Greetings Friends!

I would like to devote this post to a very important aspect of Christian, and thereby human, life and living. It’s that part of our lives that we sometimes fail to give enough attention, let alone urgent consideration to. We fail to place enough weight as to its crucial necessity in today’s hectic, demanding, and increasingly dangerous and hate-filled world. I am talking about reading and studying our Bibles, and devoting time and effort to this vital activity, not only for our own well-being, but for the interests and benefit of those around us. Yes, it’s an activity that’s an essential part of living the “Triune Life,”* a term I coined and repeatedly espouse on this site, about human life that is lived in the midst of the Tri-Personal Being of God who declares Himself as a God who is every way, shape, and form, LOVE! (1 John 4:8, 16). Living the Triune Life and Love means to live the participatory, communal life associated with the divine Tri-Personal God.

The Gutenberg Bible is the first substantial book printed in the West with movable metal type. Before its printing in 1454 or 1455, books were copied by hand. Owned by the US Library of Congress (Wiki Commons)

As believers and non-believers alike, we know the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God. The apostle Peter tells us why it is inerrant and how the Bible came to be in our hands today, “Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding, or from human initiative. No, those prophets were moved by the Holy Spirit, and they spoke from God” (2 Pet.1:20-21, NLT) Then Paul tells us the Bible’s purpose and function, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  (2 Tim.3:16-17). (As far as the accuracy of translations from the original languages, we will leave that for another time and place. Suffice to say that scholars agree the Bible as we have it today has been preserved over the centuries with a remarkable degree of trustworthiness) So, the Bible as a book from God to His human creation is holy, inerrant, and contains the word of life which is capable of producing divine “goodness” to those who are exercised by it. Its positive flow-on effect produces a way of life which brings life-giving benefits to others around the person schooled and trained in it,

I would like to share just one aspect of reading and studying the Bible that is vital to getting the most value from the Word of God. One of the most common mistakes people do in their Bible reading and study is they read their own meaning into the Scriptures rather than God’s meaning and being transformed by the mind of God. We have just read the Scripture which tells us the Bible did not come to us by private interpretations. So, to break the cardinal rule upon which the Bible is founded is tantamount to reducing the Bible to a mere human book like any other. For each time we make private interpretations for our own ends we miss the meaning of God’s intent it becomes a mere human document and ceases to be God’s divine and inerrant guide for us. God has given us freedom as part of His divine nature, and we ought to behave responsibly when it comes to God’s Word. That is what Adam did when, with his wife Eve, they partook of the forbidden fruit. They used their freedom to allow their self-will to determine “good from evil,” without turning to God (Love) for guidance.

I want to share with you a ‘rule of thumb’ if I may call it that. This will help us  keep on a straight and narrow path to the divine intentions and will of our heavenly Father for His human  children. We will begin at the beginning, as always. God gave Adam and Eve the fruits of the “tree of life” to eat and be sustained spiritually. There were other fruit trees in Eden which sustained them physically, but the “tree of life” was different and special for it sustained them spiritually. (Gen.1:29; 3:6) Also in the garden, God planted the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” which God forbade Adam and Eve from ever touching, much less eat its fruit. This tree represent spiritual death, whereas the “tree of life” depict the God-life.

We preview life in the Pre-Adamic era because it tells us the life God desired in His relationship with humans when humans had not fallen by eating the forbidden fruit. Many believe our first parents fell to the devil’s temptation at their very first encounter in the Garden of Eden. If that were true then it would be reasonable to assume Satan was undoubtedly stronger than God. We would also have to conclude we are today at the mercy of the devil’s wiles and deception. The Genesis account of life in Eden was very brief, and much of human recollection of our first parents was their disobedience rather than their obedience prior to their fall. No, Adam and Eve had for a very, very, long period of time lived faithfully and in vibrant Love-relationship with God as their Father by freely eating the Love fruits from the “tree of life.” It was a testament to the power of God’s Love.

Adam & Eve Eating From the “Tree of Life” Representing God’s Spirit and Love (Wiki Commons)

The Scriptures reveal God is more powerful than His enemies, and the devil and fallen angels “tremble in terror” at the mention of His Name. (Jam.2:19; Luk.4:31-37). Jesus defeated the best Satan could muster against Him in the temptations in the wilderness of Judea so we can live the victorious life through Him. (Matt.4:1-12) The Post-Adamic era after the fall show how God was allowing man to learn from the error of his ways, then making provision for a Redeemer in His Son, and restore the Love-relationship of the Pre-Adamic reality in the Spirit (“tree of life”) to believers. (John 3:16; Act.2:1-4)

Let’s come back to the ‘rule of thumb’ about God’s Word I mentioned earlier. You can say the “tree of life” was to our first parents what the Bible is for us today. The “tree of life” with its fruits represented the work of the Holy Spirit by guiding us through God’s Word. The fruits of the Spirit today is seen as the different tones of God’s Love which Paul catalogs in his letter to the Corinthians. (1 Cor. 13, and other passages) These fruits are not legalistic requirements we obey, but gives us a peek into the way of life of Love the Tri-Personal Being of God have existed and lived by from eternity. And now He calls us, and gives us His Spirit to empower us to live in His presence.

So, to keep their Love-relationship with God glowing and responsive, Adam and Eve had to engage the Spirit (fruits of Love) to guide them in God’s way of Love and life. Though the “tree of life” may be symbolical, it was real and represented true substance of spiritual value and life to them. We understand our first parents were created full adults without the benefit of hindsight of growing from babies to adults as we do. So, the fruits were symbolically knowledge ‘capsules’ the Spirit infused into our parents to help them understand and live the divine way of life (Love).

The Fruits of the “Tree of Life” Representing the Love of God (1Cor.13) (Pic. by Tomwsulcer Wiki Commons) 

Let me share some information from the ancient texts of patristic writing you may find interesting. It was hypothesized that Adam and Eve existed in a state of ‘human immortality’ in Eden. It was the essential and normal order of their state of being In God’s immortal presence,  sharing His immortal likeness, “Let us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness (Gen.1:26-27). The context is implicit the source of their ‘human immortality’ and way of life came from their daily sustenance from the fruits of the “tree of life.” The tree represented the Holy Spirit whose power raised up Jesus from the dead, and will raise humans to immortality in future. (Rom.8:11)  So, when God told our first parents of the consequences of their rebellion, “You shall surely die,” if they ate the forbidden fruit, for them it was a literal death sentence not only in the spiritual sense, but also in the physical sense because up until then they had never experienced any form of bodily deterioration. Physical death was not part of man’s original lot, but God foretold he would die in whatever day he ate the forbidden fruit. (Gen.2:17, KJV)

The moment Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit and sin entered their lives, their ‘human immortality’ disappeared suddenly, and they assumed nothing more than their temporary human existence and mortality. The metamorphosis from immortality to mortality happened in a flash because light and darkness cannot co-exist. So, immortality is not a totally distant proposition for mankind, man had lived it before. Immortality was man’s lot for he was made in God’s eternal likeness. Our predicament is, only Adam and Eve experienced what it was like. So, there were no other firsthand witnesses beside them.

Having been reduced to a mere temporary human existence, another ancient text states Adam was consumed with inconsolable grief for what they had done and all they had lost. But there was no turning back for a mighty cherubim stood guard prevented them from reentering Eden. (Gen.3:21-24) When God said, “He (Adam) must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the ‘tree of life’ and eat and live forever,” (V.22) attests to the ‘human immortality’ they possessed and lost due to their rebellion. Of course our original parents were totally devastated, they has just lost Paradise for a bite of the forbidden fruit. God had forgiven them but divine justice calls for a ransom to save mankind from the spirit of rebellion and sin.   

Paul speaks eloquently of the reversal of the consequences of Adam’s rebellion through Christ, the second Adam, at a future time, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (death), but we will be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must be clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality…Then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor.15:51-55). So, we see how immortality will be given back to humanity in exactly the same way it was taken – “in a flash, in a twinkling of an eye.” The first Adam was responsible for taking it away, and the second Adam, Jesus, is the One who will bring eternal life back to mankind. The Bible calls Jesus the “firstborn (human made immortal) among many brothers and sisters” (Rom.8:29).

Man’s Destiny – Human Made Immortal Like Jesus (Fountain of Eternal Life in Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA – Wiki Commons)    

So, the first point to remember about the Bible is the Holy Spirit is the One who leads us to understand the meaning of God’s will and our ultimate purpose of immortality. The Spirit’s work is the ‘rule of thumb’ in the reading and study of God’s Word. (2 Pet.1:20-21) Why is the Holy Spirit the all-important equation in understanding the genuine will of God for our lives? Because we are fallen beings, and as such we will always see things through the human “solitary life” under the sway of Satan and his worldly influence. The Spirit brings the “Triune Life” and Jesus’ new life and the inspiration of His Kingdom into the life of the believer.

So, Paul tells us the only way out, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”  (Gal.2:20a). Yes, this false self who lives the “solitary life” must be put to death, and the new life in the Spirit enters the human heart to energize the life of Christ. Jesus makes this plain when He said, “You must be born again of the Spirit” (John 3:7-8). Yes, we undergo a rebirth where Jesus comes and walks in us in the Spirit’s power. Then we can walk in our true self reflecting Jesus and the Love of God. Jesus also said we are to “take up our cross daily and follow Him” (Luk.9:23). It means this death of the false self becomes a daily exercise in repentance and forgiveness symbolized by the cross of Jesus we carry. The false self does not just ride away in the sunset, never to be seen again, no, he has to be exorcized daily. Paul said, “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered” (Rom.8:36).

I believe the secret key to understanding the Bible is revealed by Jesus in the Gospel of John. Jesus said this about God’s will for each us and the role of the Spirit in it, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you” (John 16:13-15). We read this passage with an obvious detached manner and miss its substance and meaning. But let us take a closer look. It is clear the Spirit cannot act independently but interdependently as He is essentially and intrinsically part of the Triune Godhead with the Father and the Son.

Here, Jesus explains the role of the Spirit within and as an integral part of the Tri-Personal Being of God – He hears the Father and Son in Loving discourse and makes it known to the believer. What does the Spirit hears in heaven and makes known to the human believer? The Spirit, in fellowship with the Father and the Son, is hearing their Love discourse about you the believer. It is obvious the Spirit can only communicate matters concerning what the believer can comprehend and understand. Or, how else would you know let alone understand what is being communicated unless it is a personalized message intended for you? The Father and Son is not discussing some future world shaking events of this world which you may be totally oblivious to and with which you are unacquainted. Rather, it is about your personal spiritual well-being which you can totally relate with and understand. It is about your place in their Life as the Triune God.

The Father and Son’s discourse about you is being relayed down the line through the Spirit as He helps you respond to the Father’s wish and will for your life. It is important to understand the Spirit is revealing personal messages concerning “what is yet to come” as it concerns your personal future which is near and dear to the Father and the Son. In all of their discourses about you,  your personal freedom is of paramount importance. For Love is exercised with freedom, for without it Love is hardly legitimate. Note that even in our Bible reading and study we are called upon to live the “Triune Life”* where the Father, Son, and Spirit participate in our salvation. In the final analysis, the Bible can be made relevant to each of us only when we see ourselves as part and parcel of its fabric.

And here we read the first step in communication of living the “Triune Life”*. This is a two-way communication that takes place through Bible reading and study under the Spirit’s guidance and power. The second is like it – prayer. We pray to God and He answers through His Son and the work and Love of the Spirit in our lives. Jesus is the Personified Word of God, while the Bible is the literal Word of God, and the Spirit makes Jesus known to us on an individual, personal, and relational level. (John 16:12-15) Then communication is further enhanced through meditation and in the form of art as in songs and praises. Then there is the art of occasional fasting. We will cover each in detail another time.

Jesus, The “Personified” Word of God, Teaching His Followers (By James Tissot – Online Collection of Brooklyn Museum; Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2007, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/)

“Studying to show yourself approved to God” is not about selective reading and hearing of God’s Word. Because our fallen rebellious nature is not subjected to God’s Love and can’t be, most times His Word stands up to our selfish attitudes, listen, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires” (Heb.4:12; Jer.17:9). But in the midst of what can be described as a seemingly compulsive bumpy human existence, the Spirit’s presence brings deliverance, stability, and peace of mind, listen, “For it is God (the Holy Spirit) who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill His (and your) good purpose. Therefore, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation” (Phi.2:12-15, emphasis added).

The believer is given power to live the miraculous life within the “Triune Life,”* for in the final analysis Paul reveals the hidden secret of His Word, “The Kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power” (1 Cor.4:20). For it is not the literal meaning of God’s Word which fundamentally counts, but the Personified Word who is Jesus Christ Himself. The literal Bible exists to point us to the Personified Jesus. The Bible’s literal form cannot be given an autonomous position of authority apart from the Person of Jesus, the Personified Word of God. He is the Personal and undeniable reflection of the literal Word of God we see in print. Ultimately only the resurrected Jesus, not the printed word, who brings God’s power by walking in us as His disciples.

The purpose of reading and studying our Bibles is one, and one only. Likewise, Adam and Eve were sustained by the fruits of the “tree of life” for a singular purpose. It was to feed the divine Love God had deposited in the human heart to reflect the essence of His Own Being in them. (Gen.1:27) In these two equivalent experiences, being sustained by the “tree of life” and drinking in God’s Word through reading and study, both are intended to inspire us to Love God first, and Love Him above all else. To Love God preeminently is to reflect our whole existence in Him and His Love-Being in us, for we were created in His likeness.

To “Love God (the Father) with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength and with all your mind” is plainly not humanly possible to do in our fallen state of being. But there is One who has done it as a human, and has been doing it for eternity – Jesus, the Son of God! We step into His life and He in us and through the Spirit’s Love we can be made to truly Love God as He Loves us. (Luke 10:27; John 17:20-25; Rom.5:5) That is the one sole purpose of His Word, and the reason we read and study the Bible.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or you may email me on bulamanriver.com. Thank you for visiting.

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”* as a Bulamanriver.**  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang, (Your Servant In Christ)                                                                     

* Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036                      

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” Or, you may go to the directory banner at top and click “Mission” where you will find more information.

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.

Note: All information is copy-write material. Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information. Thank you.

Greetings Friends! I hope my last post has prepped you to some extent on how to face the new year with a positive frame of mind. You may read my post at: http://bulamanriver.net/9339  But let’s dive in-depth into this theme of Love and see it as the very divine essence of our being throbbing in us with every heartbeat.

The Scriptures reveal that God’s Spirit is the “Giver of life.” (Psa.104:30; Job 27:3) It was God’s Spirit who breathed life into a shapeless and uninhabitable world, and vitalized creation with life, form and character. (Gen.1:1-3; 2:1-3) It was the same Spirit who breathed the “breathe of life” into Adam and gave humanity physical existence with the power of the human mind to make choices. (Gen.2:7) Later, Jesus would say this self-same Spirit would bring us another life-form, the divine life of God. He said, “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to (divine) spiritual life” (John 3:6, NLT, also John 7:37-39, my emphasis).

Much Like our Uninhabitable Moon, God’s Spirit Made Earth the Blue Marble we See Today Giving It Life, Form, and Character. Thus, God declares, “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” (Isa. 23:24. Pic. by NASA/JPL – Great Images in NASA Description, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/)

This divine life consists of the essence of God’s very Being for the Holy Spirit springs from the singular identical nature of the One Triune Godhead of the Father, Son (Logos/The Word), and Spirit. John was inspired to reveal what this essence of God essential is: “God is LOVE” (1 John 4:8,16). So, the apostle Paul tells us what the Spirit brings and infuses us with through our spiritual birth, “God’s Love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom.5:5).

It is vital to realize this divine Love was what inspired and kept the relationship between God and our first parents in perfect personal union in the Garden of Eden. Humans were made in God’s Love likeness, that is what it means when the Bible says humans were created in His “image and likeness” (Gen.1:27). Created with the freedom of choice (mind), Adam and Eve had to continuously eat from the “tree of life” God gave them, much like we would turn to the holy Scriptures (Bible) today to receive guidance and continuous inspiration. (Gen.2:9; Psa.119:105) The “tree of life” represented the work and move of the Spirit in Adam and Eve. They were fed with God’s Love from the fruits of the “tree of life” which kept their relationship with God aglow and responsive. They were made humans not Spirit as God is from eternity, so as humans they needed to feed the Love God had planted deep in the essence of their beings and hearts (God’s Love-likeness).

As humans, they also had physical and material proclivities, like human interests and stimulations, worldly and sensual desires which run counter to God’s purpose for them. They were made to Love God above all else, that was the purpose why man was created in His Love-likeness. And in turn God Loved humans unreservedly. But as freedom cannot be divorced from Love, but is necessarily part and parcel of Love, humans had to make the constant decision to Love God above everything and everyone until at such time when man is given immortality and become fully and completely Love like He is. Until then, fallen humans was subjected to the devil he chose to obey which he has to contend with as he respond to God and his fellow humans.

A Depiction of the “Tree of Life” which Is Symbolic of the Move of the Holy Spirit (By Beth Erez – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/) 

God planted another tree in Eden called the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” (Gen.2:9). God told our first parents, “Don’t eat from it; don’t even touch it or you’ll die” (Gen.3:3, The Message). Together with the “tree of life,” the two trees represented the freedom of choice man makes throughout life: to choose God’s purpose for him, or to turn from Him and choose his own purpose. You can say the two trees has always depicted which way man will choose to turn the Love God has deposited deep in his heart and being.

So, when Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit it was not so much “sin” as it was “turning” their Love away from God to the “self.” For what is sin but an act of separation. To turn means to be separated from God. That’s all sin was: it was an act of “turning.”  We have not stopped Loving, we have simply turned our Love toward God to the “self.” We can get all legalistic about sin, and we miss the point about Love and why we are made in His Love-likeness – to Love Him above all else. The term “sin” in its legalistic sense entered human consciousness after the law was given. While sin is legalistic with do’s and don’ts, Love is relational and familial. So, obedience is about Loving God, and disobedience is an act of turning our Love away from God. Lovers we remain, because we are made in God’s Love-image.

No human was made in the image of a sinner, but in the likeness of a ‘Lover God.’ No one was created in the similitude of sin, not even the devil. The devil was created the archangel Lucifer, a ‘light bringer.’ (Isa.14:12)  God is Love and nothing but Love in all its gregarious grandeur and generosity exudes from His Person and holy presence. But man has “turned” Love from Loving God to loving self. Love has been reduced to a mere humanistic expression without the Holy Spirit (divine Love). Note the Genesis account after Eve succumbed to the temptation of Satan, “When the woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she’d know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate” (Gen.3:6).

Having turned their love from God, from here on it was human earthly desires and interests that inspired and drove man’s love. A lover man remained, but no longer a lover of God but the self. What was good or evil, what was right or wrong, how Adam and Eve and subsequently mankind would live life, was now all a matter of self-determination as seen through the lens of self-love. From the fall of Adam God had no input in human life because of the nonexistence of the Spirit (tree of life) in mankind. That was man’s choice. Mankind was cut off from access to His Spirit, however, His Love remain intact and unquestionable for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8).

We must understand without a shadow of doubt that humanity was given God’s Love so man will Love God first and above all else. (see Mark 12:28-31) Genesis records the account after our first parents turned their Love from God, “After He drove the man out, (after Adam ate the forbidden fruit) He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen.3:24, my emphasis). The spiritual Love of God in His Spirit stopped flowing to Adam because he had turned away from God and from His Love (Spirit).

The Gentle Dove, Symbol of Holy Spirit and Content Of God’s Divine Love (By Sh1019 – File: Gezi.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/)

They had turned their Love for God to Love for the self. Hence, we read Paul say, “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim.3:2, EST; 2 Tim.3:4; Phi.2:21). Lovers we remain for we were made in His likeness, but love has been turned inward and became a mere human expression, no longer divine but humanistic. God’s indictment upon humanity is clear-cut, “The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psa.14:2-3). Yes, we all have “turned” our love away from God to love of the self.

God will not force His Spirit (Love) upon humans since His Love comes with the freedom of choice. We have chosen to reject His Spirit in Eden. God says to Israel and mankind, “You have abandoned Me and turned your back on Me’ says the LORD” (Jer.15:6). But God promised to rectify the situation by sending His Son as the Messiah and restore His Spirit and so turn our hearts back to Him and His Love. (Gen.3:15; Heb.8:10-12) Jesus was abundantly clear about His role as Savior, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate (Holy Spirit/Love) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7; also Rom.5:5). At last, since Adam’s sin in Eden, the Holy Spirit can now be made available to mankind once again.

When Jesus gave His followers the new ‘Love command’ saying, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another,” it was ‘new’ in its literal sense. The ‘new Love’ enters the human life only through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, who has not been present with humans since Adam’s fall. (Gen.3:23-24; Rom.5:5; 1 Cor.6:19-20) By saying, “As I have Loved you,” Jesus speaks of the Spirit as the prime mover of the ‘new divine Love.’  Jesus gave us the model by which the Spirit enters humans life when He Himself was baptized in the Jordan River, then the heavens opened and the Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove. (Matt.3:16-17) Jesus inaugurated the arrival of the gift of the Spirit to mankind in the post-Adamic era and later poured out upon all believers on Pentecost. (Act.2:1-4) John the Baptist baptized Jesus under his ministry of repentance and forgiveness to prepare the way for the Messiah. (Mar.1:1-4) 

We do not become true children of God until the Spirit indwells us as His temple where He does the work of manifesting God’s Love in and through us. (1 Cor.3:16) The Spirit is the seed of the divine Love nature impregnating humanity much like Mary was supernaturally ‘inseminated’ by the Spirit’s power to carry the baby Jesus in her womb. (Matt.1:18; Eph.1:13; 4:30)   

Sin, by its simplest definition, means separation from God and His Spirit, and Jesus came to give Himself as a ransom to remove the wall of separation through His blood and provide access to the Spirit and restore man’s relationship with God and His Love. The Holy Spirit sanctifies man by living in humans as His very own temple, and conforms us to be like Jesus. (1 Cor.3:16-17; Rom.8:29). A temple is a place where God and man meet and fellowship in Love. That temple is your human body.  The Spirit inhales and exhales the divine Love in a moment by moment nourishing of the body-temple He now indwells.

Some have asked if God is self-centered even narcissistic because He commands us to Love Him first before all else, even ourselves? But how can Love, a giving and outgoing medium and way of life, be narcissistic? The two contradict each other and cannot go together. Think about this, to Love an Entity that is made in your own likeness is in reality an expression of Love for yourself. (Gen.1:27) It is like family, you can’t deny your flesh and blood, you are part of them. It is in your DNA. We don’t think of it like that. When God commands us to Love Him with all our heart, mind, and soul, He is commanding us to Love ourselves for we reflect Him. (Matt.22:37) To Love the Triune God above everything, is the only way to Love ourselves best. Only the Spirit can open our hearts to surrender to God’s Love just as He has yielded Himself to us by  giving us His eternal Son to be sacrificed as our Savior. Theologian Thomas Torrance said, “…For in refusing to spare His Son whom He delivered up for us all, God has revealed that He Loves us more than He Loves Himself.” (The Christian Doctrine of God, One Being Three Persons by T. F. Torrance).

So, there is a legitimate ‘love for self’ in God’s purpose, but it is not done through man’s rebellious mode of loving self first, but by Loving God first. The way to Love the self perfectly is to Love God our Father perfectly which humans can do only through the Spirit’s Love in them. When God sees you, it’s like looking at Himself in the mirror because He made you in His likeness. With the Father, each of us is His child as His eternal Son, for Jesus lives in us: “For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.'” (Act.17:28). Though we have turned from Him, He remains faithful, and the Scriptures affirm His Love like this, “If we are unfaithful, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny who He is (in us)” (2Tim.2:13, my emphasis). God is Love, thereby, by Loving Him first we are truly Loving our self in the most exceptional and divine way. We are living the “Triune Life” in Christ by the Spirit’s power, not the “solitary life” in the self under the devil’s influence. So, when God commands us to Love Him above everything and everyone He is placing the focus of attention on us, not Him, because we are one with Him in His Triune Being. (Deut.6:5)

“Where Love Is, God Is” (Pic.1: By böhringer friedrich – Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/ Pic.2:  By Priyansha kesharwani – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/)

The Scriptures say that “Every generous act of giving and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father who made the heavenly lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow” (Jam.1:17). It says every perfect gift is from above, there is nothing imperfect with God, why is this so? Because God is Love and He oozes with noble generosity. Are we seeing this? We will never know in a million lifetimes all that is truly good for us – only God can manifest them because we are made of Love as He is Love. We are in our place of superabundance in His Love from which every good and perfect gift flows. But Adam took us down the path of self-love and self-determination in place of the Spirit and His divine outflowing Love, and look what it has brought us – the pages of history is full of human suffering, pain, and man’s unimaginable inhumanity to man with one deathly act of atrocity after another.

The Spirit will give us eyes to see and the heart to believe that every desirable and beneficial gift that’s tailored for our personal and individual   wholeness of being in His Love, comes from no other source but our heavenly Father. These gifts, according to James, are like rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. (John 7:38-39) Light means there is no deceitfulness with God (Love), He is never two-faced, never fickle or untrustworthy but consistently dependable and steadfast. The Bible then encourages believers to “live as children of light” (Eph.5:8). Walk, knowing fully His Love and grace never leaves our side.

As we step into another year, we have the choice to make 2017 a truly refreshing and memorable one. Let us consider that since God created us in His Love-image, He did so primarily for the purpose of Loving Him above anything and everything so we can learn to Love ourselves in the best possible way in the process. We must be aware that we can only live life fully, totally, and perfectly when we share in the life of the Tri-Personal Being of God (Love) by living it ourselves. That is what living the “Triune Life”* means. It means to allow the Spirit to sanctify us, by uniting us to Jesus in heaven who in turn mediates all our inadequate human responses so we may obtain mercy and divine unity (Love) with the Father. (Heb.4:14-16) This is the heart and soul of what living the “Triune life”* and what living in His Love-image and likeness entails.

I end with an assuring passage from the Bible about God’s Love which He has locked into our human DNA. This ought to guide us in 2017, His “Love will never fail” us if we focus on Loving Him first through and in His Son. (1Cor.13:8).

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or you may email me on bulamanriver.com. Thank you for visiting.

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”* as a Bulamanriver.**  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang, (Your Servant In Christ)                                                                     

* Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/8036:

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website at: http://bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living.” Or, you may go to the directory banner at top and click “Mission” where you will find more information.

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.

Note: All information is copy-write material. Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information. Thank you.

Greeting once more Friends! A happy New Year 2017 to all, and may God’s Love, Peace, and Joy reign in your hearts, and those of your loved ones, throughout the year.

As we enter and face the year 2017, what would we consider as our most important task? It has been said a person alive today will see conditions change in ten years than his ancestors saw in a hundred. We live in an age where progress seems to come in quantum leaps, and failure to adapt is not an option. Today’s once successful companies have failed because they have not adapted to change and progress. Of course, companies are not inanimate organisms, they are managed by humans who failed to adapt in an ever-changing business environment. We can be fearful and threatened by the uncertainties  of change, especially if we don’t recognize the changes that may harm us. But we must be courageous and not allow fear to freeze us into inaction or make wrong choices.

“Where Love Is, God Is” – L. Tolstoy (Pic: Wiki Commons)

The prophet Daniel predicted this “age of increased human knowledge” and said, “Only those who are wise will know what it means” (Dan.12:4, 10). Yes, in the seeming deluge of ever increasing change and progress, the onus will always be upon us to understand them and adapt appropriately. All things new, as long as they are good, may be for overall human benefit, but not all new things are right on an individual basis. How do you become the “wise who knows what it means?” – to understand the good from the bad changes we will face in 2017.

The only means by which we can wisely interpret change and progress, as it relates to its productive and unproductive effect in our lives, is through God’s divine Love. The origin of our nature – who we are as unique persons – is founded upon His Love, for “God IS Love,” and He made humans in His (Love) likeness. (Gen.1:26-27; 1 John 3:8) If God is omniscient, then He fills all of time and space, and His presence surrounds us as the air we breathe. (Job 33:4; John 20:22) The Palmist said it this way,

“Where can I go from Your Spirit (Love)?
Where can I flee from Your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, You are there;
If I make my bed in the depths, You are there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
If I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there Your hand will guide me,
Your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
12 Even the darkness will not be dark to You;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to You” (Psa. 139:7-12).

In whatever field of endeavor we pursue today, change seems like the operative word. But there is another operative force which never changes to outside forces, but remain constant and unchanging. It changes external influences and brings stability and peace to those who use it. The Bible quotes God as saying He is “the same yesterday and today and forever…I change not, so you are not consumed (saved).” (Heb.13:8; Mal.3:6). What God means is He IS Love, therefore, His eternal disposition to save man and creation remains unchanging. Everything else may change, but Love never does. In other words, His Love adapts to whatever circumstance, hence, the Bible says, His “Love never fails” us. (1 Cor.13:8).  When you think change may bring chaos and fear, that is where Love thrives best and brings order.

I will have more to say on this topic in my next blog. May the peace of God envelope and reign in your hearts as we enter the year 2017.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or you may email me on bulamanriver.com. Thank you for visiting.

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”** as a Bulamanriver.**  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang, (Your Servant In Christ)                                                                     

* Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036                        

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, http://bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my book,  “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” Or, you may go to the directory banner at top and click “Mission” where you will find more information.

 All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.

Note: All information is copy-write material. Any information obtained from this website that is used for publication should be acknowledged by citing the website address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship. For general guidelines regarding web citations see The Guide for Citing Electronic Information. Thank you.

Greetings Friends. Let me begin this post by apologizing for a slight disruption to my website due to a hacking issue which has now been resolved by our external web hosting providers. Once again please accept my apology for any inconvenience this may have caused you in any way. Our site is safe and secure to navigate twenty four hours a day and seven days a week. May you always find enlightenment, encouragement, peace, and God’s grace whenever you enter our space and visit with us.

In this issue I am presenting an excerpt from a previous issue that’s relevant for this time just to get the ball rolling, so to speak. It speaks of the subject of peace.  

In Ancient Israel, the people may bring a “peace offering” before the Lord. It was voluntary but full of ritual and meaning. The priest would go through the rigmarole of preparing the offering with the offerer. What was acted out during this sacrifice foretells what the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus would bring in God’s activity with humans. The “peace offering” was also called the “saving offering.” (Keil-Delitzsch Commentary) The animal sacrifice was cut up in portions to be shared by the three parties: God, the priesthood, and the offerer. God’s portion was the fat, considered the best portion of the animal. This was placed on top of the already burning sacrifice. The priest received a specific portion for himself and his family, and the offerer received the remainder.

The burning of the offering on the altar is considered a “sweet aroma” as God consuming a meal and is satisfied. So this sharing of meal between the three parties shows all is at peace and in restful communion. (Lev.3:1-5; 7:11-18) Peace is also signified by “thankfulness” because all parties are filled, contented, assured, and accepted. This is Jesus’ ongoing work as High Priest of making peace between man and God our Father. Recall, no Israelite could offer this or any other of the 5 sacrifices of his own choosing or method, he has no choice but to engage the priesthood (Jesus).

God, foretelling the work He will do through His Son, said, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remember your sins no more. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you” (Isa.43:25; 44:22). Paul, speaking of Jesus’ High Priestly role in heaven, said, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died–more than that, who was raised to life–is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us” (Rom.8:1, 34).

Another aspect of the “peace offering” is that when offered as “thanksgiving” it must be consumed the same day. The rationale seems obvious, this is a ‘completed’ and shared communion meal of thanksgiving, assurance, joy and peace, with God (the Father), the Priest (Jesus), and the Offerer (with Spirit residing in the believer). As you sit with your family for meal this Christmas, reflect on the emblem of the “peace offering” and invite God to be present with you and your loved ones. God has made peace with you and your family through Jesus. This is the essence of Christmas.

May I wish you and your family peace and joy this Christmas season! Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessings of the God who ceaselessly expresses Himself in His dependable Triune Love, be with you always. May the Spirit enliven your spirit and make all things concerning you possible as you live the “Triune Life”** as a  Bulamanriver.*  Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang,  

* Bulamanriver” is the metaphor describing the union of man with the Love of the Triune God flowing in humans, making possible the “Triune Life” – the source of the miraculous life in man. To read the many facets of life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website http://bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my book.

** Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life man lives in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you. Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/8036

All scriptures are taken from the NIV Version 2011, unless stated otherwise.