MF Blume
[A Study of the vast supply of strength we have in receiving God's Holy Spirit into our lives. We are brought back to the original goal God had in mind for mankind when he first made Adam.]
Imagine the situation that could have been had Adam eaten of the tree of life instead of sinning. Time would have been no matter to him for he would have possessed eternal life in his bosom. And his entrance into God' rest, therefore, would not have been for a duration of twenty-four hours, but rather an eternal rest!
It seems that the seventh day period of the Sabbath of Israel being twenty-four hours would not have been that "short" had Adam received eternal life on the sixth day. Adam would yet be resting today! However, Adam did sin. And notably another verse in Genesis seems to stress this thought of sixth day sin.
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Instead of eternal rest, Adam experienced time-limited labour. What utterly opposite circumstances! Adam would die, revealing the element of mortality upon his life as opposed to living forever due to eating the fruit of life (proven in Gen 3:21). Work was associated with that mortality as opposed to REST having been associated with eternal life.
God drove man out of the garden, from the domain where the tree of life stood, due to the need to prohibit Adam from being able to access the tree of life. Should Adam obtain eternal life while holding sin within himself the man would remain eternally sinful! And we understand that it was through the death of Christ, for mankind, that He redeems us from sin today. The whole opportunity for salvation would have been thwarted had Adam possessed sin as well as eternal life. This would render the opportunity for the principle of paying the penalty of sin by death impossible. Through the process of regarding man's transgression as being worthy of death, we actually can understand the love of God in it all. How?
God spared Adam the experience of possessing both eternal life and sin simultaneously by removing Adam from the access to the tree of life after he sinned. Adam would therefore die. God had a plan in mind at that time for humanity to be redeemed and made able to once again be made fit to choose eternal life. This plan would enable man to once again have opportunity to enter God's rest. A time would once again come, according to His plan, when the aspect of eating eternal life would be the means by which man would enter an eternal rest with God afterwards. Adam's death was linked to the plan. To see this truth, we must consider the covenant of sacrifice that was given to humanity through the Israelite nation. Salvation is possible since man must die to pay for his transgression, for the soul that sins shall die. to Nobody could die INSTEAD of sinful humanity since humanity would not have been able to die. This principle allowing the sacrificial death of another to be accepted as the offerer's death as payment for the offerer's sin deals with the complicated dilemma of sin. Only death satisfies the condition of sin by way of penalty and final "payment" to redeem one from sin. Death pays the penalty.
Since the fall from the Garden, death must result as a penalty. However, nobody said that another innocent and sinless one could not be substituted for a person's debt of death. Since death was the result of sin, God took that principle and made a plan of salvation from death. God, Himself, would become a man and die instead of mankind combined. By no other way could man be redeemed from death.
Other people could not die for you since they would require someone to die for them, also. This cycle is repeated throughout all of humanity, leaving mankind unable to redeem itself. WHO WAS THAT SACRIFICE?
The only way for a sinless human to die instead of mankind would be to have God, Himself, become a man. And that man, as it turned out, was Jesus Christ! This made the SONSHIP of Christ the fulfillment of His promise that a seed of the woman would come to crush the serpent's head.
Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
There is no eternal sonship about the whole matter. The thought of an eternal Son misses the whole point of why the Son of God came and existed. Trinitry doctrine could have shown any of three so-called three persons to come to the world. But Oneness clearly explains that God only became a man for the purpose of satisfying the need for redemption. Thus, the "Son of God" did not exist before the incarnation.
God said the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent's head. He did not say the "eternal Son" would bruise it. (Do not mistaken it, though., The Son of God was God Almighty manifested in flesh and not another being or person! 1 Tim. 3:16).
Even the New Testament tells us that Adam was made in the figure of "him that was to come." He was not in the figure of Him who always was. The humanity that God took upon Himself is what the Sonship of Christ refers to. (Ro. 5:14). A time element restricted the existence of the Son of God. A time would come when God would become Son and be born of a woman. A time would come when a man would arrive on the scene in order to die for humanity in substitution so that humanity need not die. Sins would be eternally removed by one sin-overcoming man who would not require a sacrifice for Himself. Animal sacrifices were insufficient since it was HUMANITY that required a true substitute. The best that animal sacrifice could do was to temporarily set aside sins until the great sacrifice to come would be slain. The animals merely proved to FORESHADOW that great one to come.
This MAN was not in existence prior to the manger scene in Bethlehem. The human aspect of Christ would be born and have a beginning. Yet the One who became that man was always alive!
He was GOD WITH US (Emmanuel). As the Tabernacle of Moses was constructed to be a dwelling place for God's Spirit, making the Spirit "relatable" to man, the Body of Jesus Christ was the tabernacle of the eternal, absolutely singular, solitary, One God of Israel. He came in the flesh in order to provide a sacrifice offered to Himself on man's behalf, since man could not supply that sacrifice for sins, himself. Man could not find another man who was sin-overcoming. Therefore, God provided Himself a sacrifice. Sonship applies only to God's manifestation in flesh. It is never used in relation to the aspect of a work of God BEFORE He became manifest in flesh. Sonship is ALWAYS spoken of in terms applicable to the manifestation of God in flesh. Should we read of a reference in the Old Testament that is pointing to SONSHIP, it is a PROPHETIC thought of the SONSHIP to come.
Since God was not born of a woman in a fleshly manifestation of His power, there did not exist a Son of God prior to the birth at Bethlehem. Man can now receive eternal life since Christ died instead of us all. We can enter the eternal rest!
Being saved from sin, free of death, and having died through Christ's death instead of us, gives us the right to say that we are BORN AGAIN. New birth experience is what occurs when one repents, is buried with Christ in baptism to allow God to declare that Christ's death was claimed by us as our death. And one will receive His Spirit of adoption, the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:38). The breath of life for Adam is once again given to those who receive the Holy Spirit into their lives. That is why the 120 received the Holy Ghost in the Upper Room on the day of Pentecost like the sound of a rushing mighty *wind* (Acts 2:1-4).
Eternal life enters within us when we receive the Holy Spirit baptism. We, in effect, eat of the tree of life. And that same Spirit which gives us life also provides us REST, of which Isaiah prophesied about.
Isa 28:11-12 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
The tongues which the 120 people spoke with on the day of Pentecost indicates the presence of God's Spirit within the believer. And THIS IS THE REST!! The tongues are not the rest, but the Spirit which induces one to speak in tongues is the rest!! Thus the picture of God's original intention for Adam , that was thwarted by sin, is again brought into the arena of mankind through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have opportunity to enter into His rest once we have the Spirit baptism.
Sabbath was originally intended to be ETERNAL. It was not supposed to be a 24-hour period. This original eternal Sabbath rest is available to all those who will believe in Christ's death by obeying Acts 2:38. Simply receiving Spirit baptism is not entering the rest.
I know many who have experienced Acts 2:38 and are not "resting". Many are nervous people and sometimes require nerve pills to stay relaxed. that is not the will of God. Spirit baptism holds all of God's blessings that one will ever need. Such nervous people have not learned how to take advantageof that Rest that is theirs. We must partake of those blessings once we have His Spirit within us.
Heb 4:9-10 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
We cease from labouring to make ourselves good people who do good works. We are supposed to live right and commit good deeds. However, we are not to use our fleshly abilities to do those good deeds, for they will never be good enough in God's eyes if they originate from flesh. And this is the reason God gave us His Holy Spirit.
We cease from our own works. We cease from using fleshly abilities and from straining ourselves to do good. We cease, and allow His Spirit to live forth and live through us.
Mat 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Paul experienced Christ living through him and strengthening him to do such mighty exploits for God. Paul did not strain his human abilities to the "max" in order to do so much good. He simply recognized his death in Christ and allowed Christ within to live forth through him. Paul ceased from his own works.
Seek the baptism of God's Spirit and thus take Christ's easy yoke upon you! This is the REST. After you receive it, RELY UPON IT for strength. Call upon Him, who will then be within you that He might live through you each and every day. Call upon Him in this manner each day of your life. Actually as Him to use your hands and feet and mouth and tongue to do His good deeds.
Rom 6:13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
Believe THIS IS POSSIBLE, elsewise you will not enter in due to your unbelief and will die spiritually as did the doubters of Israel. God will do it!!! It is fearsome to think we must cease from improving upon ourselves, for we have controlled our lives for years. Fear not! Jesus will take your life and He will use it mightily if you will only relinquish your hold and control upon yourself over to Him. You can trust Him! He will give you wings as an eagle's wings and you will soar into heights of glory and ministry for Him!! Go ahead! Trust Him.
Don't wait for Heaven to find Rest when you can have it now and carry it right on through into the multiplied rest of eternity. This Rest is within us if we have the Spirit baptism!! You are intended to enter that rest NOW. Do not doubt it. Believe it!! We have opportunity to cease from our labours of exerting fleshly energy to live happily right now. What need is there of ceasing from Labours in heaven? There will be no labour from which to cease. However, we can cease from such labour NOW.
Thank the Lord for His bountiful provision of Rest!