Author Archives: Kiang P Lee

THE CHRISTIAN & MONEY, BY KIANG P LEE

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APPENDIX 1:

Riches Are Meaningless – Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

“Whoever loves money never has enough;
whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
This too is meaningless.

¹¹As goods increase,
so do those who consume them.
And what benefit are they to the owners
except to feast their eyes on them?

¹²The sleep of a laborer is sweet,
whether they eat little or much,
but as for the rich, their abundance
permits them no sleep.

¹³I have seen a grievous evil under the sun:

wealth hoarded to the harm of its owners,

¹⁴ or wealth lost through some misfortune,
so that when they have children
there is nothing left for them to inherit.
¹⁵Everyone comes naked from their mother’s womb,
and as everyone comes, so they depart.
They take nothing from their toil
that they can carry in their hands.

¹⁶This too is a grievous evil:

As everyone comes, so they depart,
and what do they gain,
since they toil for the wind?
¹⁷All their days they eat in darkness,
with great frustration, affliction and anger.

¹⁸This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.¹⁹Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. ²⁰They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart.”

APPENDIX 2:

“Money is a Curse” By Sheldon Drobny

Posted: 05/09/2006 12:46 pm EDT Updated: 05/25/2011 11:50 am EDT (an excerpt)

A few days ago Bill Gates was quoted as saying that he wished he were not the richest man in the world. For a society like ours that admires wealth so much, this statement seemed to be strange. Yet in fact, the endless accumulation of money for its own sake is the worst thing that can happen to a person and for the society in general.

I have observed many people who have become extremely wealthy since I am a financial advisor, CPA, and venture capitalist. In most cases, those who become very wealthy lose their psychological motivation to provide the means of support to their families. People who no longer have to earn money to survive unwittingly must turn to other things in order for them to seemingly have a purpose in society. And most of these other purposes are bad. Once anyone has achieved wealth, they usually turn to achieving power and influence in society and they are usually ill prepared to do things in the best interest of humankind. Rather, they turn to family wealth accumulation to create legacies much as the Pharos did in ancient Egypt.

In the musical, Fiddler On The Roof, Tevya is told by his future son-in-law Perchek, that “money is a curse.” Tevya responds by saying that “God should smite him with this curse.” Perchek was an early 20th Century socialist who understood the exploitation of the masses by those who had money and power. Tevya then sings a song called If I Were A Rich Man. One of the great lines of that song is, “…when you’re rich they really think you know.” And that is the trouble we have with rich and powerful leaders. People really think they are wise because they have money and power. My experience is that wisdom and competence are inversely proportional to the desire for wealth accumulation

The qualities of good leadership have nothing to do with money and wealth accumulation. Occasionally wealthy people have qualities of good leadership, but that is only coincidental. There are many factors that make for a good leader. Many people have written about the subject and it is an extremely rare talent. Unfortunately, the choices of leaders are based mostly upon wealth and influence and accordingly we are stuck now with many corporate, community, and political leaders who are incompetent.

Money is essentially a “zero sum game.” Most people do not understand that. The obscene salaries of many corporate executives are not going to the rank and file workers or the shareholders. That is why the middle class in America is struggling so much. And without a strong middle class, the U.S. will be heading towards an eventual insurrection as we almost had during the Great Depression. And the current political situation has exposed the corruption and cronyism involved in wealth accumulation.

A few years ago I visited my daughter in Spain while she was an exchange student. One of our tour guides was politically savvy and asked me why the rich and powerful in America are insensitive to the needs of the masses. He explained to me that after the death of Franco in 1975, the emerging socialist movement gave the wealthy classes two possible choices. Plan A was an insurrection in which they would lose all their property. Plan B was that they pay higher taxes to create the safety net needed by the masses and more fairly redistribute the wealth. Given that choice, the wealthy in Spain chose plan B.

I am afraid that in our country, it may come to the fear of losing everything through an insurrection that will finally convince the wealthy class that it is time to make a change. But, it will take a massive grass roots effort to make that happen. Hopefully the very wealthy will recognize this before they self-destruct.

BULAMANRIVER, MISSION, VISION, & VALUE, BY KIANG P LEE

Note: All information is copy-write. 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

LIFE & DEATH – WHAT IS IT, REALLY? BY KIANG P LEE

3 Replies

Greetings again Friends!

People think of death mainly in a physical sense. We mourn the death of loved ones, family, and close friends. We grieve the demise of our leaders, people we admire and respect, and those we look up to. But there is a death more real than physical death. It is a death that is spiritual and more deadly than physical death. Although spiritual, it is a death we experience physically and its effect is seen and felt all around us today. Most don’t know what this death looks like because they can’t see let alone understand it for what it truly is, and what it is doing to them. Death is not just the end of physical life, for as we shall see, we experience death’s consequence in everyday life. So if death reigns in the human experience, then what must life look like? It must be something out of this world. Indeed, it is!

God revealed to man from the beginning what this death is, what it looks like, and what it truly means. After Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, disbelieving God’s word for them over what Satan the devil said about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, He summarily told them what the outcome of their decision was: death! (Gen.3) This is where death began, its origin began with Satan and Adam’s decision. Death is not just the mere end of human life, but the negative effects of human experience is part and parcel of death. Jealousy, rage, greed, covetousness, hatred, war, sicknesses, selfishness, etc, etc. Imagine a world where we no longer live in an environment created by these negative triggers.

But it was an evil scheme hatched by Satan to wrest man’s dominion of this earth given him by God. (Gen.1:28, KJV; Matt.11:8-10) It was not a death that was physical, Adam and Eve did not just drop dead, physically speaking. His spirit became in a dead/sinful state. The Bible tells us, “The wages of sin is death,” spiritually speaking. Adam died spiritually – the spirit of life in him died. In that state, Adam did not have the basis upon which to hold his dominion on this earth. How can he, for his dead spirit means he’s disconnected from God who gave him dominion over earth. God is the “God of the living not the dead” (Mark.12:27). Adam will not have legs to stand on to resist the wiles and deception of Satan. In fact, from here on man becomes Satan’s prisoner. Thereby man is deprived of his dominion upon earth, for now Adam lives under the influence of the devil, held in the chains of bondage and death. This is what true death looks like, to be a prisoner of the devil.

Arlington National Cemetery. Death is More Than Physical. There’s Spiritual Death. (Wiki Commons)

God gave Adam and Eve adequate prior warning, listen to the account: “Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen.2:8-9, 15-17). If God say “certainly” or “surely” then you know absolutely a part of man died. God does not play with words, “Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psa.119:89). His word is sure and dependable.

Paul told Timothy, “Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner” (1 Tim.2:14). Recall, the instruction was given to Adam before Eve was created. So she most likely got the instruction about the tree of life and the forbidden fruit from Adam. But Adam took responsibility because God made him leader and in charge. “Adam was formed first, then Eve,” Paul told Timothy. (1 Tim.2:13) Something happened to our first parents when they rebelled against God’s clear instruction, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves” (Gen. 3:6-7). They were naked from day one of their creation, what made them “see” their nakedness now? Let’s read the dialog between God and mankind’s first parents.

Garden of Eden (Wiki Commons)

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

“So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen.3:8-15). God told Satan, and promised man, a second Adam will come to deliver man from the prison of death the devil has incarcerated mankind.

God told Adam directly and unambiguously, “The moment you eat from that tree you’re dead” (Gen.2:17, emphasis added). The question is, what died? Adam and Eve were still alive and well, physically speaking, other than being conscious of their nakedness, and fearing God for their disobedience. What died was Adam’s spirit. In other words, whereas his spirit was alive when he and his wife related with God in the beautiful Garden of Eden, now his spirit became dead because of his decision to disobey God. Adam’s rebellion was sin, and sin brought death. Paul asserts this truth, saying, “The wages of sin id death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom.6:23). They were expelled from Eden and from life which emitted from God’s presence. The ‘spirit of life’ in Adam was given to him by God at creation giving him authority to relate with God through Love (Holy Spirit, Rom.5:5), “Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (soul)” (Gen.2:7). Through Adam’s disobedience his spirit became in a sinful/dead state, and passed from him to mankind generationally through multiplication to our day – today: “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion’ (Gen.1:28).

Jesus said something vital about life and death, “Life is spiritual. Your physical existence doesn’t contribute to that life. The words that I have spoken to you are spiritual. They are life.” (John 6:63, God’s Word T). If your physical life doesn’t add a smidgen of spiritual vigor in your life, what does? Answer, the Holy Spirit! Man’s human spirit does not exist independently, it is spawned and bred by and in the Spirit of God. (Gen.2:7) So, Adam’s fleshly (physical) life don’t amount to much if his spirit is dead. How can Adam’s spirit offer life, physical and spiritual, if it is dead? Man’s spirit is either alive through the Holy Spirit’s Love, or dead through Satan’s deception. Hence, man has become the devil’s prisoner, for he is the author of darkness and death. The “death” of the ‘spirit of life’ God gave man simply means man’s physical activity in every sphere of life is now motivated by the devil’s rebellious spirit which leads to ultimate physical death. But God’s promise is immortality by a resurrection. (1 Cor.15:50-57) No amount of good intentions will rescue us from this deathly spiral to spiritual and physical extinction. On the other hand, the spirit of life in man “lives” when he is driven by the Holy Spirit. The wisdom of Solomon makes this plain, “The human spirit is the lamp of the LORD that sheds light on one’s inmost being” (Prov.20:27). From this, we understand the physical activities in man’s world is triggered by the toing and froing taking place in the spiritual realm. (Job 2:1-4) Hence we read, “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the power of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph.6:12). The spirit-world is more real because it affects the material world we see around us.

Paul affirms this generational diffusion of man’s spirit in its dead state of existence, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned…Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Rom.5:12, 18-19). The evil we see all over the world today is proof of man’s state of death (sin) in his spirit under the devil.

The Earth Given to Man for His Dominion, But Usurped by The Devil. (The Earth Seen From Apollo 17 – Wiki Commons)

When Adam’s spirit died he became spiritually naked, but it manifested physically – they “realized they were naked (physical).” God is making a point: i.e.our actions resulting from a dead spirit (unseen) has negative physical consequences (seen). Everything we see around us are manifestations of the condition of man’s spirit-life, and what happens in the spirit-world. To kill, steal, and destroy, are physical manifestations of our dead spiritual condition. (Eph.6:12). God says, “Whoever finds Me finds life” (Pro.8:35).

Only in death man is physically laid naked to return to the earth from which he was taken, hence, they “realized they were naked.” Jesus said, “I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness” (Rev.3:18). Man’s spirit when it’s alive in the Spirit’s power is not naked. John said of believers, “It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.” (Rev. 19:8) So, we can see from these biblical metaphors that Adam’s spirit was naked and spiritual dead in sin. We have inherited the same dead spirit from Adam. As we read earlier, Jesus said, “Life is spiritual. Your physical existence doesn’t contribute to that life” (John 6:63). Your physical existence is merely a reflection of your spiritual life, be it dead or alive.

As long as Adam and Eve remained faithful to God’s command, their spirit was alive and living under the influenced of His Love. The moment they expressed disbelief in God’s command they disconnected themselves from the Spirit of God which gives life (Love) to their spirit. Once they expressed belief in Satan’s words of deception, their spirit succumbed to the devil’s dark world of wickedness and their spirit died. Metaphorically, man becomes the “walking dead” – alive physically, but dead spiritually. This does not mean God has left mankind to the whims of the enemy, for He promised to rescue man by sending a second Adam, the Messiah, who would come to right what Adam wronged. (Gen.3:14-15; 1 Cor.15:45) God’s sovereignty over all, including His enemies, remains unquestionable. (You may read Ezekiel 36 where the words “Sovereign Lord” is used 7 times in seven verses).

But freedom is part of the Triune God’s nature as much as Love is. Love cannot preside over a relationship where there is no freedom to choose. (Gal. 5:1; Rom.8:2) God wants our hearts, not our legalistic and mechanical obedience. Adam was given freedom even to rebel, if he chose to follow such a path. And he had experienced God’s Love, so he had a choice between life and death, he was given the freedom of choice. But God tells us to choose wisely: “This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live” (Deut.30:19). Freedom comes with the responsibility to Love, and we will certainly lie on the bed we choose to make.

As a passing observation, this tells us how important our faith is in life. We act upon what we believe to be true (faith), therefore, it is imperative to guard the door of our faith vigilantly, for John warns us, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). (Read my installment on “Jesus Faith” posted on 07/26/2014)

The Second Adam

It was not until Jesus Christ, the second Adam, came on the scene over four thousand years later, that He revived man’s dead spirit back to life by the power of the Holy Spirit. (1 Cor.15:45) He was the Immanuel (God in the flesh) who took our humanity upon Himself to regenerate it and bring new life to our once dead spirits. (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23) Paul told Titus, “He (Jesus) saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5). When Jesus told Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” it was about bringing back to life man’s spirit that was in a dead state through Adam’s disobedience (sin). He said, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit’ (John 3:7, 5). It is the Spirit who brings the spirit of man back to life as God gave it originally to Adam. Jesus said the Spirit is the “river of living waters springing from our innermost being” giving life to our once dead spirit. (John 7:38-39) (For our reader’s information, the title of this Blog Site is called, Bulamanriver. The word is a metaphor for life and living in the Spirit’s power. The etymology of Bulamanriver comes from three words: ‘bula,’ ‘man,’ and ‘river.’ Bula is a Fijian word which means “life.” (Fiji is an independent South Pacific Island nation). Man is God’s creation in whom God breathed the “breadth of life” or the spirit of life in man. (Gen. 2:7) River is the metaphor for God’s Love flowing in humans through the Spirit. (John 7: 37-39. Rom.5:5)

Paul wrote, “But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus” (Eph.2:4-6). This is not about the afterlife, it speaks of the believer’s state of existence through the Spirit today. Whereas Jesus came and took our humanity upon Himself to bring us life and retake our dominion of this earth, Satan’s devilish scheme was to put man to death to wrest his dominion and keep it for himself.

So, Jesus came and defeated Satan in the temptations, accomplishing what Adam failed to do (1); He lived a perfect life in the Spirit doing nothing but good (2), and died as the sacrificial lamb for man’s sins (3). He was resurrected an immortal divine/human Son, and ascended to sit on the Father’s throne in heaven as mankind’s High Priest (4). Before He was crucified, He promised the disciples to send the Holy Spirit to be with believers “forever” (5). In other words, what happened to man through the first Adam, Jesus has reversed once and for all and restituted all things to God (6). Satan’s defeated means the end of his reign of death over mankind once for all time (7). Paul comforts us with these words, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will He not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Rom.8:31-39). Such is the depth of God’s Love to give us life and save us from death!

(1) Matt.4:1-11 (2) Acts 10:38; Matt.9:35, 12:15 (3) Rev.13:8; John 3:16 (4) 1 Cor.15:4; Heb.7:16-17, 10:12 (5) John 14:16; Eph.1:13-14 (6) Acts 3:21 (7) Rev.20:2).

Spirit in Man – Dead or Alive? (Wiki Commons)

The work of the Spirit to revive man’s spirit is revealed in God’s ‘covenant promise’ to man as follows, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezek.36:26; Heb.8:10). Yes, the heart of stone is the dead spirit Satan activated through Adam’s rebellion. And yes, the Spirit will bring man’s spirit back to life, and keeping it alive, like a fountain of living waters gushing from our innermost being. It must be by the living human spirit, energized by the Holy Spirit, that the flesh is to be saved from eternal death.(Rom.8:13)

Man’s spirit of life (human spirit) alone, which God breathed into Adam at creation, was given to define his humanity authorizing and enabling him to communicate with God His purpose and man’s destiny. When God said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be a hundred and twenty years,” (Gen 6:3) it means as long as God’s Spirit is communicating with man’s spirit, then man remains alive – both spiritually and physically. The moment God ceases to strive or preside over man’s destiny, then man ceases to exist and is dead. By saying “My Spirit shall not always strive with man,” means God is always striving (working out His purpose) with man unless something prevents His purpose occurring. So, soon after uttering the above words, God brought the flood to end all life on the earth with the exception of the eight in Noah’s ark. And God gave His reasons for bringing the flood, “the wickedness of man and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually” (Gen. 6:3).

God has wrapped all of creation in His Love – Love is His life, for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). The only place where His life (Love) is missing is in man’s heart because he chose the way of death through Adam. Jesus, the second Adam, has repaired that. The spirit of life in man was given to forever connect us to God’s purpose of making us into His image and likeness of Love. (Gen.1:26-27) And this happens when man’s spirit is alive to the Holy Spirit, not dead to the devil. Jesus said of His Father, “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Mar.12:27). Jesus also said, “But the time is coming–indeed it’s here now–when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way” (John 4:23). The word ‘worship’ has been couched in so much legalism we have lost its authentic meaning. Worship is not about coming to church once a week every Sunday. It means simply to have an authentic Loving relationship with our heavenly Father through Jesus, which we choose with our free will, that’s energized by the Spirit. We worship what and whom we freely Love.

Of course the spirit of life in man is not self-sufficient, it needs God’s Spirit to guide and help him, and ultimately to bring him to immortality, for that’s God likeness – He’s immortal and eternal! Only the Holy Spirit can change man from mortal to immortality. (1 Cor.15:12-58) So, man’s spirit plus God’s Spirit, amounts to immortal humans. The prophet Ezekiel quotes God also saying, “You shall surely live” (immortality). Note, “And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ (as was said of Adam) but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right...they will surely live” (Ezek.33:14,16). No human on his own can turn away from his sin – the only way is to be forgiven of all sin in Jesus’ blood, and then be continuously sanctified, or, “do what is just and right,” through the work of the Spirit. (1 John 1:17; 1 Thess.5:23; 1 Pet.1:2)

Only Jesus is the first human who has attained to this glorious purpose of the Father – the resurrection of humans to immortality. He is the firstborn of immortalized humans of others who will follow in the resurrection of the dead. (Rom.8:29) Paul said this of the Holy Spirit and man’s immortality, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption (immortality) of those who are God’s possession–to the praise of His glory.” (Eph.1:13-14, my emphasis). Yes, the Holy Spirit is God’s “down-payment” in you guaranteeing your immortality. Again, emphasizing the centrality of faith, “when you believe” – the Spirit is the gift of your faith in Christ, your Messiah. (Rom.8:9) As for those who died in the faith, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die (physically)” (John 11:25). That is God’s final answer to death and sin – immortality!

The Resurrection to Immortality – God’s Final Answer to Death (Statue of Fountain of Eternal Life, Downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA – Wiki Commons)

Last Word on Death

The last word on death is revealed in the Bible, and goes as follows, “I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O death, where is your victory?

“O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor.15:50-57). What comforting words about the final demise and defeat of man’s public enemy #1 – death!

The question is, are you dead or alive in your spirit… is the Spirit energizing your spirit life so death does not reign, and has no place, in your life? God is “the God of the living, not the dead.” If you believe with all your heart that Jesus is God’s One and only Son, that He came as the second Adam to rescue us from Satan’s prison of death; that He defeated the enemy for us in the wilderness of Judea, and was sacrificed on Calvary for our sins; He was resurrected and ascended to heaven, and He sent us the promised Holy Spirit to revive our spirit which was dead and make us alive in Him, then you can live again in your spirit, and through God’s Spirit, live a life that’s truly life, and be guaranteed immortality in the Father’s presence forever. (John 3:16; 1 Tim.6:19) This is the Gospel!

I hope you have been greatly encouraged by these words from our Father and the God of all mankind – “the God of the living, not the dead!”. (Mar.12:27)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

Until we meet again in my next post, may the blessing 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 Living as a Bulamanriver.* Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang,

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

Note: All information is copy write. 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

ANGELS, BY KIANG P LEE

1 Reply

Very warm greetings from Texas!

In this segment I would like to touch on the topic of angels. It can be fascinating to get to know more about angelic beings and why God created them, and some of their actions, both good and bad. This subject is near to my heart because I have encountered good angels that saved me and my wife and two friends from certain death. Because of space and time limitation, you can read my account of encounter with angels by going to “About Me” in the directory banner at the top of this page.

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Angels Encircled in Bright Light Saved the Writer from Certain Death (Pic: Wiki Commons)

The word “angel” comes from the Greek word “angelos” which means messenger. The study of angels is called the doctrine of angelology and is a part of many systematic theological works. The tendency, however, has been to neglect it. Perhaps, it is not considered important enough. But as we shall see, different order of the angelic hosts play vital roles in God’s Kingdom, and in the salvation of man.

Angels are created beings. Angels are intelligent beings (Matt.8:29; 2 Cor.11:3; 1 Pet. 1:12) , they are emotional beings (Luk.2:13; Jam.2:19; Rev.12:17), and each has an individual personality and will (Luk.8:28-31; 2 Tim.2:26; Jude 6). Angels are spirit beings (Heb.1:14) and do not have physical bodies. They are much more powerful than human beings and possess greater knowledge.

Order of Angelic Hosts

Seraphim are the highest angelic class and they serve as the caretakers of God’s throne and continuously shout praises: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” (Isa. 6:1-6) Cherubim guard the way to the tree of life in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:24) and the throne of God (Eze. 28:14–16). Archangels, of which there are seven, are said to be the guardian angels of nations and countries. There are other orders that are defined by their roles: Thrones, Dominions and Lordships, Virtues and Strongholds, Power and Authorities, Principalities and Rulers. Then there are Angels or malakhim, i.e. the “plain” angels (ἄγγελοι, pl. of ἄγγελος, angelos, i.e. messenger or envoy), are the lowest order of the angels, and the most recognized. They are the ones most concerned with the affairs of living things. Within the category of the angels, there are many different kinds, with different functions. The angels are sent as messengers to mankind. (wikipedia.org)

All of the above should tell us that angels of various orders play vital roles in the dispensation of God’s Kingdom in the universe, on this earth, and in the affairs of men. For example, consider that God has assigned angels over nations and their most specified task seems to be influencing the affairs of men so that justice and the purpose of God’s Kingdom is carried out. That should tell us they are vital in the conduct of human affairs. The following passage seem to confirm this,

“When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of God.” (Deut. 32:8-9).

The Hebrew text for the above passage reads, “When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel.” However, in place of “children of Israel” the Greek reads “ἀγγέλων θεοῦ”, “angels of God.”

According to the Greek text, God divided the nations of mankind according to the number of the angels of God. This is said to have occurred when God divided all mankind right after the tower of Babel incident, which was not long after the Flood. (Gen.11:1-9) Every nation had an angel responsible in some capacity, and this was how things were arranged by God. Michael was the angel for Israel, and the nations of Persia and Greece also had angels that they belonged to in some way. We have been taught from childhood that God has assigned guardian angels under the auspices of His divine Kingdom. That ought to give credence to the role of angels in our lives, not only individually, but more so in areas we may not yet fully understand.

Man’s Relationship with Angels

What we read above tells us there is a relationship between mankind and angels, and God. Angels are not to be worshiped by man, only God the Creator is worthy of worship. Angels are created beings, so is man. The created worships the uncreated Creator. The Psalms make a very interesting observation in regard to man and angels, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?You have made them a little lower than the angelsand crowned themwith glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of Your hands; You put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!” (Psa.8:4-9).

Angels in Jacob’s Dream (Gen.28:10-22) (Paul Gustave Doré, 1832-1883, Wiki Commons)

Role of Angels

The passage begins with humility where man observes the mighty hand of God as he sees the wonder of His creation around him, even in the spirit world of angelic hosts, and inquires, ‘why do You take the time to even bother about man?’ The Psalmists asks in effect, why the holy Creator should even spare a thought for sinful, unworthy, and insignificant, man? Yet, here is the nub of the answer, when man was created as the Genesis account show, God gave him a lofty vision and mission of himself. A mission which still baffles man which he grapples into coming to terms with in its magnitude – man was made to take on the very image of God Himself and the likeness of His Son. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) Man’s mind seems too small to comprehend it fully to truly appreciate it in its complete scale. It has to take God’s Spirit entering the human mind to open and reveal what fallen man can’t begin to imagine. As Paul said, “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who love him–these are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (! Cor.2:9-10) Its enormity is beyond human consciousness were it not for the move of the Spirit who gives us eyes to see what normal human can’t do. But He did not say the same thing of angels. The Bible shows the role angels is to be servants of God’s Kingdom and to ensure the rule and sovereignty of God’s Kingdom remains their prime objective and pursuit. And one of those roles is to help bring about the will of God in reproducing Himself in mankind. (Gen. 1:26-27) God’s Kingdom is a family affair, so His desire is to have more children with whom He can share everything and have a relationship like He does with Jesus His Son from eternity. This Love relationship existed even before the creation of angels and mankind. (John 17:23-24) Thus, the government of God (Kingdom of God) is entrenched in the hearts of angels and humanity forever.

Fallen Angels

Not all angels are good. There are rebellious angels who have turned against God’s Kingdom. They are commonly referred to as “fallen angels.” The term “fallen angels” does not appear in the Bible, but most likely taken from the following passage, “How have you fallen from heaven, O star of the morning,” which refers to Lucifer the archangel who turned against God and became His adversary. (Isa. 14:12). ‘Star’ is symbolic of angels as Job 38:7 show. Fallen angels are those who rebelled against God along with Lucifer who became the devil, Satan. The following verses are often quoted in reference to their rebellion, “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly; In the recesses of the north;‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ ” (Isa.14:12-14). Lucifer wanted to be God. His name means “morning star” or “light bringer.” However, he changed from being one who brings light, to become the bringer of darkness. (Eph.6:12; 2 Cor.11:14).

Most commentaries agree that one-third of the angels fell into sin and became “fallen angels,” and the following passage is used to support this, “And another sign appeared in heaven: and behold, a great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven diadems.And his tail swept away a third of the stars of heaven, and threw them to the earth…” (Rev. 12:3-4). In the future, there will be a judgment upon these fallen angels, “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, who deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:9).

Lucifer, Now Satan, Cast Out of Heaven by God in John Milton’s Paradise Lost (Wiki Commons)

Fallen Angels and the Flood of Noah

Because angels were created to be the army of God’s Kingdom and support the Kingdom’s purpose in creation, which includes helping mankind become part of His Kingdom, they were created shortly before man to witness creation and go before mankind and reveal the Kingdom’s purpose for each. God asked Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone—while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).

The fallen angels had wreaked havoc on the earth beginning with Adam, when Lucifer, now Satan the adversary, deceived Adam to turn against God. Adam and his wife Eve were expelled from Eden. (Gen. 3) By the time Noah appeared on the scene as the tenth generation from Adam, people have multiplied on the earth and Satan and his fallen angels had taken every opportunity to turn them against God. (Gen.5) And they had done a thorough job of their evil schemes, so much so that God found there were now only eight upright people of all mankind on the face of the earth. It seems hard to comprehend, but the Bible quotes God as saying, “The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them” (Gen 6:5-7).

“Every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time” – it was for this reason that God decided and said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created,” not to mention every living creature. How can this be? How did man deteriorate to such a level of depravity that God saw no other option? God told Noah to build an ark to save the eight in his family and the animals, birds, and creatures, for future posterity. It seems hard to imagine that God has run out of options but to destroy the earth and all living creatures. Unless, unless of course, there is another side other than what we have not been told about story of Noah and the flood.

Noah’s Ark in the Philippines (Wiki Commons)

Many of us have not been taught the factual story of the flood, or refuse to believe what actually the Bible says happened. The story of Noah from Sunday school has always been presented like a fairy story. But it’s reality is beyond what one could have ever imagine, and stranger than fiction. For God to be left with no other option but to send a worldwide flood to destroy all living things including humans, ought to make us ask what was it that prompted God to go to such a drastic measure. Think of the things you have been told why God had to go to this extreme to exterminate life by a worldwide deluge. You may have been told your version, others have been told theirs, I have been told what I believe. But nothing will prepare you for this version I am about to tell you. And when you think about it, you will understand why God had no other option but to “wipe from the face of the earth the human race.” You may have thought God was cruel and heartless, but nothing could be further from the truth – not anymore when you hear this story. You will agree with God, there was no other option.

I will share this with you in Part 2, titled, “The Fallen Angel’s Role in Noah’s Flood”

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

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

Kiang,

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

Note: All information is copy write. 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

PRAYER – A TRINITARIAN ACTIVITY, BY KIANG P LEE

“PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR,” BY KIANG P. LEE

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Greetings friends! Let me continue with the theme of renewal as the season of Spring is upon us. Are there fears in your life you are struggling with? Many lives have been crippled by fear – both real and imagined. Let’s discuss this important topic. I hope by the end of this blog post, you will have found the only way to eradicate your fears.

The Bible gives the answers to our fears. The Scripture says plainly and unequivocally , “There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). Many believers have seen this passage, even tried to live by it as best as they know how, but regrettably their fears continue to pursue them like a plaque. Why? Quite simply, they have not known how to apply this passage. You have to ask and answer what is “Perfect Love.” That is the key to overcoming our fear. Once you have the answer, then fear will dissipate as quickly as it comes.

“Perfect Love” – What Does That Mean? (Wiki Commons)

I have always shown and explained through my blog there are only two ways of life to live: the “solitary life,” and what many of my readers have to come see me write, the “Triune Life.”** The “solitary life” is the condition in which fear is the motivation. The “Triune Life”** is the condition where Love is the driving force. Fear and Love are opposite conditions we freely choose and elect to live by. So, let’s answer what are these two broad ways of life.

“Solitary Life” – the False Self

Living the “solitary life” means a life that’s lived in oneself apart from Jesus Christ. We are all born into the self-centered “solitary life” as a consequence of Adam’s fall. Paul said, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom.8:9). Christ is the second Adam. The Bible says the Spirit is the personification of God’s Love in us, and thereby empowers the “Triune Life”**: Paul asserts, “God’s Love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom.5:5b). The “solitary life” is life that’s lived under the influence of the devil, the instigator of human sin, pain, and suffering which breeds fear in humans. The self-centered “solitary life” is synonymous with everything uncreative, corrupt and deathly in fallen man. Some of my readers may not have heard of these two terms. The “good” man does, God calls “filthy rags” because they are self-righteous acts which does not breed Love but promotes fear. (Isa.64:6) It’s the underlying motive of our hearts which counts. (1 Sam.16:7b) The “solitary life” in turn shapes the ‘false self’ who lives by fear, not Love. Many call themselves Christians but still live the “solitary life” which is a paradox, for the essence of following Jesus is to live the “Triune Life.”** It’s no fault of theirs if they had not been shown how to live it. They were told to “receive Christ” but were never shown how to follow Him. They may have been taught different terms which are ambiguous, and downright misleading, as we’ll see. I hope I can make this as simple to understand so you too can live the blessed life God has called us to in His perfect Love – the Love which drives out fear.

“Triune Life” – the True Self

The word Triune means consisting of three in one, as in the Trinity. It conveys the Tri-Personal Being of God in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore “Triune Life”** means a life that’s lived in and under the influence of the divine Love of the Trinitarian God in heaven. However, all people since Adam have not known, let alone lived by the “Triune Life.”** Because of Adam’s fall, mankind has been consigned to living this self-centered “solitary life.” The Bible speaks of Jesus as the second Adam who would come and right the wrong of the first Adam. “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22; 1 Cor.15:45). Jesus comes and introduces the “Triune Life”** to man by revealing the Father and the Spirit. He said, “I and My Father are One,” and, “I will ask the Father and He will give you another Advocate (Spirit) to help you and be with you forever… He will glorify Me.” (John 10:30; john 14:16; 16:14). That is one of the pillar objectives of His coming to earth, besides others, to reveal God is Triune – to show God is our Father, Jesus our Brother, and Herald* (Spirit) is our ever-present Friend and Miracle-Worker.

Man Has to Change (Born Again) from the “Solitary Life” in Self to the “Triune Life” In Christ (Wiki Commons)

Thus, the “Triune Life”** is born and made a reality in the life of man through man’s Savior, Jesus. The basic tenet of living the “Triune Life”** is revealed by Jesus in His words, “By Myself I can do nothing” (John 5:30). By saying that, He disenfranchises Himself from the “solitary life.” In other words, He never does things solitarily on His own; the way He thinks, feels, and acts, is done in complete collaboration with the Father and the Spirit. How can He, when Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit, are of one substance and reality in the Triune Godhead. Even if He wants to, He cannot, so the act of One is always the act of all Three Persons in the Trinity, and the act of Three is the act of One. Jon P. Murhpree, in his book , “The Trinity and Human Personality,” says this, “Each one (of the three Persons of the Trinity) transposes Himself into the others without confusing His own personality with the others. Through Love, diversity and unity are so inextricably interwoven that the Father, Son, and Spirit do not exist as Persons alongside each other as much as they exist in and through each other. Each One constantly has perfect access to the others complete thought and feelings.” (pg.29) So when we follow Christ, we live the same “Triune Life” in the Spirit’s power.

“Perfect Love” Comes to Man By Entering the Life of the Trinity – the “Triune Life” (Wiki Commons)

As I said, many were told to “receive Jesus” but were never taught the true cost of becoming His follower. Very simply, the “cost” is giving up the “solitary life,” and embracing the “Triune Life.” Jesus makes plain that it is possible to say one is Christian, but be none of His: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt.7:20-21). By saying, “only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven,” Jesus was pointing us to the “Triune Life.”** God is trinitarian and indivisibly ONE in their Triune Love for each other. Each Person in the Trinity find completeness in their Love for each other, not in their individual selves. By receiving Jesus as Savior, the believer is translated into the same life where he lives this collaborative, interdependent, unified, and Loving, “Triune Life” in Christ, where we seek “to do the will of the Father.”

It is not a relationship based upon legalism, but on Love for each other. For in doing this, the believer finds his ‘true self’ in Christ, not in himself. God placed gifts upon us which the Spirit enunciates them (gifts) in life. Thus we read Paul’s words, “We are complete in Christ” (Col.2:10). To think and live trinitarianly is to dwell and live in each other’s Love for each other, not in one’s own solitary self-centered self. In other words, you find your ‘true self’ only by discovering fulfillment in Loving one another. This is how fear is driven away when we cease to be self-conscious and be other-conscious, like God is in His Loving Triune nature.

“Perfect Love” found Only in the “Triune Life”

The purpose of the “Triune life” is essentially to protect the believer from the inconsistencies and ravages of the “solitary life” which brings fear, suffering, heartaches, and ultimately physical and spiritual death. We’re not living in the emotional juggernaut of the moment through the ‘false self’ who generates fear (intuitively), in all its manifestation and its dire consequences. Hence the “Perfect Love” which drives out fear from our lives is found only when we are living the “Triune Life” in heaven with the Father, through Jesus’ continuous mediation, and in the power of Herald the Spirit who lives is us as His temple. 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). And His command are not grevious, “In fact, this is Love for God: to keep His commands. And His commands are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). How can something which dispels and removes fear from your life be burdensome?

Gentle Dove, Symbol of The Holy Spirit and Power of God’s Love (Wiki Commons)

From Fear to Love

God’s covenant promise to man is to give him a new heart to end his suffering from living a “solitary life” through a newborn “unified (Triune) life” in His Son (Ezek. 11:19; Heb. 8:10, 10:22). He will remove the heart of fear and give him the heart of Love. In becoming a mortal human, Jesus vicariously assumed man’s sinful life, including his fears, in His perfect Being. In doing so, He destroyed fear and replaced it with God’s love. For, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). Finally man can reciprocate with the same Love with which God Loves man. This is “perfect Love” which drives out fear.

How to Enter the “Triune Life”

Let me now state briefly how man enters the “Triune Life” of God, so you too can live it and defeat all your fears. It begins when God calls you out of your self-centered “solitary life” of fear and embrace the “Triune Life” of Love through the finished work of His Son. Jesus said, “No one comes to the Father, except through Me. I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). In other words, we enter the “Triune Life” of God the Father when we accept His Son Jesus, as personal Savior who cleanses all sins of the ‘false self’ who has lived the ”solitary life” of the devil. The promised Holy Spirit inaugurates the “Triune Life” by bringing the ‘true self’ fashioned in the image of Jesus, the Son of God. (John 14:16; Rom.8:29)

We leave behind the ‘false self’ and everything to do with the “solitary life,” and embrace our ‘true self’ in the Spirit. We call this the gift of repentance and forgiveness, and the process of conversion of the new birth from the ‘false self’ to the ‘true self.’ (John 3:7) The Father’s promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit is the personification of His divine Love in us. (Rom.5:5) We become the temple of the Spirit: “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you” (1 Cor. 3:16). Fear, which is part and parcel of the ‘false self,’ has once for all lost its grip and has no power over us. John said this of the devil, “the evil one cannot touch you” (1 John 5:18b).

Christianity and Religion

Here is the main issue of Christianity when it is practiced as a religion. Christianity as a religion has turn man back upon himself by saying that his salvation is “his responsibility.” They say Christ has done His part, now man must play his part to earn it, as if salvation is a 50/50 proposition. If Christ is a partial Savior, then the Gospel is not true. This is the devil’s deception at its very core because man carries on living the “solitary life,” and Jesus and the “Triune Life” is left out of the picture altogether. Jesus is not a 50/50 Savior. Salvation is all grace and freely given to man. God has not abdicated your salvation by placing it in your own hands, nor the hands of another, least of all religion, for that matter. If salvation is a free gift which comes from the free grace of God, it is impossible for man to earn it, let alone 50%.

Fear is Driven Out By Embracing the “Perfect Love” in the “Triune Life” (Wiji Commons)

Our most difficult task is to learn to step out of the way, for the ‘false self’ is always tempted to dictate his solitary expressions in life. Instead, we must step back and see the wonder of His hands at work – perhaps, for once in our life. God says, “Stand still, and see My salvation which I will show you. I will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exo.14:13-14, emphasis mine). Salvation is all God’s doing in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. For the Gospel tells us He is our complete Savior. (Col.2:10; Acts 4:11-12). Our part is simply to “hide in Christ” like the waters cover the riverbed (man), and let the Spirit live His life fully (overflowing) in man as “living waters” (John 7:37-39; Psa.32:7). No part of the believer (riverbed) is seen or heard, as he is completely and overwhelmingly covered and hidden in Christ in the “living waters” of the Spirit. All our fears which lead to deprivation and want are overpowered by the overwhelming Love of Jesus just as the “living waters” cover the riverbed engulfs us completely (1 John 4:8). The riverbed (man) and the “living waters” (Spirit) the metaphor for the “Triune Life.”

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

Kiang,

* Herald is the name I have come to personalize the Holy Spirit in my life. He is Friend, Helper, Intercessor, and Miracle-Worker, to each and every believer.

** 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 (“Adamic humanity”). It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). 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” 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 www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: 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

SPRING IS TIME FOR RENEWAL, BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings friends everywhere! As the season of Spring welcomes us in the Northern hemisphere, it is uplifting and inspiring to see renewal in nature all around us.

Spring time brings on new life which greets us everywhere. How things change in a few short weeks, Take our family peach and apple trees, it was not long ago when they were just messy unruly twigs and long dried branches. Now, with pruning, they are bright leafy green trees and full of life with golf-size fruits. The avenues and sidewalks are already heralding Spring-time with their magnificent blooms and inspiring colors and tones.

Like the Spring in nature, there is likewise a spiritual Spring. It is almost as if God created the four seasons to depict His activity in humanity. We have a spiritual Spring when renewal takes place and we gain fresh perspectives and sow its seeds. Then there’s summer when we tend to the fruits of renewed purpose and energy. Then autumn brings on the joyous harvest season to prepare us for the winter when we can reflect on what God has done in the past year, before He brings us to another refreshing start next Spring. And so the cycle of life goes.

How does this portray our spiritual Spring? In what way does He make it truly refreshing as well as renewing?

Peach Tree in Late Spring/Summer (Wiki Commons)

God is Creator, therefore, the basis of all He does is to create, restore, and renew. He sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue and regenerate mankind. God’s creation, as it relates to man, simply means to impart true life! Life is opposite of death. Adam brought on death to man through rebellion and sin, but Jesus brought life through righteousness and Love. We read, “So it is written, ‘The first man Adam became a living being;’ the last Adam, a life-giving Spirit” (1 Cor.15:45; also, Rom.5:12, 14-15). God is the God of the living, not of the dead. (Mark 12:27) The Spring season points to life, not death. What is this life God desires to give man, whom He has created after His own image? (Gen.1:26-27). Jesus answers, “God so Loved the world and gave His only Son that whoever believes shall have eternal life” (John 3:16). Adam gave us a living physical being, sold to sin, but Jesus (second Adam) gives us eternal life, through the life-giving Spirit. Jesus is man’s spiritual Spring, for He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:16).

Freedom to Choose

Immortality is God’s image, He’s not human like us. But He made us for immortality. He made us humans first so we can freely choose His way of Love, as opposed to the way of bondage and fear of the devil. Love and freedom are opposite sides of God’s Triune nature. God is a God of Love, He is Love, and where Love is, there is freedom. The freedom of choice God gave Israel millennias ago, still rings true today, “Today I have given you a choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you may choose life, so that you and your descendants might live” (Deut.30:19, NLT). Yes, we will live a blessed life humanly speaking, and eternally live in His Triune presence.

God encourages us to freely choose the life He dearly Loves to give us, “Oh that you may choose life.” So, it’s a way of life which produces true life. He does not offer us eternal life of and by itself, but immortal life in God’s way of Love and freedom. Because we are made for His image of Love and freedom, God gives us a mind capable of making choices. He did not make us like beasts that’re controlled by instincts. He gives us the freedom to rebel if we so choose, like He gave Adam, but He encourages us to choose life instead.

But the truth of the matter is, since Adam, we have been held in bondage to the devil’s deception where we have had no choice. This form of bondage is called sin. Sin is an insurmountable wall between man and God. Sin simply means to be in a state or condition of rebellion against God. The wall has to be removed to give man the freedom of choice, for as it is, he has no option but serve the devil in a deceived state of existence. But Christ came, and removed the wall of separation of sin, and for the first time, we are given a choice between the way of bondage in the devil, and the way of freedom in the Spirit. Paul said, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (bondage)” (Gal.5:1). We have lived all our lives under the devil’s influence that we cannot decipher the difference between true and false freedoms. Jesus came and lived a perfect sinless life, was crucified as the human Savior, He was resurrected and ascended to heaven, and became for us the eternal Mediator between man and God.

Joseph Sold Into Slavery by His Brothers by Damiano Mascagni1, (1579-1636) (Wiki Commons)

Before He was crucified, Jesus made a promise to His followers, He said, “I will ask my Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever” (John 14:16). Jesus told the disciples what the Holy Spirit (Helper) will do, “He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you” (John 16:14). In other words, the Spirit will reveal to man all that Jesus means to each one of us on an individual and personal basis, and collectively as a church. The Spirit takes away the scale from our eyes so we can see and receive true freedom.

What will the Spirit reveal to each of us? Jesus answers: first, He will expose sin for what sin truly is (John 16:8). Second, He will teach us what righteousness truly means (V.8). And third, He will reveal what is the ultimatum of judgment. (V.8). Then He explains what each means to us: firstly, sin is simply man’s refusal to believe in Jesus the Messiah through whom all sins are pardoned, past present, and future (V.9). Sin is a spiritual diseased condition from which we can never be cured except through a permanent Mediator (Jesus Christ, our High Priest), and the Spirit who sanctifies us. Secondly, righteousness means Jesus has gone to be with the Father (V.10). (I will explain this in detail in the next paragraph). And thirdly, judgment means the instigator of sin, Satan, has been judged and convicted because Jesus has overcome him by His perfect life, and His sacrificial death on the cross (V.11).

Righteousness Is Life (Spring)

The Spring season depicts life, let’s answer the question, what is righteousness? Proverbs tells us, “In the way of the righteous, there is life” (Pro.12:28). So, primarily the fruits of righteousness produce true life. But Jesus goes further and provides a revolutionary, yet all-inclusive, definition of righteousness (life) never heard by man, He said, “Righteousness (life) is available because I go to the Father” (John 16:10). In other words, true life is made possible only through Jesus. By saying His ascension to the Father in heaven is the whole meaning and implication of righteousness, He was saying a lot more than meets the eye. Think about it, by returning to the Father now in His glorified human/divine form, Jesus not only took our humanity and glorified it in Himself as the only perfect human who ever lived, and died as Savior of mankind, but He broke down the wall of division of sin which separated man from God since Adam. Finally, man can enter the very presence of God once and for all eternity through His Son. He continues to play that role as our High Priest in heaven. One has to be righteous to be in the presence of God. Thus, we read this, “God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness (receive true life) of God” (2 Cor.5:21). Paul says further, “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive (righteous)” (1 Cor. 15:22). It means we can spiritually step into Jesus’ glorified life in faith, and enter into the Loving presence of our heavenly Father, and fellowship with the Triune God. Listen: “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph.2:6). This is not just dogma, this is spiritual reality. It takes the living faith of Jesus to enter and live this spiritual reality.

Spring Brings Life & Fruits Synonymous with Spiritual Righteousness (Wiki Commons)

Now, listen to how Jesus explains this reality we have in Him. This is a portion of Jesus’ prayer to His Father, “Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with Me where I am. Then they can see all the glory You gave Me because You loved Me even before the world began!” (John 17:24) Did you see that, or have you read right over it? From eternity, before any physical matter was, before time and space came into being, God’s only activity was Loving His Son. God is Love – that’s all He does. It is difficult for us to wrap our minds around this because we have lived all our lives under bondage to our fallen state of existence. Listen again to Jesus, .”I have made Your very Being (the Father) known to them—who You are and what You do—and continue to make it known, so that Your Love for Me might be in them, exactly as I am in them” (John 17:26, MSG, emphasis mine).This eternal activity of Love the Father has for Jesus in the Spirit’s fellowship, we now become privileged to share and experience forever in Jesus. This is the essence of the Gospel and the “Triune Life” the Spirit brings to each one of us. It is hard for such a reality to sink into our limited human minds, but this is the Gospel’s truth.

“I’m A Self-Made Person”

Many believe righteousness (life) is the good things we do for our families, neighbors, and the greater community. Nothing could be further from the truth. God calls human goodness “filthy rags” (Isa.64:6). Self-righteousness is condemned throughout the Bible. (Ezek.33:13; Rom.3:27; Titus 3:5) Self-righteousness means human goodness which claims to give life, and man has no power to impart life because he is part of the created. The fact that man eventually dies, proves that. He can only receive life from the true Source of life. Only God is uncreated and is the Source of life as Creator, the giver of true life (righteousness). Only the Spirit, the Source of true life, can produce authentic good through our deeds. (Eph.2:10) Keep in mind, humans have been doing good and evil in this world under bondage to Satan’s influence. This life is the product of self-righteousness begotten of the forbidden fruit from the “tree of good and evil” which Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat. (Gen.2:16-17) The devil has craftily deceived humans making them think their good deeds will produce life and save them. It’s disingenuous good that’s hollow and have no lasting value. But Jesus reveals to us the divine goodness in His Love (true life), and how our heavenly Father had planned to bring His human children back to Himself through His Son, and in the power of the Spirit. In other words, living the “Triune Life” in the Spirit activates this life in Jesus which brings genuine renewal and authentic goodness (righteousness/life), the physical counterpart of Spring. As I said, God is Creator, therefore all of life in its authentic lasting expression springs from a source that’s spiritual, not physical which is part of the created realm.

“By Myself I Can Do Nothing”

We don’t often realize one vital principle Jesus lived by when He walked this earth: He never relied upon Himself to do the work His Father gave Him to do. Frequently, we imagine Jesus to be like some super hero from the movies, but in truth He never fits that mold, even though He was God’s Son. For He said, “By Myself I can do nothing” (John 5:30). Isn’t that disconcerting for many. The miracles He performed in the backwaters of the Palestinian landscape was not entirely His own doing. The scriptures tell us clearly He had the anointing of the Holy Spirit’s power, the third Person of the Triune Godhead, who worked collaboratively with Jesus to fulfill His Father’s mission. (Acts 10:38; Matt.3:16-17) Why am I emphasizing this point? Because Jesus never lived the “solitary life” which the devil deceived Adam and Eve into accepting. The solitary, self-centered life of humans is the basis of the rebellious life of the devil. Jesus lived the collaborative “Triune Life.” He was never a “lone wolf” doing His own thing. As the second Person of the Trinity, He could never act alone except in complete Oneness with the Father and the Holy Spirit, with whom He is indivisibly of One Substance in the Trinity. Peter said, “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow His steps” (1 Pet.2:21). Paul said, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Cor.11:1). We too follow His example and say, “I can do nothing on my own” (John 5:30, NLT). If we follow this motto, then the only way to live is the collaborative “Triune Life” where we trust in stepping into the life of Jesus in the Spirit’s power. The “Triune Life” is not lived entirely earth, but derive its energy and life by living in Christ in heaven.

I hope you can see where we are going with this – if the Spirit “dwells in us forever” as His earthly temple as the scripture attests to this truth (John 14:16; 1 Cor.6:19), and He is homousiosly of One substance with, and inseparably unified in the Trinitarian Godhead, then His presence in us automatically connects us to Christ with the Father in heaven. So, when we come back to Jesus’ definition of righteousness in John 16:10, we find ourselves living in its message, being transported by the Spirit and made righteous in Christ to be with the Father so we can receive renewal and life here and now, and ultimately immortality. (John 16:14-15)

This is the Spring of Life which flows into us like a “river of living waters” (John 7:37-38). It comes from living the “Triune Life” in the Spirit’s move in our lives. We are the riverbed into which the “living waters” of the Spirit ever flows.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

Kiang,

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

Note: 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

HOLY SPIRIT – ACTIVATOR OF THE “TRIUNE LIFE” IN MAN, BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings once more friends! In the past two posts I have spoken about God’s nature in all His motivations is always triune and the full expression of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in man. In this post we’ll see the Holy Spirit is the Activator of the triune life in the life of the believer.

File:Holy Trinity Icon.jpg

Rublev’s Famous Icon of Holy Trinity (Wiki Commons)

A river is an attractant for people because it is a place where they can flourish and be sustained indefinitely. As a Bulamanriver*, you are an attractant for people. You are the living, walking, Gospel of Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever believes in Me, as the Scriptures have said, river of living waters will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit” (John 7:38-39). People naturally come to the living gospel, we don’t take it to them – we don’t force it on them. You can only flow into the valleys you have been assigned. (John 3:27)

The Creative Life Find Its Source in the Creator

Jesus is leading the way, and we are following His “flow.” Whatever Jesus does, we do. This defines the mechanics of Trinitarian living. Jesus “lives creatively” in the power of the Spirit through us as Bulamanrivers from which we derive our inspired abilities (Matt. 16:24; John 8:12, 12:26; 1 Pet. 2:21). We don’t take the “creative fruits” of Love in the Spirit and bottle them up inside us – that is “reverse flow”; it’s stagnation and lifelessness. You cannot plow a field by turning it over in your mind, but by taking the important second step of putting your hands to the plow.

Fruits – Love’s Tools for Creative Living

If the Spirit’s “living water” is always flowing, then He is reliably accessible and ever dependable. He never leaves a void in us but fills every crevice and cranny in our lives. If indeed His Love “never fails us,” then what is Love’s real and practical manifestation that reflects this unfailing quality? It can only be the Spirit’s fruits, and Paul documents this in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 13; Also Gal. 5:22-23; Rom. 12:9-21). God’s Love is the peaceful flow of the Spirit’s life in the Bulamanriver: it is *the fruit of patience, *the fruit of kindness, *the fruit of contentedness, *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *the fruit of humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *the fruit of joy, *the fruit of peace, *the fruit of goodness, *the fruit of faith, *the fruit of gentleness, *the fruit of self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. All these and other traits of the Spirit spells one thing: they spell the actions and emotions of the God’s Love in the life of man. (Rom.5:5) By and through them we decipher and peek into the different tones of God’s Love. They present to us the way of life of the Triune God.

God Is All-Powerful & Almighty, Yet He presents Himself to Man in the Most Gentlest of Icon as a harmless Dove

It’s not possible to speak of the Spirit’s work in the Bulamanriver without the fruits that identify who He is – it’s one and the same, it’s unavoidable. Most times when people think of the fruits of the Spirit, they often view them academically through the legalistic lens of religious proponents who uses them to make “better people” of us. We live powerless lives when we do. We are not zombies, but free-will humans made in the image of God. So we say, “I have no choice in the matter, so I may as well go along with the program” – as it were self-improvement exercises. On the contrary, we fail to realize that from eternity these fruits undergirded the loving relationship of the three persons within the Triune God. Love’s energy is brought to life in the application of these fruits. In our constant presence before God, the Bulamanriver share this energy and the creative relationships we have within the Triune existence of God. Now you are in their midst living the same life they live from eternity and tasting that life in the Spirit.

Living The Power of The Triune Life

Many believe in the Trinity but have not experienced the Trinitarian life, let alone know of its power in their lives. Paul was addressing this very issue of denying the power of the Triune life of God when he drew the attention of young evangelist Timothy, to a list of actions (fruits) that were disempowering people. He mentioned being unloving, unthankful, without self- control, brutal, unforgiving, self-lovers, despisers of good, disobedient, and so on. These and other such actions are fear-based behaviors. Paul said, “They have the form of godliness, but deny its power” (2 Tim. 3:1-5, KJV). All these behaviors stand up against the list of the Spirit’s fruits we saw earlier, which are Love-based behaviors. These were professed Christians, who somehow deceptively cloak their selfish intentions and place a label of godliness on them. But they lacked authenticity for they denied the only power that defines them as one – the Spirit’s fruits, or Love. The Bible is clear if one does not have the Spirit living in him, he is not an authentic Christian (Rom. 8:9, 14).

The Christian life is experienced through the Triune life of God – the “living waters” of the Bulamanriver is the Spirit’s energy animated by these fruits. We can view these fruits in a purely academic frame of mind, but they are first and foremost the energy and spark of the Spirit in the life of the Bulamanriver. We can exercise them as some self-righteous human behavior or we can give ourselves to the Spirit to let His energy inspire our actions in them. The practice of the fruit of the Spirit is not for some hollow “self-improvement” exercise for human personal gain. The fruit is the Spirit’s creative energy for developing loving relationships with our God and our fellowman. When relationships are motivated by fear they become twisted, because relationships are made for Love based on the Triune existence of God Himself from eternity. (John 17:24b) The fruits of the Spirit articulates God’s Love and undergirds all human relationships of the Bulamanriver within the Triune life of God. The miraculous life we are called to live springs from this triune loving relationship. This energy is not inert but is alive for the fruits touch on the positive emotional response of people in the relationships we engender in our respective valleys. As I said, the Spirit lies passive and inactive in every human giving man’s intellectual prowess. He becomes active as a gift of “fire” from heaven when man receives Jesus as his Savior.” (Pg.109-113)

“River of Living Waters” Metaphor for the Spirit’s Move in Man as pictured here as Proceeding from The Mountain of God. Hudson River (Wiki Commons)

Ambitious people have driven themselves to do great things as they are motivated by the “dominion spirit” given to man at creation (Gen. 1:26, 28; Ps. 8:6-8). However, by living and riding the deadly river of fear and deprivation (the “solitary” life), they have ignored and despised as trivial the fruits of the Spirit of “living waters.” Blinded by their conceit and arrogance, they have unwittingly ridden the torrential waters of ruin and despair. They regard such “creative fruits” of the Spirit as trivialities and beneath their notice. They associate these acts with weakness which, in their blindness, actually puts them at a precarious disadvantage. Without recognizing the creative energy of the Spirit’s fruits, they have inadvertently failed to utilize the very power that will bring them the abundance they seek, without all the pains and perils of the “solitary” self-centered life.

They think the only way is to compete and control and allow greed and avarice dominate their “solitary” existence. They fail to realize that the “dominion mandate” given to man precludes our domination over another person. As far as man’s relation with man, Paul said there is just only one thing we owe one another, “the debt of Love” (Rom. 13:8; Gal. 6:2). There is only one Ruler over man – God, who personally directs him, not another man. (Heb. 8:10-11; Isa. 30:20-21). Becoming a truly great man or woman takes unselfish attention, first to small tasks, sacrificing selfish ambition and pride in place of those necessary things which evoke no applause and reward. In applying the fruits of the Spirit, he ascends to the level of prominence that only a Bulamanriver can attain, for he lives in and in the “creative power” of Jesus in the Spirit’s “living waters.”

Recall Jesus final words to His disciples: “Go and tell the world about this wonderful Gospel, and baptize and bring them into the Triune Life of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19, emphasis mine). May the Triune Love of God fill your riverbed as a “Bulamanriver”* to water the valleys of your calling and eventually bring you to your foreordained destiny.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

Kiang, (Your Servant in Christ)

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

Note: 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

GOD RELATES WITH MAN THROUGH HIS TRINITARIAN NATURE, BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings Again Friends Around the World,

Man’s salvation is eternally tied to a life lived in the heart of the Trinitarian existence of God. The command to not worship other gods apart from the true God, is directly connected to our conception of Him – that He is “Trinitarian” and not a “solitary,” one-person God. Other gods are solitary, not triune like He is in the Father, Son, and Spirit. By being Triune in nature, He essentially is relational and lives as ONE in Love, for He is Love (1 John 4:8) His Triune reality in man creates a world of difference more than we can ever realize. This is the stuff of the miraculous.

Rublev’s Famous Icon of Holy Trinity (Wiki Commons)

In this post, we’ll see how God relates with man in His Trinitarian reality and extend the same to all mankind through believers who have put their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. My sincere hope is you will see God’s unmistakable appeal to man in the Gospel to participate and experience His Trinitarian reality through Jesus in the power of the Spirit. And then to live life that’s truly life with all humans, through a relationship that is realized in the Spirit that is true to His nature of Love in His Triunity. (John 4:24)

Life presents us with only two broad ways of life – man’s self-centered “solitary” way, or God’s loving, unified “Triune” way. In the book, “Bula man-river – The Miracle of Triune Living” I presented two metaphors to represent these two ways of life: the “Bulumanriver” with deathly waters of carnal man influenced by the devil, and the “Bulamanriver” with the “living waters” of the Holy Spirit where life is lived in the heart of the Triune life of God. One is 1-dimensional, while the other is 3-dimensional. One is the way of independence, while the other is the way of interdependence. It is a life of living in the Spirit who unifies man to the Father through the Son, not in his fleshly self. Paul was inspired to write this,

“If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness…. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom.8:9-13). Here, we see how both Jesus and the Spirit interpenetrates the “living waters” flowing in the life of the Bula man-river (believer).

Purpose of Triune Life in Christ

The purpose of the “Triune life” is essentially to protect the believer from the inconsistencies and ravages of the “solitary life” which ultimately leads to physical toil and spiritual death. It is a life lived under the influence of the devil who is the instigator of all human pain and suffering in the world. God Loves us so much He wants us to live a life filled with joy, not suffering. He is the Fountain of joy, a joy that will culminate in an eternity with Him. (Isa.12:2-3) When you are thinking trinitarianly in Christ, you are aware that your walk is always in the midst of the Father, Jesus, and Herald (Spirit). Your emotional reaction is always tampered by Their Loving relationship with each other that you have now stepped into and receive and live in Christ.

To think and live trinitarianly is to dwell and live in each other’s Love for each other, not in your own solitary self-centered self. In other words, you find your true self only by discovering fulfillment in one another. So we’re not living in the emotional juggernaut of the moment through the “solitary life” that comes with dire consequences. Every act you take in the Triune life of God, makes you consider their Loving Triune reality in your life, and every other human, those of the faith and they who are not in the faith. And always, it is an action taken in Love, for Love is the very nature of the God who is Triune. This is what the surrendered life means, it’s not the life of the defeatist, but a life of triumphant procession in His Love.

Living the “Solitary” Life Still

If the “Triune Life” frees us from the curse and malevolence of the “solitary life,” then it’s logical to conclude that the “Triune Life” essentially embodies the ‘Creative Life’ of the Triune God, for the very Life of God is synonymous with all things good, breathtakingly wonderful, and magnificent in its splendor. (Gen.1:31; Ps.8; 40:5; Acts 10:38; Mal.4:5-6) The “solitary life” is synonymous with everything uncreative, corrupt and deathly in fallen man. Here is the irony that’s seen in most of Christianity: many who call themselves followers of Christ are living the “solitary life” still – they think as long as they acknowledge Christ, then they are in good-standing with God. To live the Christian life in “solitary” mode is to live apart from Christ, for He is Triune in His Godly nature with the Father and the Spirit.

Though a person may claim to believe in the Trinity, if he still lives the “solitary” life in himself, he still lives apart from Christ. Paul said, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom.8:9). So, we see Jesus does not act solitarily, there’s the Spirit also. Many “Christians” simply don’t know how to live the Triune Life in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Taking the name of Jesus automatically comes with the Triune Life of God. (Matt.28:19) In reality, taking the name of Christ demands we give up the “solitary” life in the self, in exchange for the Triune Life in Christ. It’s a change that I call “flush-out” in my book. The Christian Life is lived in Christ, who lives in the “Triune Life” of God. The sign of Christianity was made clear by Paul above – it requires the presence of the Holy Spirit. The presence of the Spirit is the start of the activity of the Trinitarian God in a believer made possible by Jesus. (John 16:7)

What Religion Does

Sadly, what religion has done is turn man back upon himself in his “solitary life” by saying that his salvation is “his” responsibility. They say Christ has done His part, now man must play his part to earn it. This is the devil’s deception at its very core. Salvation is all grace and freely given to man. God has not abdicated your salvation by placing it in your own hands, nor the hands of another, for that matter. Salvation is all God’s doing in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If Christ is a partial Savior, then the Gospel is not true. Jesus is not a 50/50 Savior, with man playing his 50%. If salvation is a free gift which comes from the free grace of God, it is impossible for man to earn it, let alone 50%. For the Gospel tells us He is the complete Savior. Paul says, “We are complete in Him” (Col.2:10; Acts 4:11-12). Our part is simply to “hide in Christ” as the waters cover the riverbed (man), and let the Spirit live His life fully (overflowing) in man like “living waters” (John 7:37-39).

What The Spirit Does

The work of the Spirit is made evident by Jesus when He said, “But when He, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own, He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is to come. He will glorify Me for 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) It is clear the work of the Spirit is to reveal what belongs to, or the will of, the Father and the Son for you and me. This passage is entirely Trinitarian in its rendition and meaning. In other words, Jesus is telling us that salvation is not entirely His, but is the will of the Father, and the Spirit have important roles in our lives every day. Jesus emphasized this truth when He said, “I can of myself do nothing” (John 8:28). It is unfortunate that we have placed Jesus’ work in our solitary frame of reference and overlook how the Spirit is deeply involved with Jesus in true their Trinitarian movement to make our salvation possible. The Spirit’s role is to take man into the Triune Life and understand the will of God in his life in and through Christ.

Doing The Will of The Father

Jesus makes plain that it is possible to say one is Christian, but is none of His: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt.7:20-21). By saying, “only the one who does the will of My Father” He makes a Trinitarian statement. Jesus never did things on His own, by His freewill, but rather His actions was always a collaborative triune work with the Father and the Spirit. The verse following this says even those who perform miracles in His name He will shun: “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!'” (V. 22-23). Many have wondered about this passage as to its actual meaning. There’s is only one possible answer, are you relating with God in your own “solitary life” and will, or in His “Triune Life” through Jesus? The answer makes all the difference. It explains about what a person believes inspiring the way he lives – if he lives the “Triune Life” in Christ, or if he has place Christ in a box of his own solitary making.

The will of the Father is also the will of the Son and dispensed by the Spirit in the believer. So, from eternity, the will of God has always been “Triune.” The eternal activity of the three Persons of the Trinity was one of Loving each other. (John 17:24) The act of One is always the act of all Three – God is indivisibly ONE in their Love. This translates into a life where man lives a collaborative, interdependent, unified, and Trinitarian life in Christ. We can do “good works” based upon our human “solitary” mindset, and God calls it for what it truly is – “filthy rags” (Isa.64:6). It is what the Spirit produces in man, flowing as “living waters” in the riverbed of man (Bulamanriver*), that results in “good” that’s of Godly substance.

Let us look into the “Creative Life” we are brought into by the presence of the Spirit in man, who constantly takes him into the presence of the Triune God so man can live the “Triune Life.”

What is “Creative Life” – Fire of the Spirit?

The beauty of the Trinitarian life in all its awe and wonder is to experience and participate in the “creative works” of God as He flows in us into the valleys He has charted for us to reach out and touch with His Love. (John 17:20-23) Our most difficult task is to learn to step out of the way, for we’re always tempted to dictate our “solitary” expressions of life. Instead see the wonder of His hands at work – for once in our life. God says, “Stand still, and see My salvation which I will show you. I will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace” (Exo.14:13-14, emphasis mine). Listen, we can’t see His salvation if we don’t allow Him. God is Love and gentle, He’s not pushy and aggressive when it comes to His children. God made man in His image, so man also has creative genius, but the question will always be, will man become a creative person in Christ through the Spirit, or be creative in his solitary self? What He has done in the universe, pales into insignificance compared to what He is creating in man. God is really recreating Himself – children, like Jesus, to inherit His nature and all things. The material creation around us is subject to deterioration and decay. But God’s cosmic plan is to use it as “clay,” so to speak, and create His very own children (Rom. 8:20-24; 29-30). Whereas the universe and life upon this earth was made to exist uniformly intuitively, man was not. That is to say, God has to convince man of His Love, for man was made to bear His image, and where there is Love there is of necessity freedom. Where there is freedom, there is the inevitability of choice. God cannot apply the instinctive uniformity He placed in creation to be similarly applied to man, for that would make man a robotic creature. He has only one means with which to convince man to accept His offer of becoming His children – His Love.

The miraculous life we live is essentially the expression of His triune Love for us. The principle upon which God’s “creative work” is done in mankind, is through the “creative Love” of Jesus through the Spirit. He gives us the power to summon our thoughts to Christ’s service through the captivating Love of the Spirit (2 Cor. 10:5; Rom.5:5). All thoughts of fear that lead to deprivation and want are overpowered by the overwhelming Love of Jesus just as the “living waters” cover the riverbed engulfs us completely. (1 John 4:8). Paul speaks of thoughts that are true and honest, thoughts that are just and pure, thoughts that are gracious and endearing, thoughts of virtue and excellence – in short our thoughts are to be about the Love of God (Phil. 4:8). In Triune living, man is the extension of the Triune nature, so we are an extension of God’s Love. I will continue with this theme in the next segment.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

Kiang, (Your Servant in Christ)

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

Note: 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.

THE MALACHI CURSE – MAN FORGETTING HIS TRINITARIAN ROOTS, BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings Again Friends,

Whenever the name of God is mentioned, it always means “Triune” for He is Trinitarian by nature in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The name of God never means “solitary,” or existing in isolation without His Threeness which makes Him who He IS, and unique among deities. Man is solitary, God is Triune. Man essentially became solitary when Adam rebelled in Eden and took mankind down the self-centered (solitary) path of life. But, in essence, man is a Triune being who bears the Trinitarian image of the Creator God, made in His likeness so fellowship with Him has always been man’s destiny. This Trinitarian roots will never be lost to man, for it is planted deep in the soul of human consciousness replicated in the image if the Triune God. (Gen.1:26-27)

File:Holy Trinity Icon.jpg

Rublev’s Famous Icon of Holy Trinity (Wiki Commons)

The Malachi Curse

There is a powerful and compelling prophecy in Malachi which speaks of an Elijah to come whose work will be to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers.” Then God warns why Elijah’s work is so gripping as it is decisively critical for mankind, “Lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Mal.4:6). That surely is a dire warning we must all pay attention as to what Elijah’s work truly means. Here is a curse God will inflict upon man, it behooves us to listen and understand.

Whenever a relationship is mentioned, like father and son, or father and children, that is basically a Trinitarian statement. Jesus speaks of His relationship as the Son, with God as His Father, saying, “I and My Father are ONE” (John 10:30). That’s a Trinitarian statement. So, the statement “turn the hearts of the father to the children, and the hearts of the children to the fathers,” is fundamentally a Trinitarian statement. Recall Jesus parting words to His disciples: “Go and tell the world about this wonderful Gospel, and unify (baptize) them into the name of the (Triune God) Father, Son, and Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19, emphasis mine). Baptism inaugurates man into the Triune family of God.

Jesus’ final prayer with His disciples to the Father before He was crucified, was framed in God’s Trinitarian reality: “That they may be one even as We are one, as You Father, are in Me…”(John 1:7). He inhabits eternity in His Triune Being, and is the Source of the Love which envelopes all of creation, and is expressed to man in His 3-dimensional reality – as a Loving Father, a Son who gives His life to save us, and a friend and advocate in the Spirit. Man has been living in his 1-dimensional reality by the deception the devil placed on him since Adam. But our true potential is to live as “Triune beings” in the Father, Jesus and the Spirit

“I do not pray for these (disciples) alone, but also those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be ONE, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be ONE in Us, that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be ONE just as We are ONE: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in ONE” (John 17: 20-23, emphasis added). Jesus told His disciples, “On that day you will realize that I am in the Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you” (John 14:20). Every word is uttered in its Trinitarian context in who God is in His Triune nature of Love.

Obviously, His prayer was intended to enlighten both the disciples and His followers about His mission, and to bring to reality the will of the Father in Jesus’ purpose in the Gospel. That is, to do the work of the prophesied Immanuel – “God with us”: to join man to the Triune God, so man can himself be Triune with the Father through Christ. (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23) In true Triune expression, Jesus lived the Triune Life, saying: “I can of Myself do nothing” (John 5:30). And so must we as we also live the “Triune Life” in Jesus. Someone may say he or she is doing something unselfishly, say, for family or community, and even country. But it is still solitarily and self-centered because it’s for his family, his community, his country. Everything about “self” deflects the “Triune Life.” Living the “Triune Life” means the total giving of self to God and His Christ, and thus be empowered in the Spirit in all his activities. Triune means it is for Triune Love and Triune Love alone. It is not for any motive whatsoever that’s outside the ambit of the Trinitarian Love existence of the Father, Son, and Spirit. This takes life back prior to any human motive or desires into preexistence when there was nothing but the Love of the Father and the Son from eternity, and their Love in the Spirit has always been the spring from which all lifeforms, both spirit and material, has originate. (John 17:23-24) Triune living is devotion to this Source of life and motivation.

God’s Spirit (Love-Rom.5:5) comes to Man in the Gentleness of a Dove

Our relationship with our fellow humans is not determined by how we perceive and determine the acts ought to be, that would be self-righteous, and God calls “filthy rags” (Isa.64:6). But it is by the very move of the Spirit in us, as it was with Jesus when He walked this earth, and as it was and is in the very life of the Father and the Son from eternity. (Acts 10:38; John 17:24b) Remember what He said, “I can of Myself do nothing,” so the Spirit’s move was the move of the Father’s Love in His life from eternity, and made one with us through Him. (John 17:21-22)

Also notice, God’s manifested glory become man’s glory when he is unified to God’s Triune Life in Christ. Primarily, His glory is manifested in the miraculous life we are privileged to live in the power of the Spirit, who is given to be with us “forever.” (John 14:16; 17:5,10-11) This is what brings power to the Christian life, but for most, the Christian life is without the miraculous life or glory that comes from the Triune life of God. Are Christians living “solitary” lives? Is this why they live powerless lives?

“Solitary” One-ness or “Triune” One-ness

It is entirely feasible for man to take this “unity prayer” of Jesus from John 17 and apply it to his “solitary” human perspective toward life. He can use this “unified stance” with a “solitary” foundation to broad-brush everything he does with his family, his community, his nation, and still miss the point of Jesus’ meaning and purpose in His Trinitarian prayer. A father and son relationship can either be lived on a fleshly “solitary” mode, or a divine “Trinitarian” mode. Think of a statement like “unity in diversity” – if it is not lived in the Triune Being of God, it is still a philosophy birthed out of man’s “solitary” thoughts in his fallen, depraved state of being, which inevitably ends in failure and death. The “solitary” life which exists outside without God’s divine goodness is of itself a curse. Human goodness, God calls, “filthy rags” (Isa.64:6). Jesus, in the very depth of His Triune Being with His Father, could not have prayed any other way but in who He IS in His Trinitarian Oneness with His Father.

Though He took our humanity upon Himself, it was not a prayer He prayed through the human 1-dimensional “solitary” worldview, but the 3-dimensional Trinitarian unified worldview with and in His Father and the Spirit as ONE indivisible Triune God. That is the reality Jesus wanted the disciples and His followers to have with the Father, through and in Him. You see, once Jesus has taken man beyond and into the veil and man is made to sit with Him in His “Triune” Being-ness with the Father and the Spirit, everything we see and understand about the world around us changes from a “solitary” view to a Trinitarian divine view. That’s why Jesus had to come. That’s why the Father sent Him. That’s why Paul tells us, “You are complete in Him (Jesus)” (Col.2:10, emphasis added).

So the father and children relationships in Malachi are pictures framed primarily in the Triune relationship of God, before it extends to mankind when we accept this reality in Jesus by the power of the Spirit. The work of the coming Elijah is to stop the curse from befalling man. His work will primarily be unifying of man to God through Christ so man can become a “unified being” (as opposed to a “solitary being”), from a 1-dimensional being, to a 3-dimensional being, in the very heart of the Trinitarian life of God. From this Trinitarian vantage point, man can now extend a hand of relationship to his fellowman, in his relationship with his children, his neighbors, his village, his city, in the Triune way of life in Christ by the Spirit’s move. I shall continue with this theme in the next segment.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Blessing:

Kiang, (Your Servant in Christ)

* 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 www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my Book.

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

Note: 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.

Triune Life – Miracle of Triune Living

"Live the Triune Life… Change the World"

Author Archives: Kiang P Lee

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ANGELS, BY KIANG P LEE

PRAYER – A TRINITARIAN ACTIVITY, BY KIANG P LEE

“PERFECT LOVE DRIVES OUT FEAR,” BY KIANG P. LEE

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SPRING IS TIME FOR RENEWAL, BY KIANG P LEE

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HOLY SPIRIT – ACTIVATOR OF THE “TRIUNE LIFE” IN MAN, BY KIANG P LEE

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GOD RELATES WITH MAN THROUGH HIS TRINITARIAN NATURE, BY KIANG P LEE

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THE MALACHI CURSE – MAN FORGETTING HIS TRINITARIAN ROOTS, BY KIANG P LEE

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