MAN, GOD’S IMAGE!! (Part 1)

Text: Colossians [Shows “Christ our very Life”].

·        Colossians 3:9-10: “Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds”:  vs 10: “And have put on the new man that is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him”.

Colossae is a city of Phrygia in Asia Minor.  It was destroyed by an earthquake about 65 A.D., during the reign of Nero, and was rebuilt.

Colossians was written from Rome about 64 A.D and sent with Ephesians and Philemon by Tychicus.  He was a Christian, faithful minister, and fellow worker of Paul (Ephesians 6:21). 

Colossians is about freedom from the law, all outward forms of religion, rituals, human philosophies, and false mysticism, and complete and real union with Christ in life and conduct.  Paul contends that we died with Christ, and that ordinances, rituals, dead forms of religion, observance of Sabbaths, holy days, and mystical rites are of no use to dead persons. 

·        Ephesians 2:1: And you hath he quickened (made alive), who were dead (past tense) in trespasses and sins; vs 6: And hath (present tense), raised us up together, and made us sit together (already) in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Practical holiness is shown to spring from truth and faith, and walking in the light (Colossians 1:23; 2:6-7; 3:11-17), by coming to know our Creator!

So, our theme scripture says:  Colossians 3:9-10: “Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new (ne’os) [regenerate] (reformed; reborn; converted; made over; revived) man, which is renewed (anakaino’o) [renovated] in knowledge,  (epig’nosis) [recognition, full discernment, acknowledgement] after the image of him that created him”.

The “old man”, is the pala’ios (antique; former; ancient) man.  This is the natural (psuchikos’) [sensitive; irrational] man.  He’s driven by his senses, what he sees, hears, feels, tastes, and smells, or by outside sources.  This natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned, as spoken of in 1^st Corinthians 2:14. 

Man is yet able, to put off this “old man” by “renewing” (renovating [redeveloping; reconstructing] his mind (nous) [intellect; thoughts; feelings or will; understanding]. 

·        Romans 12:2: Be ye transformed (changed) by the renewing of your mind. 

When this happens the man is made new (ne’os), because he is now regenerated [reformed; reborn; converted; made over; revived].  He now is renewed in knowledge (epig’nosis), because he/she has come to know, discern clearly, and acknowledge the God that created them, as to who He is in them, and who they are in Him.

·        2^nd Corinthians 5:17: If any man be in Christ, he is a NEW (kainos’) [freshness] (unused; healthy; vigorous; rested; unfatigued; brisk; keen; revived; restored) creature (creation); old things are passed away, behold, all things are become NEW (fresh; revived; restored).

Ephesians 2:15: Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one NEW man.

The NEW MAN in 2^nd Corinthians 5:17 and Ephesians 2:15, is the kainos’ man, the man that is fresh (unused; healthy; vigorous; rested; unfatigued; brisk; keen; restored).  But the NEW MAN in Colossians 3:10 is the ne’os man, the regenerate (reformed; reborn; converted; made over] man.  This new birth has made him a proceeding (continuous; progressive; advancing; ongoing) man.  If he’s ongoing that makes him/her immortal and incorruptible!

·        1^st John 3:9: He that is born (genna’o) [regenerated] of God doth not commit sin, because his seed remains in him and he cannot sin because he is born (regened) of God!

Biologically, the gene is a unit of heredity which is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the offspring.  We are God’s offspring.  Acts 17:28: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, “For we are also his offspring” (gen’os) [kin; stock; kind (red); generation (ratio of genes)].

He that is free from sin is free from death, because Jesus conquered sin and death! 

·        Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  Vs 3: For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:  Vs 4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

MAN, GOD’S IMAGE!  

What is an image?  In our text Colossians 3:10, image is from the root word ei’kon (ikone’), which is a likeness [the same]; form; copy (duplicate; replica); portrait; statue (figure as of a person); profile, or representation (likeness; picture).

·        Philippians 2:5-6: Let this mind be in you, which was also, in Christ Jesus; who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Vs 7: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him, the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.  Vs 8: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

For Jesus to deliver man, He had to become what man was, and that was flesh!  St. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God:  vs 14: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

Matthew 8: 16-17: When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils:  and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:  vs 17: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses”.

Hebrews 4:15: We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Form, in both verses in Philippians 2:5, 7, is the Greek root word, morphe’, meaning the idea of adjustment of parts; shape; nature. 

Jesus being in the form of God was Him showing forth His humanity being in the form of a servant as a man, even though in His DEITY, He was still God!!  But His being in the form of God was also because He had the mind of His Father.  He had to have the Father’s mind to do what He was sent to do. 

Jesus said: John 10:30: I and my Father are one.  Then in John 14:7-11 [Philip is questioning Jesus about His Father]: 

·        Vs 9: Jesus said unto him, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip”?  He that hath seen me hath seen the Father:  and how say thou then, show us the Father”?  Vs 10: Believe thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?  The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself:  but the Father that dwells in me, he doeth the works.  Vs 11: Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me:  or else believe me for the very works sake.

So Jesus being in the form of God showed forth both aspects:  He was God in flesh form, and He had His Father’s mind working through Him with the ability to walk in the dominion, power, authority, wisdom, and knowledge of God!!

Back to “man, God’s image”:

·        Genesis 1:26: And God (Elohiym) said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:  and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth”.  Vs 27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

When God created, He called that which wasn’t, into what it became.  That which is “made” is made from that which was created.  When He made man He already had something in place that He could work with. 

·        Genesis 1:24, And God (Elohiym) said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind”, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind”:  and it was so.

Man was amongst the living creatures, and the vision Prophet Ezekiel was given, supports this.

·        Ezekiel 1:4: And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.  Vs 5: Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures.  And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.  Vs 10: As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side:  and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.

These four faces Ezekiel saw, was in the man, which are the manifestations of the personality of man.  The face of a man (heart/spirit):   the face of a lion (soul/emotions):  the face of an ox (body strength):   the face of an eagle (mind).

This is also what John saw in Revelation 4:7, in relation to the four living creatures.

Man in Ezekiel 1:5, 10, is from the root word adam (aw-dawm’), meaning to be ruddy; a human being (an individual or the species, mankind):  Adam; hypocrite; common sort; low; man, men, person(s).  But, it goes to another root word adam (aw-dam’), meaning, to show blood (in the face); flush or turn rosy:  dyed red; ruddy. 

This is the same definition of man in Genesis 1:26, the man (male/female) that God made in his image after his likeness, who also was a living creature.

Living is the Hebrew root word chay (khah’ee) meaning, to be alive; raw (flesh); living thing; company; multitude; congregation.  Then it goes to another word chayah’, meaning, to live; revive; make alive; give life; nourish up; preserve (live); quicken; recover; repair; restore (to life); save (alive); be whole.   

Creature is the root word ne’phesh, meaning a breathing creature, animal of vitality; (fig) sense (bodily or mentally):  soul; life; person; mind; heart; body; man; dead; desire; appetite; beast; greedy; lust; breath; mortally.  It’s also from the root word naphash’, meaning, to breathe; to be breathed upon; refreshed.

This company, multitude, or congregation of living creatures (ne’phesh), were people with a body that contained a heart, soul, and mind, but they were dead, because their desires, appetites, and lusts were of a beastly nature, that was geared toward mortality.  They were of low degree or of a common sort, with no status (standing; rank) in the earth.  But these creatures needed the naphash’, to be breathed upon and refreshed by the ru’wach, the Spirit, wind, or breath of God the Creator that would revive, give life, nourish up, preserve (alive), quicken, recover, repair; restore their souls (to life), so they could be made whole.

In Genesis 1:26-27, this was a people out of a people, composed of both male and female that God made in His own image, and after His likeness, that were called Adam.

·        Genesis 5:1: This is the book of the generations of Adam.  In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him:  vs 2: Male and female created he them:  and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

This lets me know that these people, that God created in His own image and after His likeness were already in existence.  They were governed by raw flesh, of a natural state, without yet going through any process of change.

Let’s go back to the definition of man in Genesis 1:26.  He was a hypocrite, of common sort, or of low degree.  This means that he had no status (standing; rank; position) in the earth, until God got hold of him and made him in His image, after His likeness!!  And God did this by His Spirit! 

·        Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created, the heaven and the earth.  Vs 2c: And the Spirit of God moved upon the face (countenance; fore-front; within; person) of the waters.

These waters were not the Atlantic or the Pacific Ocean, nor the Mediterranean, but they were people.  Revelation 17:15: And he said unto me, “The waters which thou saw, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”.

Spirit in Hebrew is ru’wach, meaning, wind; breath; a sensible exhalation; life; a rational being; mind; spiritual; to blow; breathe; to smell or perceive (to anticipate; enjoy):  accept; smell (to discern); touch; make of quick understanding.

In Genesis 1:24, the earth brought forth “man” as a living creature with a body containing a soul, a spirit and mind in it.  This man the living creature that the earth brought forth, in 1^st Corinthians is called “earthy”.

·        1^st Corinthians 15:47: The first man is of the earth, earthy:  the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Earth in this verse means soil; a region or the solid part or the whole of the terrene globe (incl the occupants); earth as arable (suitable for plowing).  God brought man from death to life and from darkness to light!   God knew that once He plowed into “man’s earth” (his body), and plant His seed (His Word) in that earth man, it would reproduce and bring forth a God-man with His life, wisdom, knowledge, immortality, dominion and power in it!!

EARTHY is the root word choikos’) meaning dusty or dirty (soil-like).  It also means cho’os, which is a heap (as poured out); rubbish; dust. 

Dust in Genesis 2:7 is aphar’, meaning dust (as powdered or gray); clay, earth, rubbish.

That’s what this “living creature” (man) was, being “of the earth, earthy”.  He was a heap as poured out, dust (gray – the color of death), rubbish, sensitive and of a frail state, of low degree, until God (Elohiym) made (asah’) [prepared; dressed; advanced; appointed; brought him forth; furnished; fashioned]  him (male and female) in His own image after His likeness with God mindedness in them and gave them a command to subdue (bring under their control) and have dominion (rule; reign) over the earth.

·        Genesis 1:28: And God blessed them and God said unto them, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it:  and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth”.

So God created and made (prepared; dressed; appointed; furnished) man (male and female) in His image, after His own likeness by reviving “the man” (Adam/male & female), nourishing them up; preserving, repairing, making them whole (complete and entire) in every area, of their being (heart, soul, mind, and body), with God’s own vitality or life source in them and advanced them into a place of dominion, power and authority, in and over the earth. 

This dominion over the earth is not just God’s people having supremacy, rule, lordship, authority and power in creation over the physical earth that we walk on, but He has also given us dominion, authority and power over the earth (flesh body) we live in, this sensitive, frail, and mortal man, the first man we came to know.  The “first man or old man” that fear, poverty, misery, ignorance, sickness, disease and death wants to control.  Whatever tries to creep up on our earth (body) in any form of negativity that’s opposite of God, our Heavenly Father has given us authority and power over the works of it!!!  Therefore we must allow the second man, the Lord from heaven to reign over that first man (Adam nature) and bring him under subjection to the CHRIST man that we now are become!! 

·        1^st Corinthians 15:22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive).

·        Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power (exousi’a) ability [privilege; force; capacity; competency; freedom; mastery; token of control; delegated influence; potentate; superhuman; jurisdiction; right; liberty; strength] to tread (pate’o) [trample under foot] on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy:  and nothing shall by any means hurt (adike’o) [to be unjust; do wrong (morally; socially; physically) you.

These serpents do not crawl on their belly, nor do these scorpions have many legs, but they walk around on two feet, which is a type of sly malicious people, preaching death in their messages.   Matthew 23:1-39 [Jesus pronounces woes upon the Scribes and Pharisees and said]:  vs 33: You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?

I choose to believe Jesus’ report, and He said, John 8:31: “If you continue in my word, then are you my disciples indeed”:  vs 32: “And you shall know the truth and the truth would make you free”.

Let us believe, accept, walk and live with the understanding, that we are the image of God now, in the earth!  1^st John 4:17: As he is, so are we, in this world!

Pastor Gracie Perry

The Power of God’s Word!

 Text:  Hebrew 4:12: For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Men’s writing sometimes stirs the emotions, search the conscious, and influences the human will, but in a manner and degree possessed by no other book.  But the Bible, the written Word of God convicts men of their guilt and lost estate.  It’s a divine mirror.  For in it, man see the vileness of his own evil nature and reads the secrets of his own evil nature and reads the secrets by his own guilty soul.

The power of God’s Word is why we will do the greater works.  Bishop Wilson told us in 2011, that “We must work the Word, so that we can work the works”, and Apostle Huntsman told us four years ago that “We must work the works and work the works NOW”!

We the body of Christ must work the works now, because many are in spiritual darkness.  The darkness that rests upon the human soul, the spiritual darkness that gives the heart a bias toward evil prejudices, against holiness, fettering (to chain; mangle; restrain) the will so that it never moves Godward.

What does Matthew 6 say about this darkness?  Vs 22: The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  Vs 23: But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

So great is the power of darkness, that all who are under it love darkness rather than light.  Why are men so prone to believe religious lies?  It’s because of the darkness!  What darkness?  The darkness spoken of in Genesis 1:2, And the earth was without form, and void: and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Darkness in this verse is from the root word choshek’, meaning misery; destruction; death; ignorance; sorrow; wickedness; obscurity.  Who wants to continue to live like that, especially when there is a way to escape.  There’s a way out and it’s by and through Jesus the Christ.  Colossians 1:12: Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet (enabled; fit) to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: vs 13: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated (transferred) us into the kingdom of his dear Son.  Vs 14: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.

What is the deep in Genesis 1:2?  It is an abyss, a surging mass of water, especially the deep (the main sea or subterranean water supply); depth; deep places.  Remember, God uses the natural things to relate to spiritual things.  The sea in the Bible becomes the allegory of the “sea of humanity” in which the deep, or abyss, or bottomless pit is contained composed of Satanic workings.  It is contained in the confines of religious systems, because it is only in the confines of religious systems that people have spiritual torment.  Let’s look at what John saw in Revelation 18 in relation to the woman (religious church system), MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, as she is referred to in Revelation 17:5:

·       Revelation 18:1: And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.  Vs 2: And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become (present tense) the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird”.

This is a description of the Church today in relation to religious order.  But we know that the power of God’s Word can deliver us from this terrible darkness!  And if the devil had his way, we would be doomed forever.  John 10:10, The thief comes not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 

But our Heavenly Father has shown mercy!  Mercy said NO, I’ve given the plan of refuge!  I’ve given the plan of escape!  I’ve given the plan of salvation!  I’ve given the plan to bring all to the light of life, because the light dispels darkness!

·       Isaiah 9:2: The people that walked in darkness (cho’shek) [misery; destruction; death; ignorance; sorrow; wickedness; obscurity] have seen a great light:  they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

·       Ephesians 5:8: For you were sometimes darkness (skot’os) [shadiness; obscurity; error], but now are you light in the Lord; walk as children of light.  Vs 14: Wherefore he said, “Awake thou that sleep and arise from the dead (spiritual death), and Christ shall give thee light”.

Our Savior, Deliverer, Redeemer said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth (pisteu’o) [have faith; entrust their spiritual well-being; commit unto; trust] on me should not abide in darkness (John 12:46).

I’m talking about “the power of God’s Word”!!

We the sons (males/females) of God must work the works now, because the power of God’s Word will deliver all who will accept and believe, and receive the Word of God! 

There is nothing, absolutely nothing more powerful than the Word of God!  Philosophy fails in comparison.  Science, with all its concepts and fundamental beliefs, does not measure up.  In fact, there has never been an individual or group whose words carry more authority than God’s Word.

Many of us today have seen and experienced the power of God’s Word.  We know His Word has the power to heal.  We know His Word has the power to turn situations around to our favor.  We know His Word has the power to change lives.  We know the power of His Word will bring comfort and peace to grieving hearts and minds.  No other words written or spoken has the same effect as the power of God’s Word!

In Hebrews 4:12, the first thing written about the Word is that it is quick:  meaning its alive, it is active, it is piercing, discerning and sharp!  It is not some fabricated fairy-tale story.  It has stood the tests of time.  It is so powerful, God said in St. Matthew 24:35, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away”!

God’s Word is powerful!  God can speak and man will die.  God can speak and man will live again!  The power of God’s Word is so powerful it can shift the atmosphere.

2^nd Kings:6, there is a famine in Samaria, for it had been sieged by Benhadad, king of Syria and all his host.  An ass’s head was sold for fourscore pieces of silver [80 shekels of silver @ 64 cents each) totaling $51.20]: and the fourth part of a cab of dove’s dung for five pieces of silver [a cab was a dry measure of about two quarts, making ¼ cab about one pint, selling for 5 shekels of silver (@ 64 cents a shekel) ($3.20)].  They were eating human bodies and unclean animals.  But in 2^nd Kings 7, you’ll find that Elisha the Prophet spoke the words of the Lord, talking about the power of God’s Word: 

·       Vs 1: Then Elisha said, “Hear ye the word of the LORD”, thus saith the LORD, “Tomorrow about this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria”. 

In your spare time please read 2^nd Kings chapter 6 and 7, and you will see in 2^nd Kings 7:3, how four leprous men were at the entering in of the gate:  and they said one to another, “Why sit we here until we die”? Lepers were those with leprosy and considered a symbol in impurity and sin and were often isolated from the rest of the community (Leviticus 13:45-46).

·       Vs 4: If we say we will enter the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also.  Now therefore come and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians:  if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.  Vs 5: And they rose up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians:  and when they had come to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.

The power of God’s Word had shifted the atmosphere already and the shifting made the footsteps of those four leprous men sound like a noise of chariots and horses, even the noise of a great host.

·       Vs 6: For the Lord had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of horses, even the noise of a great host:  and they said one to another, “Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of the Egyptians, to come upon us”.  Vs 7: Wherefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses, and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.  Vs 8: And when these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent, and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went and hid it: and came again, and entered another tent, and carried thence also, and went and hid it.  Still talking about the power of God’s Word!

You will find that Elisha’s prophecy of plenty was fulfilled all by the power of God’s Word!!

God’s Word is just as potent now as it was then.  God’s Word is sharper than any two-edged sword!  God’s Word cuts with accuracy and surgical precision!  God’s Word cuts going in and it cuts coming out.  God’s Word knows every motive and intent of the heart.

When God’s Word goes forth and you accept, receive and believe it, that Word will cut off from you all the bondages of the enemy, but when and if you fight against God’s Word, that same Word will cut you up along with the bondages.

We have everything we need to go forth and work the works now, because of the awesome power of God’s Word that is in our mouth’s. 

·       Deuteronomy 30:11: For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.  Vs 12: It is not in heaven, that thou should say, “Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it”?  Vs 13: Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou should say, “Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it”?  Vs 14: But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou may do it.

This tells us that even the words we speak are powerful, whether negative or positive.  Proverbs 16:24 says, “Pleasant (no’am) [agreeableness; delightful; suitableness; sweet] words (something said), are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones”.  So, if we’re not saying something good, we need to keep our mouth shut.  Proverbs 18:21: Death and life are in the power of the tongue:  and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

Even Jesus reiterated this Himself, when He said:  Matthew 12:36: But I say unto you, “That every idle (inoperative; inactive; lazy) word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement”.  The day of judgment is not a coming event, because it’s going on right now.  Vs 37: “For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned”.  The moment words go forth out of someone’s mouth, the justification or condemnation takes effect, beginning right then!

EXAMPLE:  Numbers 14:1-19 (the Israelites rebellion): vs 2: And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron:  and the whole congregation said unto them, “Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt!  Or would God we had died in this wilderness!  Vs 3: And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? Was it not better for us to return into Egypt?  Vs 5-9 (Joshua and Caleb said to the people]: vs 8: If the LORD delights in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which flows with milk and honey.  Vs 9: Only rebel not you against the LORD, neither fear you the people of the land; for they are bread for us:  their defense is departed from them, and the LORD is with us:  fear them not”.  Vs 10: But all the congregation bade, stone them (Moses; Aaron; Joshua; Caleb) with stones.  And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.  Vs 11: And the LORD said unto Moses, “How long will this people provoke me”?  And how long will it be before they believe me, for all the signs which I have shown among them?  Vs 23: Surely they shall not see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:  vs 24: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him, will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.

Remember, the judgment begins when negative or positive words come out of one’s mouth.  Look at what God said in Numbers 14:26: And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying:  vs 27: How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me?  I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me.  Vs 28: Say unto them, “As truly as I live, said the LORD, AS YOU HAVE SPOKEN IN MINE EARS, SO WILL I DO TO YOU”:  VS 29: “Your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward, which have murmured against me”.  Vs 30: Doubtless you shall not come into the land, concerning which I swore to make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son on Nun.  Vs 31: But your little ones, which you said should be a prey them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised.  Vs 32: But as for you, your carcasses, they shall fall in this wilderness.  They spoke their own demise in verse 2-3.  Our words are powerful!

Even the revelation of God’s Word is powerful.  The revelation being the apokal’upsis, the disclosure, revealing, enlightening, manifestation, coming, appearing, the knowing that we don’t have to wait for Jesus Christ to come because He is come (present tense) and lives in us, and we are in Him, and we are all ONE right NOW in our Heavenly Father!  Look at Jesus’ prayer to His Father in John 17!

·       Vs 9: I pray for them, I pray not for the world (system), but for them which thou have given me; for they are thine: vs 10: And all mines are thine, and thine are mine: and I am glorified in them.  Vs 20: Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word: vs 21: That they all may be ONE; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be ONE in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.  Vs 22: And the glory which thou gave me I have given them:  that they may be ONE, even as we are ONE:  vs 23: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in ONE:  and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and has loved them, as thou hast loved me.

Therefore, the apocalypse is not a coming event, it has been going on since the book of Genesis.  That’s because it is a continuous revelation (apokal’upsis) disclosure, revealing, enlightening, manifestation, coming, appearing, of Jesus Christ in His people, and it will continue forever!!

So now, the revelation of our “oneness” with God the Father, let’s look at what John wrote in the first epistle of John:

·       1^st John 4:1: Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:  because many false prophets are gone out into the world (religious system).  Vs 2: HEREBY KNOW YOU the Spirit of God:  every spirit that confesses (agrees; covenants; acknowledges) that Jesus Christ IS COME in the flesh is of God:

This “coming in the flesh” is not just that Jesus came through the womb of the virgin Mary, but this is “His coming, manifestation, or appearing, IN YOUR (OUR) FLESH”!!

·       2^nd Corinthians 5:16: Wherefore henceforth (from here on) know we no man after the flesh:  yea, though we have known (past tense) Christ after the flesh, yet now hence forth (from here on) know we him no more!!  [We must know Him by Spirit]!

·       2^nd Corinthians 6:16: And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?  For you are the temple of the living God; as God has said, I will dwell (enoike’o) [inhabit; live in; occupy] in them and walk in them:  and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

·       Ephesians 5:30: We are members (mel’os) [limbs; parts] of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 

Jesus told His disciples in John 14:16, “I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter” (parak’letos) [intercessor; consoler; advocate].  Jesus knew that He wouldn’t be with them much longer in the flesh body that He was in as Jesus.  So He said to them in vs 18: “I will not leave you comfortless (orphanos’) [bereaved (orphans); parentless; fatherless]: I will come to you”!   The word “come” is the root word er’chomai (in the present tense), meaning come; accompany; appear, and He came to them as He said, and it was at Pentecost.  He came in another form as Spirit in the power of the Holy Ghost, as a universal gift, not just to those in the upper room, but to all who will receive Him, and this “coming or appearing” is continuous and forever.  Therefore, people must stop looking for His flesh body to return, because He has returned in Spirit, and He is IN YOU AND ME!  1^st John 4:17b: As he is, so are we, in this world.  We the body of Christ  is the flesh He is appearing in now in the earth now.  Ephesians 5:30, "We are the members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones"! That’s who the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit is, God the Father, and Jesus Christ the Son, all living in us, to make us all ONE, in and with them!!

·       1^st Corinthians 12:13: For by one SPIRIT (not in water) are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one SPIRIT.

We don’t preach and teach that Jesus IS COMING BACK, we preach and teach that HE IS COME, He IS ALREADY HERE, manifested in His people!!  1^st Corinthians 12:12: For as the body is one, and hath many members and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body:  so also is CHRIST!

·       1^ST John 4:3: And every spirit that confesses NOT that Jesus Christ IS COME IN THE FLESH, is NOT of God:  and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world (religious system).

These are they that preach and teach the “one of these days messages”: “One of these days Jesus IS COMING BACK and take us up to heaven where God is!  God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost are ONE in us (John 17).  We are already in heaven, being in Christ!!  Heaven being ouranos’, meaning the idea of elevation; the abode of God; happiness; power; eternity; the Gospel.  This elevated or high place is not out in the sky, but in the Spirit. 

·       Ephesians 2:5: Even when we were dead (past tense) in sins, hath quickened (made alive) us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved); vs 6: And hath (already) raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly (high; elevated; lofty) places in Christ Jesus!

God is Spirit and He is the HIGHEST (MOST HIGH) GOD!  Acts 7:48: Howbeit the Most High dwells not in temples made with hands.  That’s because He dwells in us, we are His dwelling place!  So being in the Heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, by the Holy Ghost puts us in heaven now!

·       1^ST Corinthians 6:19: What!  Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own?  Vs 20: For you are bought with a price:  therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So don’t even try to make anyone accept this revelation truth.  Don’t’ even get angry and upset with them if they don't accept it.  Our job is to witness God’s Word to them because they like ourselves, must hear it and the Holy Ghost will do the rest.  1^st Corinthians 3:6, “I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase”.

Believe this, once we hear the proclamation of God’s Word, we will never get away from it.  That’s because it is going to turn over repeatedly, in our minds and in our hearts, and it will accomplish that which God pleases, and it shall prosper in the thing where to God has sent it, for it will not return unto Him void or empty (Isaiah 55:11).

But in God’s timing, the power of His Word is so powerful, the waves of immortality have lashed out against it.  Howling winds of persecution have blown against it.  The sharp axe of the Atheist has tried to hew it down.  Yet, the powerful Word of God remains. 

God spoke His Word into the womb of a virgin, and the Word became flesh and gave His life for you and me.  That same Word saved and delivered us.  That same Word is working in and through us right now!  That same Word has empowered us to go forth with the sharp sword of the Spirit to smite the nations.

·       Luke 10:19: Behold, I give unto you power, to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Therefore, walk in the power and live in the power of God’s Word today, because “You are of God little children (darlings), and have overcome them:  because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world (system)” (1^st John 4:4).  Then, His powerful Word goes on to say, in 1st John 4:17b: “For as he is, so are we in this world”!

Evangelist Mary Perry