Buried With Christ.

Christ Jesus was brutally tortured and nailed to the cross. Upon the cross His life left Him, He died. No spirit other than that of His breath returned to God the Father when He took that last breath and released it to breathe no more. All of His thoughts ended, complete and utter unconsciousness, darkness descended upon God in the flesh. There was nothing but death's sleep embracing our Lord and Savior. His lifeless body was taken down from the cross and as those who loved Him looked on their sorrow was deep. The very Son of God was dead. Something they thought impossible, even though they were forewarned, had happened to their leader, the Messiah. The devastation was heart breaking, soul crushing, life altering, their grief overwhelming. They weren't happily awaiting the resurrection of Christ, they were filled with doubt, with sorrow, with that very awful pain that only death can give, the anguish of loss filled their every thought. That lost feeling you get when you aren't quite sure how life will go on without your loved one being in it, was in all of them. Things didn't seem right, their whole world had tilted off kilter and they let that grief fill them to its fullest. The Sabbath day they entered into after Christ was laid in His tomb, was  heart wrenching. They kept the Sabbath, not a single one of them was accused of breaking that Sabbath, they kept the seventh day holy as God commanded and Jesus Himself kept the Sabbath every week of His entire life. This Sabbath, Jesus was sleeping death's complete sleep of utter darkness. Jesus was truly resting in the peace of nothingness. Jesus no longer felt the horrific pain of his tortured flesh. Jesus no longer felt the anguish of the lost people all around Him, people who refused to believe God's truth. Jesus rested in that grave and the world was without God the Son for the very first time ever. The void caused by His absence was huge. God the Spirit lived on, God the Father lived on, God the Son was dead.

We were a part of His death. Our sins warranted His death. We were crucified with Him, we died with Him IF we accept Him as our Savior.  Think about that for a while. We died with Him, we choose to die with Him. We choose to let our flesh tendencies, our lusts, our sinful selves, our world loving beings die.

Are they dead? The old us must remain dead. We are given newness of life because the old us is now dead. The love of the world in us is now dead.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of God, may His will be done! All through Jesus Christ always and forever and right now!!!!!!!

Baptized into Jesus Christ-Baptized into His death.

We are crucified with Christ.

We who are Christ's have crucified the flesh - our affections and lusts.

We glory in the Lord Jesus Christ's cross. The world is crucified to us and we to the world.

Buried with Christ through baptism, we are raise with Him. We are forgiven. Christ nailed the ceremonial sacrificial system to the cross as He became our ultimate sacrifice.

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

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. 

Gal 5:24  And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 

Gal 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 

Col 2:12  Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. 

Col 2:13  And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 

Col 2:14  Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 

Walk In Newness of Life.

'Salvation is essentially a present exit from a doomed order which is Satan's.'

'It is by baptism that you declare this: "Lord, I leave my world behind. The cross separates me from it forever!"

'So the same water on one hand puts you and me on salvation ground in Christ, and on the other hand buries Satan's whole system of things. Not only does your own history as a child of Adam end in your baptism; your whole world ends there. In both cases it is a death and a burial with nothing resurrected. It is the end of everything.'

'This means you cannot carry over anything from the former world into the new one.'

'When you pass through this water, all that system of things goes, never to return. Instead you see yourself in Christ…'

1Pe 3:21  The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ

Rom 6:3  Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

Rom 6:5  For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 

Rom 6:6  Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 

We are buried with Christ by baptism.

We are raised from the dead like Christ.

Our death is to the world, to our life prior to our baptism.

We want a newness of life.

Our old life has to be done with.

The world still exists all around us- unchanged. We are changed. This is truth. We are given a new life, a heaven bound life. Our old self is crucified with Christ- we should not serve sin.

Sin should be our enemy, sin should be despised, not cherished, not alive in us.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. May we live a new life, not serving sin. May we comprehend the truth of our old sin-filled lives being crucified with Christ. Heaven is our home, we are NOT of this world- right now, we are not of this world if we have been baptized in Christ.

Jesus Says He Is Not of This World.

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

Not of the world.

The definition of world is- the planet Earth, Earth and everything on it, human race, society, universe, domain … you can look it up for more if you like. The word world here in this verse is taken from the word Kosmos.

Kosmos- Probably from the base of G2865; orderly arrangement, that is, decoration; by implication the world (in a wide or narrow sense, including its inhabitants, literally or figuratively [morally]): - adorning, world. (From Strong's Definition)

Jesus says He is not of the world.

We know factually that Jesus took on flesh, He was not born of two human flesh parents. Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit (God) and Mary (human flesh). Jesus divested Himself, emptied Himself to become human flesh. Jesus gave up His spirit form and took on the form of flesh. Jesus was formed in Mary's womb like all human babies are formed and He was born as babies are intended to be born. He grew from a baby into a child, into an older child, into a teenager, into a young adult and then simply an adult- as we all- who live that long grow to be. He lived out the natural flesh cycle of a human being. Jesus was born human in this world, a human with the spirit of God. God, as we know has His inhabitance in the heavens and not the atmospheric heaven but the spiritual realm of existence- heaven. Jesus- God with God, Jesus- the declared Son of God, Jesus- the only begotten Son of God. Jesus cannot be separated from His Godhood, it's impossible. Any more than we can separate ourselves from our heredity, our inherited ancestry, could Jesus separate Himself from being one of the three God's which exist in agreement with each other. The trio of Gods live in heaven, and the heavenly existence is theirs always. Even when Jesus was in flesh upon the earth, He knew where His true home was and it was not the earth, not this world.  This world was made by Him.

Col 1:16  For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him

He was outside of this world in order to create this world. He was spirit form, not flesh. He wanted to be a part of the human family as a Creator, not as a Redeemer, but was willing to become the world's Redeemer when man yielded their allegiance to Satan. He knew that deception tricked Eve and Adam. He knew that not all human beings would choose to yield to Satan when offered a choice. God with God, both in spirit form, and one God declared to be the begotten Son. They lived in heaven their world, their place.

Jesus was not of this world.  And we are not of this world if we belong to Jesus, if Jesus is our God.  We give up this world and accept the world of Jesus. We place our treasures in heaven, our home.

Jesus gave us God the Father's words. As a human being and God, Jesus knew the words of the Father and He gave those words, those truths to mankind.

Joh 17:8  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. 

Jesus doesn't want those who are His to be of this world. In fact, those who are His cannot be of this world. We have to have heaven as our world, right here, and right now. Heaven is our world as we choose to LIVE for heaven and not for this world and the worlds possessions. Our treasures are to be in Heaven! Heaven is our world! We are strangers and pilgrims here, we really truly are.

God help us!

Keep Us From Evil.

'The natural trend of all the "things that are in the world" is toward Satan and away from God. Some of them may have been set going by men of the Spirit with a goal that is Godward, but as soon as the restraint of divine life is removed from them, they automatically swerve around and take that other direction. No wonder then that Satan's eyes are ever on the world's end, and on the prospect that at that time all the things of the world will revert to him. Even now, and all the time, they are moving in his direction, and at the end time they may be expected to have reached their goal. As we touch any one of the units of his system, this thought should give us pause, lest we be found inadvertently helping to construct his kingdom.'

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 

Not of the world. Truly as the world's course is ever Satan bound, we cannot be of the world. Jesus was not of the world. Jesus prays to the Father and tells Him that the world hates those who have been given His word and are not of the world just like He is not of the world. The world HATES those who are like Jesus- NOT of the world.

Jesus gained a lot of notoriety as He began His ministry, why? Because of the miracles He performed- the healing, the helping. Jesus spoke with a knowledge of Scripture, a knowledge of God all with authority. Jesus healed and as He healed He pointed those He healed and those around witnessing the healing - all to God and the gospel of salvation. Salvation - the restoration of man with God without the existence of evil. Satan's grip on the world would end.

 Until our Savior returns Satan will continue to rule this world turning everything He can to his way, the worldly way. We need to ask ourselves where Satan is trying to get His hold on us. He is in the world and wants us to be of the world with Him.

We need to constantly submit to God, and strive for God's rule in our lives, in all aspects of our lives. Please God, please may Your only begotten Son's words ring loud in Your ears and please KEEP US FROM EVIL.

Evil surrounds us, it is on every side no matter where we turn. We scarce can live without coming face to face with evil daily, and several times a day. Please, keep us from evil as it threatens to overcome us. Please. Please. All through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, now and forever. Amen!!!!!!!

Affections Above.

'When material things are under spiritual control they fulfill their proper subordinate role. Released from that restraint they manifest very quickly the power that lies behind them. The law of their nature asserts itself, and their worldly character is proved by the course they take.' -- From 'Love Not the World' by Watchman Nee.

Col 3:2  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

When we set our affection on things on earth we misplace our affection in relation with God. How often we get so caught up in the things on earth. We live our lives as if the things around us are more important than spiritual things. We behave as if the things on earth are eternal, but they are not. Why do we place so much importance on earthly things? Why? I sit here and type on my laptop and know I place a lot of importance on my laptop. This machine holds a lot of photos, and each photo is a memory of my past. This machine holds a lot of my writings, blogs, studies, stories, emails with others. This machine gives me access to things I have saved in the cloud, and while it's true I can access cloud storage from anywhere, that's the point of putting things in the cloud, I have passwords saved, I have familiarity with the keyboard, I hold my laptop in high esteem and should it suddenly stop working, or be stolen I would be upset, I would be sad, I would mourn the loss of all that I keep on here. Things on this earth-- and my laptop is just one of the things I own. I have memories stored in many objects. In my baby box I have things from my childhood all of them kept for the memories they provoke and no other real reason. How many things do we keep strictly for the memories they give us.  When people lose all their possession in fires, they mourn the loss of the memory provoking objects they can never replace.  Our affections are all tied up earthly things, we need to loose those affections and set them on things above, things of God.

Watchman Nee wrote that 'when our material things are under spiritual control they fulfill their proper subordinate roles'.  All our material things need to be under spiritual control. Is this possible? It needs to be possible. As long as anything we own is not under spiritual control- subject to God's will- then we are allowing ourselves to get caught up in earthly things, worldly things.

Our affections need to be on the things above so much more than on any earthly thing.

Col 3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 

1Ch 22:19  Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God

Psa 62:10  … if riches increase, set not your heart upon them. 

Psa 119:36  Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness. 

Psa 119:37  Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way. 

Pro 23:5  Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. 

Mat 16:23  But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. 

Rom 8:4  That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 

Rom 8:5  For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

God... or Satan?

'Ultimately, when we touch the things of the world, the question we must ask ourselves always is : "How is this thing affecting my relationship with the Father?" '

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

I found the above quote from Watchman Nee's 'Love Not the World' book interesting. Do we question ourselves enough? Do we ask ourselves often how the things we do affect our relationship with God? Right now think back over your day and the things you've done. Was God with you in all those things? God is supposed to be with us always, there is never a time where we can set God aside and then pick Him up again. We have a relationship with God through the Son, and all we do will affect that relationship in one way or another- positively, or negatively.  If we can think of things we've done that affected our relationship negatively we need to repent of those things, not continue on in them. We need to seek guidance, to seek help to live the life God would have us live. We need to pay attention to our relationship with God, always.

'When we are faced with alternatives and a choice of ways confronts us, the question is not: Is this good or evil? Is this helpful or hurtful? No, the question we must ask ourselves is: Is it of this world, or of God? For since there is only this one conflict in the universe, then whenever two conflicting courses lie open to us, the choice at issue is never a lesser one than: God …or Satan?'

Do we think of our choices this way? Seriously, do we? We need to! We need to face the truth! We have to stop sugar-coating life so that we cover the things of Satan in something acceptable to us. Calling evil things good has become common place. Truly, there are so many things that are evil but we call them good simply because we don't want to believe they are of Satan. God or Satan these are the only two choices we face. God or Satan, we can't be afraid to ask ourselves which we are choosing. Heaven help us, God help us. The world surrounding us is filled with so much evil, so much deception, so much of Satan. The narrow way is the way we would choose, please LORD, please help us to this end. 

By the will of our LORD, through Jesus Christ our Savior, now and forever!!!!!!!

Love Not the World.

I'm re-reading a book by Watchman Nee called 'Love Not the World'.

So far in the beginning of the book he writes about in the beginning our existence there was the earth, after sin there was the world, and when the world is eventually redeemed it will be with the Kingdom.  I found that very interesting.

We know from previous studies that this world and its current kingdoms belong to Satan. He offered them to Christ when he was tempting Him. You can't offer something that doesn't belong to you. Satan is the Prince of this world, he rules this world. Satan so ruled this world in the days of Noah prior to the flood that things were beyond saving, the entire world had to be redone, a do-over had to take place. And then… Noah, the very man God saved because he found grace in the eyes of God, planted vineyards in the newly made over earth and used the wine from those vineyards to get drunk. And so once again mankind continued their descent into a fully corrupt world where only a handful out of the majority would be those who would choose God over the world- but not without many hiccups. The world has so many enticements and we are so very weak.

We are to LOVE NOT the world.

We are to LOVE NOT the things that are in the world.

ALL that is in the world-

-the lust of the flesh

-the lust of the eyes

-the pride of life

IS NOT of the Father.

The world will PASS away with all its lusts.

Doing the WILL Of God brings ABIDENCE, brings LIFE EVERLASTING.

1Jn 2:15  Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

1Jn 2:17  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 

Watchman Nee has a lot of good things to say about all this and by the will of God I will be able to relay some of them here as I continue to read the book and study God's holy word.

God should be EXALTED above all, His Will Be Done Now and Forever!

All through the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ!!!!!!!