sherlock Holmes movie, that eminent detective was asked to sanction a burglar alarm system which a jeweler recently installed to safeguard a priceless gem; but he scoffed at its lack of security; then added this startling observation, “Electricity is the high priest of false security!”
            These words made me catch my breath for I could hear the Lord speak them to my heart! He was showing me that He had allowed carnal-minded man to create a world nearly dependent on the earthly power of electricity- instead of the Almighty Power of God! But the the day might come when He would “pull the plug” on this false source of security! This world, without artificial light, would be a fearful place for modern man- as recently demonstrated when power recently went out in Baghdad, and looters came out like cockroaches in the night! These scavengers dart in and out of dark shadows, making the streets unsafe for law abiding citizens!
            Today’s society is unaccustomed to “peace and quiet” with all its electric devices. As soon as most people get home from work or school, they turn on noisemakers like stereos, televisions, or electronic games; or kitchen appliances to prepare meals. People are afraid of silence that amplifies their own terrifying thoughts; so they seek to drown them out with audio diversions. The enemy of every man’s soul, that cunning deceiver, his own carnal mind, is fighting harder than ever in these last days as Jesus Christ establishes His Throne in the hearts of all men! When the Good Shepherd reclaims His last lost sheep, the whole the earth shall be converted to Heaven’s Kingdom state!

The second foe of the electrical age is: power surges.

            When power is restored after outages, torrents of electricity rush to outlets like flash floods, overloading open circuits of electrical devices and blowing them out like candles in the wind. These power surges are particularly menacing to computer hard drives for they destroy all stored memory. To counter this threat, circuit breaking power bars were developed to receive electrical currents and dispense them in safe doses to several outlets. This was the goal of archaic lightning rods- metallic bars affixed to roofs or masts and secured to moist earth or water below- to lessen the destructive effects of lightning strikes.
            Behold a revelation! [This is “Strong Meat” only mature sons shall understand! Heb: 5:14] The role of Jesus Christ from Creation has been to save the world that God so loved (Jn 3:16) from sin and death’s devastating effects! By this Word of Life all things came into being; and He was there in the garden of man’s soul when sin first tempted him as a poison serpent! Neither man nor the universe could have survived that attack except for the intervention of the Savior Who says, “I have power to lay down My Life [sustain Power failure), and power to take it up again [sustain Power surge]!” (Jn 10:18) God’s Word was able to receive in Himself the full impact of sin and death; then safely supervise that power failure in each man’s life- one day at a time! Thus the first Adam died- blinding his eyes to all that is spiritual; but he came alive- opening his eyes to all that is carnal! This legacy of death was passed on to his seed, “The natural man cannot receive the things of the spirit” (1 Co 2:14) which explains many mysteries in Scripture like Mt 6:23:

“If your eye [“of understanding”; Eph 1:18; 4:18] is evil, your whole body
is full of darkness! Therefore, if the Light [Christ says, “I AM the LIGHT
of the World”; and “The True Light that lights every man that comes into
the world!”Jn 8:12; 1:9] And if that Light in you BE DARKNESS; how
great is that darkness!”

“Sufficient for each day is its own evil!” (Mt 6:34) This is so men will learn
by experience that, “We are not sufficient of ourselves (we have no power
and no ability to count anything as originating from ourselves; rather our
sufficiency is entirely from God!”(2 Co 3:5) Indeed He says, “My Grace
is your sufficiency (that is, your enabler)!” (2 Co 12:9)

            Rev 13:8 tells us: “The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world!”
We would never have known the enormity of Christ’s Sacrifice if God had not decreed that, “The Mystery which has been hid from ages and generations past be revealed now to His saints!” (Col 1:27) “You know you were not redeemed from your vain conversation (words in your heart dictating your behavior) that you received from your fathers’ tradition with corruptible things like silver and gold; but you were redeemed with the Precious Blood of Christ as of a Lamb without blemish or spot! He Who was truly ordained (to be slain) before the foundation of the world was unveiled in these last days for you. For it is by Him, and not ourselves, that we believe in God! He raised him from the dead to give Him glory so your faith and hope would be in God, alone.” (1 Pe 1:18-21) For “Unless a Seed [“The Seed is the Word of God”; and “Christ is The Seed!” Lu 8:11; Ga 3:16] of Wheat falls in the earth (*Gk 1093) and d-i-e-s, it abides alone! But if it dies, it bears much fruit!” (Jn 12:24)

*This is the same reference in 1 Co 10:26; 15:47 which say,
“The earth and its fullness is the Lord’s”; and “The first
man is of the earth, earthy!”

            As we see Christ sweating blood in the Garden of Gethsemane [lit. “fruit press”] crying, “My soul is extremely sorrowful even to the point of death”; (Mt 26:38) which preceded a savage scourging and crucifixion caused by His own people, we are seeing the manifestation (as a replay) of an event that occurred at the beginning of the world! Eccl 1:9 says, “The thing that has been , is the that which shall be; and that which is already done is that which shall be done; and there is no new thing under the sun!” Also, “Christ was sacrificed once (at the onset of Creation) to bear the sins of many; and He will appear sinless a second time to them who look for Him, when He shall complete their salvation!” (Heb 9:27) All men of flesh are born dead to God, and alive to sin; still “As ALL DIE in Adam [believers agree on this]; even so, ALL shall be made ALIVE in Christ- [all believers do not agree on this]!” (1 Co 15:22) Resurrection’s finest hour is when the last soul is “made alive in Christ” to God’s glory; but as Messiah told doubting Thomas, “Blessed are they who believe without seeing!” The carnal mind says “Seeing is believing” but the spirit mind says, “Believing is seeing!” For indeed, “We walk by Faith, and not by sight!” (2 Co 5:7)

[TO BE CONTINUED]