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FAITH FOR SANCTIFICATION – WHAT DOES IT MEAN? BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings once more from Dallas, Texas!

Why is the saving faith of Jesus given to man? I said this in one of my posts on the subject (“The Faith of Jesus,” July 26, 2014), “Human faith is incompetent for spiritual matters. So what is the answer to this faith question? It is clear man was not born with this saving faith. Paul makes the answer plain to the Roman Christians, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all them that believe.” (Rom.3:22, AKJV) Yes, the answer is Jesus’ very own personified faith! You may have heard it said, “Believe in yourself.” My message to you today is, “Believe in your true self” – in and by Jesus’ faith! So, your faith-scale has to be reversed and tipped in favor of the faith of Jesus over your human faith. People may and can believe Jesus with human faith alone, but ultimately they will find it incapacitated in situations requiring deeper spiritual discernment, especially as it concerns God’s will and personal destiny for them. Jesus is not for mere intellectual inquiry, but for a far more deeper spiritual infusion of living faith.

Brooklyn Museum – Jesus Heals the Blind and Lame on the Mountain (Wiki Commons)

“The human mind is not for cerebral activity alone, it possesses a transcendent quality with infinite capacity. The difference is like night from day. Science today continues to be baffled by the complexities and mysteries of the human mind. We may see Jesus through mere human faith as a historical figure, a great moral teacher, a miracle worker who went about doing good. One faith is activated by mere human intellect and physical capacity, while the other is produced by the miraculous life God promises those who receive Jesus as Savior and Mediator. Where the divine and physical intersect, miracles happen. Paul said, “For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1Cor.4:20) Faith in the spiritual brings the miraculous activity to life in the believer which the five senses or mere cerebral response has no answer. This is the spiritual aspect of the mind where the Spirit of God moves.” (Quote from “The Faith of Jesus,” posted July 26, 2014)

In that post I tried to differentiate human faith from the spiritual faith of Jesus to help understand how to live the life God has called us to live. Now that we understand what’s needed in terms of human and spiritual faith, let’s answer this question: What ought to be the principal focus of the faith of Jesus which we are given as a gift from God? This is a legitimate question to ask because too many people believe in faith as a tool for their own manipulation. Whether it is for some material desire, or for something they have dreamed to have, even for healing and wellbeing. When we use faith for that purpose we get disappointed because when we don’t receive what we ask, we say our faith is weak, or faith does not work at all. It’s not that, we still have the human faith, and our focus is in the wrong direction.

So what is the purpose of faith?

We must understand the one and only reason faith is given, and when everything fall into their place for this one reason, we’ll see miracles happen. If it doesn’t, then our understanding of the situation is lacking. So, here is why faith is given, and for no other reason: FAITH IS GIVEN PRIMARILY FOR MAN’S SANCTIFICATION IN THE SPIRIT’S POWER.  If we lose sight of this basic purpose of the miracle-working faith of Jesus, then we are using faith for the wrong reasons, and we will be disappointed with the results.

Listen to how Jesus lays out the Spirit’s work of sanctification in the believer, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear (still babes, needing maturity). But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth (act of sanctifying man). He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come (reveal the will of God). He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you (enhancing the faith of Jesus). 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 16:12-15) Before this Jesus explained the Spirit’s work of sanctification moves in three areas of man’s life: the conviction of sin and righteousness; the conviction that sin is essentially not  believing in the Savior God has provided for man’s forgiveness and redemption; and the conviction that the enemy and his lawless work has once and for all been defeated by Jesus. (John 16:8-11; Mat.4:1-11)

The Bible says, “We walk by faith, and not by sight.” (2Cor.5:7) Sanctification is not a ‘sight’ thing, it is a ‘faith’ thing. Paul explains what faith does, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb.11:6) The faith of Jesus enables a believer to live a life pleasing to God. Therefore, a life pleasing to God cannot be other than a sanctified life. Therefore, only the faith of Jesus has the power to sanctify man for God’s pleasure and use. 

People are told to have faith. But whose faith, and have faith in what? Faith is not to use for the material gain we seek. Faith is not for physical healing, either. Faith is not to make our ‘wish list’ come true. That’s how our human faith is inclined, and so misguidedly we apply the faith of Jesus the same way. Human faith when it’s blended into Jesus’ faith has a singular focus. It’s singular focus is to  sanctify man for God’s pleasure – period! And God’s pleasure is to see His self-giving, self-sacrificing Love press forward in the life of all who have received Jesus’ faith! God, by nature is not self-seeking and a egocentric- He is self-giving and self-sacrificing in His Loving nature, and wants mankind to live the same way.

Thereby, every request we make in prayer enters through the validating path of Christ’s saving faith which brings sanctification to man. That is to say, only when a prayer request is not self-centered, but Love-centered, and other-centered, for the purpose of sanctification, will our words become authentic and valid before God. God will not compromise His holy Love which demonstrates His glory. The prophet Isaiah quoted God as saying, “I am God; that is My name! I will not yield My glory to another or My praise to idols.” (Isa.42:8) His glory in His holy Love which He will not sacrifice to our human faith that’s founded upon our fallen depraved self and self-egotism. So, when we ask according to His Love-destiny for each of us, Jesus says this about our prayer request, “I will do whatever you ask in My name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son (‘s faith). You may ask for anything in My name, and I will do it.” (John 14:13-14) Many of us read this promise from Jesus and we wonder why His words does not find reality in their prayers. The answer is simple, we are using our human faith, not the faith of Jesus. Our human faith must surrender to the faith of Jesus. (Rom.3:22; Gal.2:20)

Jesus said, “According to your faith, your life will be lived” (Matt. 9:29-30). But what faith does He speak of? I said in my book, “The Miracle of Triune Living,” God does not give us material wealth, healing, or our ‘wish list’ to be consumed in our selfish ambition; rather it is an outcome and consequence to our primary gift in the Spirit and our personal calling in Jesus (Jam. 4:3). A man cannot fully and completely express himself in his gifts and talents to reach his destiny unless he has the faith of Jesus. Material things comes as an outgrowth of the believer’s Love-destiny in Christ.

Think about this for a moment: God wants those He has gifted with music to have the “best” pianos, guitars, and any other instrument so the person can cultivate those talents to the fullest potential. Without the “best” instruments to do it, man’s talent cannot be fully realized. God will give a person the “best” there is to fulfill his divine purpose. Therefore, the material enhancement that comes to the person is through his “life-gift” or purpose and is given primarily for his calling, and for God’s glory. His calling comes from God’s Love, and the fruits of love are the currency of abundance. Money is not the currency of abundance, God’s Love is!

The Proverbs tell us, “Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her – believe me, you won’t regret it; never let her go – she’ll make your life glorious. She will garland your life with grace, she will festoon your days with beauty.” (Pro.4:7-9, The Message) Wisdom and understanding means to find God’s purpose for your life. For God’s blessings in your life (not what you imagine your life ought to be) will come to you as an outgrowth of your destiny in Christ. Your gift and calling in His divine purpose is the road map of our life-journey, not the destination. The destination is the foregone conclusion based upon how we live our lives, whether by human faith or the faith of Jesus!

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.*

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

Kiang                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ)  

*The “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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

To read the many facets of life of the “Bula man-river,” go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my book. Remember, when you purchase my book you lend a hand in Jesus’s Work, for all the proceeds go towards dispensing the Gospel worldwide. (Mark 9:41; Matt.28:28:18-20; Eph.2:10). Thank you for your support.

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR, BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings friends everywhere! Let’s talk about a topic that’s least understood on Christianity – change or repentance! 

Butterfly Morphing

Repentance means to change and is a vital part of the Christians life. Jesus said, “Unless you change (repent), you too will all perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). The Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, uttered a powerful message of change (repentance) to the people through Peter, “Repent (change) and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The repentance and the ‘cross’ are two separate acts that dovetails into the other in one movement – you cannot have one without the other. Sometimes, repentance can take time depending on the person’s response to it, and his or her subsequent grasp and need for it. When time is of the essence, the Work of the ‘cross’ is held at bay by the person’s response, waiting for repentance to bring the person to the foot of the ‘cross.’ 

Missing Link
But here is the question to do with the ‘missing link.’ When a person comes to the point of understanding and sees the need for repentance, however long or brief that may take, is the awareness of his or her sins enough to take the vital second step to the ‘cross’? The answer is, no! Our awareness for repentance, which the Holy Spirit gives us, does not equal repentance. Awareness simply makes us recognize the need for repentance. It is not repentance. For it is humanly impossible for man to repent of his or her sins. Man does not have it in himself to repent unconditionally and absolutely as God expects of him. That is why Jesus had to come. That is why He is the Good News (Gospel). 

Only Jesus, in His perfect sinless divine/human reality, has done that. If it takes the ‘cross’ to save man from his sins, then how is it possible man can repent of his sins? Jesus does and mediates in both these vital activities in man, it’s that simple. People have wrongly assumed repentance is ‘man’s part’ and the cross is ‘Jesus’ part.’ No, salvation is entirely God’s Work, which He does in man through the power of the Spirit. If only He can save us from our sins (‘cross’), then only He can repent of our sins in our place. This is what the Triune love of God is, and what collaborative Triune living means. We are never left to ourselves, and He never leaves us. We cannot accept one without the other – we can’t accept His ‘cross,’ without His repentance. They both go hand-in-hand in one movement of faith in His complete saving Work. 

In our awareness of our fallen state of being which constantly generate wrong choices in life (sin/trespasses) that brings on heartaches and pain, repentance and the ‘cross’ enables us to live vicariously in the perfect glorified humanity of Jesus in heaven, Whom the Father accepts on man’s behalf as the only sure and complete mediation for man. This does not gives us the license to live in care-free abandon, but rather, sin or the mistakes we make in life that brings on suffering, pain and eventually death, creates in us the awareness for the need of a Savior to help us repent so we can be forgiven and follow the right path blessed with life, not death. It is a life which Paul told young Timothy, “the life that is truly life” (1 Tim.6:19; 4:8). 

Repentance and forgiveness (the ‘cross’) initiates our relationship with the Triune God through and in Christ. Our need to repent on an ongoing basis is intended to take us to its reality in Christ. Just as no other but Jesus saves man at the ‘cross,’ only He can repent for our forgiveness on a continuous basis. I explained this in my Book, “Bula man-river,” this way, 

“A person cannot repent and forgive his own sins, but it’s done for him by the miraculous act of the Spirit through faith in Christ. Jesus, though He had no sin to repent of, assumed the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” of John the Baptist in the place of man (Luke 3:3; Matt.3:13-17; Rom.6:3-4). Likewise, though Jesus was sinless and did not deserve death, He was crucified for mankind’s sins (John 19:16-18; Rom. 6:6-8 2 Cor. 5:21) Jesus’ baptism/repentance marks man’s point of true conversion, and His death, resurrection, and ascension marks his point of true forgiveness and entering the new life in the Spirit (“living waters”). He is now the Bula man-river who takes his stand in the finished Work of Christ (Rom. 5:12, 18-19, 21; 6: 4-8, 23; 1 Cor. 15:22; Eph. 2:1, emphasis added).”

I go on to say, “Man repents because Jesus has already done it for him, not because man is capable of doing it for himself. These are gifts from God our Father, which today, are ritualized in church ceremonies. Jesus ministry encapsulates His complete mediation for humans which began at the repentance for man’s sins in the Jordan, and ended at Golgotha for the forgiveness of mankind’s transgressions. His life in between these two momentous acts, embodied all our human responses He carried in healing all our pain and suffering, in body, mind and spirit. He is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2 NKJV).” (“Bula” man-river, The Miracle of Triune Living”, Pg.41-42) 

“The Words I have spoken to you–they are full of the Spirit and life.” – John 6:63

Repentance and forgiveness are important because they are vital steps that takes us into the realm of living the miraculous life in the Triune Being and existence of God in the Father, the Son Jesus, and the Spirit. And make no mistake, this miraculous life, springing from these two pillar-decisions we make in Christ, makes all the difference how you and your loved ones will live life to the full today, and by extension, your community and the valley (people) you will flow through as a “Bula man-river.”* For it is in our encounter with the Triune God that the miraculous life is lived and articulated. 

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 today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.* 

Kiang                                                                                                                                    (Your Servant in Christ) 

* The “Bula man-river” 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 Bula man-river, 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.

INVEST IN GOLD – TRUE GOLD! BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings once more friends everywhere!

Jesus charge to His followers is to take and share the good news of the Gospel message to every living creature to the ends of the earth. The heart and core of the Gospel message is God’s desire to bring humanity to be with Him forever as His immortal children. (John 3:16-17) How does Christ expect us to play our part? The answer is in a parable He gave in Matthew 25. Beginning at verse 14, Jesus spoke this parable of the ‘bags of gold’ :

File:Gold bullion ap 001.JPG

“Bags of Gold” (Wiki Commons)

“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Matt.25:14-30).

Parable of the Talents. Mironov.jpg

Parable of Gold – Matthew 25

“Gifts” Metaphor for Gold

Every one of the servants was entrusted with the Master’s wealth. The “gold” is the metaphor for a believer’s gift, a person’s calling, his/her destiny in Christ. It belongs to the Master which He gives out of His wealth. Our gifts are “Love-gifts” from the Father. Let’s call it “life-gift” for the purpose of this post. It is given according to your ability which is your gift. So, it’s obvious our “life-gift” or calling is not ours, but given to us as part of the Master’s wealth. So, Paul tells us where our “life-gift” comes from:  “Out of the generosity of Christ, each of us is given his own gift. That is why it says, ‘He climbed the high mountain, he captured the enemy and seized the booty, he handed it all out in gifts (gold) to the people’” (Eph. 4:7-8, 9-13, The Message).

Free Stock Photo of Kids Gift Shows Childhood Box And Occasion

True Gold & Fool’s Gold

We go out in search of physical gold and precious stones like diamonds, and measure our human worth by them, not realizing we possess an abundance of gold (gifts) from our Creator. We fail to realize that it is through our gifts and abilities that we acquire material riches. But we are not defined by material stuff, but spiritual gold. So the question is, what and how will we invest our lives searching – for true gold or fool’s gold?

Gifts are Magnets to Life

Life and gifts (gold) comes fused together and are inseparable. No human can claim to be without a gift given him or her by the Creator. Therefore, a person’s “life-gift” or dream is always magnetizing to him or her. A gift is like a magnet. That’s to say, the “life-gift” is the magnet in the person’s life. We have heard the adage, “Life is a gift.” Indeed, for the gift that comes with life is what makes life a gift. Think about this: A musician does not find his music, his music finds him. An author does not find his subject to write about, his subject finds him. An entrepreneur does not find his business niche, his niche finds him. We are all free to accept the prompts of our calling or reject them. We either flow with our gift or swim against it. Every prompt from the heart of our “life-gift” is a jigsaw piece that fits into a picture of your destiny that’s constantly magnetizing to us. Whoever a person is and becomes is only as good as the gift that defines him or her. That “life-gift” is the “bag of gold” in the parable.

Jesus – the “Gift-Giver,” Giving out of His “Treasure”

God is able to be all things to everyone through our varied gifts and that reveals His greatness. Paul said, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to each of us…in proportion to our faith, let us use them” (Rom. 12:6). Paul again said, “[Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight. (Phil.2:13, AMP) Again Paul emphasized, “… In order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures (the wealth of the Master) of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col.2:2-3). No one can ever come to know about his or her “life-gift” without knowledge and wisdom. The application of gifts is a ‘mind-matter’ that begins with knowledge and knowing what your gift is, and its function through God’s Love.

Dove in the air with wings wide open in-front of the sun

File:Gezi2.jpgDove, Symbol of the Holy Spirit. First Gift of Holy Spirit – “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us: Rom.5:5 (Pic: Wiki Commons)

The First Gift

The first gift we receive from God is the gift of the Holy Spirit – just like the original apostles and all who were gathered on that memorable Pentecost day. So, here we see how God is working in humans through His Tri-Personal Being. God is our Father, who gave us His Son to be our Savior, and His Spirit to empower us. Before Pentecost the disciples were cowering in fear, afraid for their lives. Then, the Spirit came and fear went out of them and Love entered and gave them something they never had – a new birth. A new person! Peter went out and preached a powerful message that converted 3000 that Pentecost day. People were surprised, ‘weren’t these the same people, the fearful followers of Jesus who scattered after Jesus was crucified? What has come over them? Here they are speaking in our own language and dialect.’ They don’t know what to make of it , that some thought they had too much to drink. The work of God in us is always the work of the Spirit’s Love in us. (Rom.5:5)

It can’t be done by human effort, although human effort is essential. There is a difference. It is a work of faith. Human effort alone is devoid of the Love of God. And we see how the Spirit makes all the difference before, and after Pentecost. Human effort can be done through human fear or through the Spirit’s Love. God will not possess you and take your life over and live it for you. That’s what the devil does using fear as a weapon. God’s Love does not force people, but He lets His people reason it out for themselves what to do. God says, “Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isa.1:18) If we are forced against our will, then we are fallen human still.

Love Creates a Life of Tension

It is similar to walking on a tightrope like a balancing artist in a circus, we don’t want our fallen human heart based upon fear to take over, and on the other hand we know we must allow the Spirit to use us in His Love. And every step of the way, there is this tension that exists to go this way or that – and it is normal in God’s way of Love for us, and we have to be free to make up our own minds to lean to the Spirit’s inclination, and deliberately stay away from our fearful and evil nature. And in this very dynamic of walking this tight-rope act, we enter the environment we commonly call facing trials. It’s not a bad thing, as I said, God can’t force us in His Love, and so we’re always living life in tension. Over time good habits take hold and it becomes easier.

File:Love What is It.JPG“God is Love” 1 John 4:8, 16.(Pic: Wiki Commons)

Trials are Magnet for Destiny

But here is the beautiful thing about this life of tension in God’s Love, the trials are magnets drawing you to your “life-gift” – to your destiny in Christ. God doesn’t give you His Spirit then suddenly you wake up one morning, and you say, “I’m going to be a scientist or whatever your dream may be…” No, this pattern of living in God’s Love attracts test and trials which leads us to our destiny. Why, because the world is functioning in an environment different from God’s Love – it runs on fear, and we see it all around us every day. The fruits of Love and the fruits of fear which Paul speaks so eloquently about to the Corinthian and Ephesian Christians, create this dynamism which we confront  in all seasons of life, and they come in every way, shape, and form.

Profit and Loss

In this Love/fear dynamism, a kind of trade takes place which Jesus metaphorically speaks of in His parable – we make profits and we make losses. (Matt.25) Because God’s Love is at work in our penitent minds, we will make more profits than loses. We encounter losses because we are still weak in our humanity. When we do make mistakes (because we are humans) we acknowledge our wrong and ask for forgiveness and move on. That’s how Jesus taught us to pray daily. (Luk.11:4) He has promised that no trial will come beyond our ability to cope, but will make a way of escape. (1Cor.10:13) What does that mean? It means God can create circumstances so you are always making a profit, despite intermittent loses, through the weakness of our humanity. Loses are lessons that teaches us how to make a profit the next time around, isn’t it? And if we’re making profits whatever way, then all things work together for good. (Rom.8:28) Mistakes and trials are magnets drawing us to our destiny. Each weakness that we change, we automatically assume its opposing strength. If you cease to hate then you learn how to love. If you acknowledge your pride as the source of your problems, then you will learn to be humble. If you don’t change then your weakness will strangle you spiritually and you will suffer loss. But if you change and learn to Love and respect, then you can only make a profit. God has provided His eternal absolution for human mistakes in His Son’s sacrifice and mediation.

Love is patient Love is kind printed on burned paper

The Fruits of Love as Taken from 1 Corinthians 13 (Wiki Commons)

Joseph the Dreamer

The Bible is filled with examples of this. Think of Joseph… each step of the way beginning with his dream – his destiny, his gift, his calling – attracted trials that was magnetizing him to his destiny. (Gen.37, 39-47) Sold as a slave by his brothers at age 17, he was placed on the human slave market in Egypt. He was bought by Potiphar, an Egyptian military top brass, and put in charge of his business. He was thrown in jail under false accusation. Then he met two servants of Pharaoh who had dreams which disturbed them. God revealed the meaning of the dream to Joseph. Two years later, Pharaoh had a dream. Joseph was called on to make its interpretation known to Pharaoh because the Egyptian wise men and magicians were helpless. Now, he came face to face with the destiny he saw in his dreams. He was made  second in command in all Egypt.

His destiny was to save the known world from a worldwide famine which Pharaoh saw in his dream. When Joseph’s family were reunited and his brothers stood before him, afraid that Joseph might say it’s pay-back time for what they did to him, he told them God was behind it all along. (Gen.45:4-7) Joseph’s life teaches us never to look at life and the trials that come with it in isolation from your “life-gift” – your destiny in Christ. Each trial, insignificant as it may appear to us, is a piece in the puzzle that fits into the picture of your dreams. If God had not given Joseph his dream to aspire for, he would have remained a shepherd like his brothers. Christ is your dream because He has the Giver who has given us gifts out of His wealth and treasure. He was the one who gave Joseph his dream.

Free Stock Photo of Gift Kids Blocks Means Youngster Surprise And Children

‘Life-Gift’

We all have different strengths, and we must focus on them. That’s our gift given us out of the wealth of the Master. Always believe in your uniqueness and difference and realize you’re that way for a purpose. The “life-gift” identifies your place in the plan of God and how each of us play a role in it. It need not be ecclesiastical or religious in nature. As I said, people seem to have this perception that when God is involved in a person, his calling ought to be religious in nature. It’s a myth that stems from the enemy who wants to vilify the good in people’s varied talents. We are given the freedom to be whoever we want. That obviously means in the area of our strengths, which most likely don’t lean towards things religious. Joseph’s gift was not of a religious nature. He was an administrator and manager of people. A person can be a plumber, or engineer, a doctor or gardener, an architect or builder, a marine biologist or fisherman, a basketball player or botanist, or whatever the gift. Gifts evolve as the Spirit supplies the faith. Peter was a fisherman. Then Jesus called him and said from this day forget the fish, let’s do something different with your skills – let’s fish humans. A person may be a basketball player with a short-term career. Then he moves onto something else. This is the way a person’s “life-gift” works in the Spirit’s influence and guidance.

person using chisel while curving wood

person molding vaseBlessed with Various Gifts (Wiki Commons)

Proud Owners of Destiny that Can’t Be Bought

Jesus said, “You are blessed when you are content with just who you are – no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought” (Matt. 5:5 MSG). God gives us purpose in the football field as much as in the pulpit. There’s divine purpose in being a housewife as well as a company executive. Think about this: a housewife who is a mother has a better defined view of seeing and applying God’s Love in her family situation, than a company executive whose mindset is to make more money for the shareholders. Unless of course, if you work for a company whose whole objective is service over money. God is present and involved in all of life. In our weak areas of life, where we may feel inadequate and make mistakes, He wants nothing more than to guide us the right way to our strengths to avoid harm and discouragement to ourselves. In the area of our strengths, He is the first to rejoice with and bless us (Ps. 37:23-24).

The Commission

So what is the answer to Jesus commission for us. The answer is, your gift – the “gold” you were handed when you received Jesus as your Savior and Master – that is your ministry to the world. You are the breathing, living, walking, Gospel of Christ. Where you are at present – in your job, in your hobbies, in anything you may be gifted to do exceptionally, with your family, is the place for God’s will and purpose for you. Even if you are considered unemployed or underemployed, Love always has a job for us. You’re never unemployed when it comes to God’s Love. Love transcends socio-economic conditions.

Deeds More than Words

Our actions speaks louder than our words, don’t they? Our gift speaks louder than our words. Words don’t have the effect that our actions do on people. Words are easier to forget, while our actions and abilities leave a more lasting impression. To put it in a nutshell, actions is what make people believe in you. When they see the personification of your gifts in the good you do to them, then your words carry weight – then your word has integrity. Not the other way around. Peter tells us, “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” (1 Pet.3:15). So Peter supports this model of how we are to take the Gospel – we are to lead with our gifts. He said, “in your heart revere Christ as Lord.” That means we follow His command and lead. He has given us “gold,” or our gifts to trade with. Your gift is the vehicle for our Father to show His Love with those we come in contact and relate with. Then once you have impressed people through your actions (His Love), then we convince them with your words. The Spirit will lead us to say what needs to be said, just as He did with Peter on that memorable Pentecost.

woman sitting on concrete pavement using smartphone

The Best Gift is Who You Are in Christ – Col.1:27 (unsplash)

Don’t try to convert anyone, that’s not our job, only the Spirit can convert the human heart. Did Peter convert the 3000, no, the Spirit moved and convicted the hearts of people. That’s exactly as Jesus foretold what the Spirit would do before He was crucified – He told the disciples it was good that he went away, because that way, the Spirit would come and He would convict the hearts of people of sin. (John 16:8-9) The name of Christ have been discredited and maligned because we have tried to force our words down people’s throats, so to speak. We have done that which is not our place to do. We have failed to heed the words of Peter “to do this with gentleness and respect.” Your job and mine is to sow the seed of the Gospel through our gifts followed by our gentle and respectful words, then leaving it to the Spirit to convert the heart. I have known people who heard the Gospel for the first time, and many years on a change of heart took place. Don’t ask me how and why – only the Spirit knows that. Jesus did not force people to accept His words. He just laid it out for them. He went about doing good through the miracles He performed. And it was through the gift of miracles, His good works He did among the people, that brought people in droves to come and hear His words. (Acts 10:38) His gift was the platform which attracted people to come and hear the Gospel.

Jesus gave us another parable that essentially means the seeds of the Gospel God sows through our gifts will get only 25% response, and the remaining 75% of the people won’t even bother. (Matt.13:3-8, 18-23) Don’t be discouraged, Jesus had only 120 by Pentecost, even though he miraculously fed 5,000 hungry people in just one of His numerous miracles. He healed 10 lepers, only one returned to give thanks, that’s a 10% response. The parable says there are those whose heart are like the ground that’s full of weeds that kills the seed. Then there are those who have no depth for the seed to take a foothold because they have hearts of stone. There are seeds that fall on the pathway and never had a chance from the word go, and the birds come and eat the seeds. Only 25% fell on good ground. (Mark 4:1-19) And even the 25% can dwindle if we don’t look after them.

Reflection…

Let us reflect on the “gold” Jesus has handed us in our “gifts” and see how we can allow the Spirit to lead us to trade them more efficiently this year for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pray about it. What do you think the person who buried his bag of “gold” was thinking? I think he thought that his gift was not important to him or Christ. He wanted to do his own thing. Or, if he thought it was important, he turned his “life-gift” into a “life of needs and wants” for his own selfish objective. Yet, his gift and the gifts of all His people was the very vehicle Jesus prepared for the Gospel to be taken to the farthest reaches of the world. It’s not hard to turn our gift into an ATM machine and forget the purpose for which it was given in the first place. We see it happening all around us. We live in a self-absorbed society and world where we mistakenly think that everything we have in our person is ours, and for our own self-centered ambition. They are cashing in on their talent, and sadly there’s even a “prosperity gospel” to promote this life-style for “believers.”

gold love balloon

“God is Love” 1 John 4:8

It took between 2 to 3 centuries for the Roman world to accept Christianity. But you know what, it was not easy. No amount of words could convince Rome. What changed Rome ultimately was the gifts, the blood, sweat, and tears of untold number of Christian martyrs who gave their lives for their faith. It was an unimaginable account of personal sacrifice and loyalty. That was the extent they were prepared to go for their Lord. Today, we are not called upon like they were then, although there are countries where Christians are persecuted. The framers of our constitution were Christians, thanks to the Christians before them who followed their Master’s commission to take the Gospel far and wide. The pilgrims came to the New Word seeking religious freedom. The baton is passed on from one generation to another with the Spirit at work in the midst of His people doing the Lord’s work.

Consider, when Paul was inspired to write that we will be conformed to the image of Jesus, it means we will take upon us all that He is in His Sonship, His gifts and abilities, His generosity, His charity, His powers. That is what it means when Scripture says that “all our treasures (gifts) lie hidden in Him” (Col.2:2-3; Rom.8:29).

Let’s reflect on that, and ask Jesus for conviction about the gift (gold) he has given us, and wherever we find ourselves, to give Him our best efforts, fully cognizant of the commission of Matt. 28 that the Gospel will be taken far and wide and accomplished on the backs of the gifts He has blessed and given His people. In the end, it is about investing the gold (gifts) Jesus has invested in us, so we can gain a greater return in His eternal riches.

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 today and give you strength for authentic Triune Living as a Bula man-river.*

Kiang (Your Servant in Christ)

*Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, you may obtain a copy of my book, “Bula” Man-River, from Amazon.com; xulonpress.com, barnesandnoble.com, and other online book stores. All proceeds will go towards furthering the work of Gospel of Jesus Christ around the world.

"Bula" Man-River

Book Cover

Mission Statement: Read the Triune Life Mission, Vision, and Value statements at: http://bulamanriver.net/8664

* The “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 Bula man-river, 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 .

DEPRESSION – BEAT IT! BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings friends around the world from Dallas, Texas!

With the sad passing of the beloved celebrity comedian Robin Williams, the subject of depression is once more brought to the forefront of world attention. Williams’ work will be remembered by many millions worldwide. Our sincere condolences to the Williams family for their untimely loss. 

I will not get into a lengthy explanation of depression and its medical types and terms. I offer the following quote, “depression is a mental, emotional, and psychological disorder, usually characterized by a pervasive and persistent very low mood, low self-esteem, loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Major depression significantly affects a person’s family and personal relationships, work or school life, sleeping and eating habits, and general health.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/)

The World Health Organization (WHO), reported in 2012, “Depression is a common illness worldwide, with an estimated 350 million people affected.  It can cause the affected person to suffer greatly and function poorly at work, at school and in the family. At its worst, depression can lead to suicide. Suicide results in an estimated 1 million deaths every year. The burden of depression and other mental health conditions is on the rise globally.” In May 2012, WHO called for a comprehensive, coordinated response to mental disorders at country level. (http://www.who.int/mediacentre)

It is obvious that depression, in whatever form it takes, is prevalent at epidemic proportions worldwide. I will, as I have always dealt with issues in the past, confront the matter at its root cause. Treating a problem at the root cause will spontaneously take care of symptomatic affects and provide remedial solutions. As readers of this blog have known by now, I have always tried to view any given issue through the prism of the Trinitarian nature of God. Why is that? Because man and all creation was made in God’s Triune image, and thereby creation and man is forever connected to His Maker. (Gen.1:26-27) Man once lived in perfect union with His Maker in Eden and had no inkling of any depression whatsoever. Then rebellion became a way of life, and Adam and Eve were evicted from their Maker’s presence. What happened to man from then on is an open field day for man’s future destiny, as his disconnection from the image of his true triune self is now overturned and distorted forever. As long as man is disconnected from his Maker he will live an unfulfilled life, and will suffer from low self-esteem, unhappiness, and ultimately depression. It’s that simple. To liken oneself to the image of the Creator, is to psychologically be lifted above created life to the level of the divine with all its glory. This is the place where depression has no footing to start with. It is a place of complete Love, peace, and joy unbound. It is the place to defeat depression. It’s the place to start and restart life when a person has depression. 

Think about this, God is Trinitarian, that’s to say, He is One God existing in three hypostasis (shared existence) in the Father, Son, and Spirit. God is not only Triune, but He is Love. (1John 4:8) All creation has this 3-dimensional stamp bearing the expression of His Love. The universe is made of three primary and independent, yet interdependent components: time, space and matter, which makes up one universe. The atom is formed from three particles: electrons, protons, and neutrons. The three states of matter are solids, liquids, and gases. All colors begin with three primary colors, red, yellow and blue. From these three come the three secondary colors, purple orange and green. With the additions of various shades of white and black, an endless color spectrum can be created. There are three basic forms of energy, motion energy, heat energy, and light energy. (Reflections of the Trinity, by Perry J Webb) The human family, fashioned after the Trinity, has three components, the father, mother and children. I could go on.

And here is the crux of the matter, man is no different in his constitution. Man was made to reflect  the Trinitarian image of his Maker. To be a whole person, he has to express himself in his 3-dimensional nature in which he was created: that is, through body, mind, and spirit. Or, as author Fred Sanders put it, ‘head (mind), hand (body), and heart (spirit).’ Until man expresses himself holistically in his inter-connected makeup, he cannot exist in his Maker’s likeness. Man is triune in his makeup like His Maker. Within himself, man lives a shared 3-dimensional inter-connected existence. So, God creates to reflect His Triune Self, in Love. Nothing in creation lives in “solitary” form of itself, all of life and creation is interconnected like the Trinity exists in Love.  

The obvious question for man is this: is he using the three integrated components of his makeup to live his life? Or, is he leaving out any component part of his triune person? All of creation around him by which man lives and subsists, openly display and witness to him about this inter-connected life that’s the stamp of the Creator who is Triune. The Psalmist say, “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. 4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. Creation declares the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.” (Psa. 19:1-4)

What would happen to our universe if suddenly we find there is no matter but only time and space? There would be no universe as we know it. Or, what would happen to our world if the atom’s electron should cease to exist, can the neutron and proton particles do the job of creating energy on which the universe subsists? What if the color blue were to disappear, how would our sky look like? Our capacity for distinguishing light, shade, and other objects, would be hugely affected. You get what I mean? What would happen to humanity if a man and woman have no way to procreate? Humanity would cease to exist! The only living organism that’s living contrary to this 3-dimensional interconnected way of life, is man. Why? Because, unlike creation which has this interconnected life hard-wired, man was made to live a dynamic life with his mind – in the image of his Creator! Nothing else in creation has this Godly mind power, except man. Whereas animals have a purely physical life and governed by preset interconnected instincts, humans have both a physical and a spiritual life that’s reigned in by the mind. Man’s body, mind, and spirit life is lived through his mind and thought process. With the mind, man face choices – through his perspective he makes decisions. In other words, man has to make a deliberate decision to live by his integrated 3-dimensional life. He has to pay attention to his body, his mind, and his spirit. And the underlying influence governing their integration is the divine Love. (Rom.5:5) To leave out any one would be detrimental to the person.

Just One of Three Reasons for Depression

Of course, this is one of the three explanations of man’s search for answers about depression – the spiritual aspect. There are legitimate medical explanations as it concerns his body and mental (mind) faculty. Here, I quote from an article title, “It Can’t Be Depression, I’m Christian,”: “In the late 1990s and early 2000s several groundbreaking studies brought significant insight into the biology behind depression. In laymen’s terms, these studies showed that some people’s brains simply do not have the capacity to recover from the biological effects of stress and crisis (Kramer, p. 131). This in turn literally shrinks a part of the brain that controls feelings. The cause of depression is rooted in brain chemistry. The chemicals necessary to maintain this particular area of the brain are not sufficient. As a result, one’s mood is affected, and depression eventually can set in. Genetics has a strong impact on a person’s tendency to become depressed. It isn’t a matter of being Christian or not Christian, converted or not converted or saved or not saved. As Dr. Peter Kramer states in his book, Against Depression, when talking about a study focused on twins: “Even bleak environments elicit depression only in the vulnerable. That a shared environment rarely shows up in the chain of what causes depression pushes a good deal of what we call environment into the background” (ibid., 135). We all accept the fact that our bodies wear out and run down and are susceptible to disease. We can even accept the fact that our brains can be ravaged by diseases such as Alzheimer’s. But some Christians will not accept the fact that clinical depression also has specific biological causes. They’d rather categorize depression as a “bad attitude” or “lack of faith.” (www.gci.org). In other words, depression is not just about man’s faith, that’s just one aspect, there’s medical explanation also for his body and mind or brain function. Man is body, mind, and spirit no matter what his religion. His spiritual impoverishment does affect him both bodily and mentally, and vice-versa.

All aspects of this dreaded affliction must be aggressively investigated. What I cover here is the ‘trunk of the tree’ aspect of the issue. Let me continue. Often, man likes to live his 3-dimensional life separately and “solitarily” and it can’t be done. The illustration below show what I mean:

Blog Post, Depression, Media 081514

The three circles represent a person’s makeup: body, mind, and spirit. When we try to live these three components in “solitary” mode we don’t properly understand the integrated life of the body, mind, and soul so vital to human well-being. If we live only two of them without a third, then we’re headed for trouble. Hence, when God told Adam, “You shall surely die” (after he disobeyed), it meant Adam had replaced the Spirit life he had with God with a spirit which stood in opposition to Him, and thereby disconnected man from a vital aspect of his 3-dimensional life. And sadly, many times we leave out one of the triune components to our own detriment. The Psalmist say, “In his pride the wicked man does not seek Him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.” (Psa.10:4) They are living under the rebellious spirit of Adam which had him evicted from Eden. This is how humans are wired, and we see it in all creation. The only difference is the human mind is what differentiates man from the rest of creation. In fact the illustration above should be rendered as follows, showing the integrated reality of man’s 3-dimensional existence in body, mind, and spirit:

Blog Post, Depression, Media2 081514

The three functions are integrated into a single expression of life. It can never be separated or function “solitarily,” because if we do, we do so to our own hurt. G.K. Chesterton said that humans are incomplete thinkers. He said, “We want things in fragments, that way we do not have to think of our inconsistencies. That way, we do not mind when our work contradicts our ideals (or principles), or when our politics contradicts our faith, and we keep each thing in its watertight compartment.” (The Apostle of Common Sense, Pg.19) Yes, we try to live this “solitary” persona compartmentalizing our actions and living a life of contradictions. We live a ‘double life’ when we ought to have one unified triune life. You are living against the grain of who you are as a person, and sooner or later it catches up with you. The end-result of that is we bring upon ourselves unnecessary stress which works against us and leads to all kinds of issues, especially to mental health. If this is not corrected, depression sets in, and the condition worsens with time unless we do something about it. However, where Love is unifying the 3-dimensional life, depression has nothing to hold on to. Does depression exists in God presence? No, Christ came to give us a life in the Father’s presence through Him. Depression thrives only when Love is non-existent.

The Bible is clear about this 3-dimensional aspect of man’s life and that it is to be expressed in unison and in harmony in a Trinitarian way. Paul said, “May God Himself (“God is Love” – 1John 4:8), the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul (mind) and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1Thes.5:23) Yes, Love and peace will dominate your life to the end of your days. The Bible shows also that only His Word, His guidance for us in this life, is capable of reaching down into the deepest parts of our being, to tap into our innermost feelings, our profoundest thoughts, where one else can, so we can find meaning and purpose in life. Without it, we’ll live empty lives, always in search for answers, and without direction we turn to the wrong sources which do us more damage than good. Paul says to us, “For the Word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb.4:13) The root cause of depression was told to us in the story of Adam and Eve, it was the spirit of rebellion, that’s passed down to mankind. Unfortunately, it continues to this day. It’s mainly our refusal to activate the spiritual component of our 3-dimensional makeup, or inheriting the wrong spiritual component, which is the basic cause of mental and many other issues. Yet, the Bible speaks of a second Adam, Jesus Christ, who came to right the wrong Adam had done. Jesus came to give man back the Spirit life Adam lost in Eden. We can start a new journey with a genuine 3-dimensional integrated healthful life by giving ourselves to Him.  

I invite you to think about this matter with urgency as it concerns yourself and those of your loved ones. If you are already suffering from depression, then please find an excellent professional who can help you, someone who is licensed by the state and/or country where you reside. Most especially, embrace God in your life and activate the spiritual component of your life. Paul comforts us with these words, “God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us.” (Eph.3:20, The Message) I close with the Psalmist expression of God’s Love, in The Message translation:

“God’s Love is meteoric, His loyalty astronomic, His purpose titanic, His verdicts oceanic. Yet in His largeness nothing gets lost.” (Psa.36:5-6) This is not the place of depression, but of peace, joy, and Love!

Blessing:

Our prayers are with those who suffer from this dreaded condition. Our sympathies with those who have lost loved ones to this affliction. May the God who heals extend His compassionate hands and make you whole and comfort you.

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.*

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

Kiang                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ)   

*The “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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

To read the many facets of life of the “Bula man-river,” go to my website www.bulamanriver.com where you can order a copy of my book. Remember, when you purchase my book you lend a hand in Jesus’s Work, for all the proceeds go towards dispensing the Gospel worldwide. (Mark 9:41; Matt.28:28:18-20; Eph.2:10). Thank you for your support.

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.

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

THE NEW COVENANT – WHAT DOES IT HAVE TO DO WITH ME? BY KIANG P LEE

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Greeting once more from Dallas, Texas! What is the New Covenant?

The New Covenant is the foundation of the Christian faith and life. If the New Covenant can be encapsulated in a phrase or sentence what would that be? You may have heard it said that the Bible does not need interpreting, it interprets itself. So, the encapsulating phrase of the Covenant can found in this passage of scripture:

“Then God said, “Let Us make mankind in Our image, in Our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,and over all the creatures that move along the ground. So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Gen1:26-27) So, the New Covenant is a reminder of God’s promise to remake man into His immortal likeness and Love.

The New Covenant is ratified in Jesus blood, as God further promised, “For God so Loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18; also Heb.9:12-15). 

File:The National Covenant, Huntly House Museum, Edinburgh.JPG

“National Covenant.” Believed to be the original from which copies were made for distribution of the fifty-two words long Preamble to the Constitution of the United States (1787) echoes phrases in the National Covenant – “We the People…” Photographed in subdued light. (Wiki Commons)

Two Broad Objectives

So, the Covenant has two broad objectives in humanity, the first is God’s Love (God’s character image, 1 John 4:8), and the second is God’s Sovereignty and Rule (God’s image of reign over His creation, Neh.9:6). Man’s stewardship of the earth (rule/dominion) and his relationship with others of his kind (Love), were the principles upon which life was going to be lived on the earth. Man is to rule the earth under God (Love, for “God is Love” – 1John 4:8). Incidentally, the Old Covenant had the same twin objectives, but through a different route by way of the nation of Israel. Israel was not faithful, hence, making the New Covenant necessary. (Heb.8:7-9)

Let’s now read the New Covenant:

“This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel* after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Heb.8:10-12, emphasis added; also Jer.31:31-34)* (Gal.3:26-29; Rom.2:28-29)

The message of the Bible has never been complicated, but simple. Man once lived in perfect union with his Creator in Eden as we saw in Genesis 1:26-27. Then rebellion set in and Adam and Eve were evicted from Eden. (Gen.3) And man’s journey has always been to return to his Eden-like life with his Maker. Until man does return to the life he had with God in Eden, his life and the life of those around him, will remain unfulfilled and empty. Man was made in His Creator’s image, so his well-being and state of existence is forever tied to the One in whose likeness and temperament he was fashioned. It’s about living in harmony with God (Love) in order to obtain harmony in himself and with others, and his domain over the earth under God. It’s that plain, it’s that simple! And because of the absence of man’s covenantal state of existence today, we see evil so prevalent in the world.

Relationship not Rulership 

For humans, rulership or dominion carries with it a proviso. Man’s rule precludes humans. We are to have dominion over all creatures and the earth and its resources under God, but not over another human. The Scripture makes that abundantly clear. (Gen.1:26, 28) Only God has the prerogative to rule humanity whom He created in His image. God ‘rules’ mankind in Love and gave His Son to save humanity. Paul said we are to “owe no man anything except the continuing debt of Love.” (Rom.13:8) Jesus restated the Genesis ‘dominion mandate’ precluding humans, after His own disciples argued about who was greater or more dominant among them (Matt. 20:25-28). He said, “those who exalt themselves will be humbled; those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:8-12). Jesus washed His disciples’ feet to show the humility that ought to govern our relationship with each other. (John 13:12-17) It’s about relationship, not rulership!

Covenant Expounded

So the covenant establishes God’s promise to bring humanity back to “Eden,” not a literal physical Eden, but a spiritual one, for God’s image is ultimately spiritual, not physical.

* By stating, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (V.12), God the Father promises a Savior to make man’s forgiveness, and freedom from the prison of sin possible. That Savior was and is His only Son, Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)

* By saying, “all will know Me, from the least of them to the greatest” (V.11), He gave man the gift of the Holy Spirit to make this union with Him possible through the Spirit’s work of regeneration. The Spirit also bring man’s gift and calling in life, which provides the way humans rule and communicate with God.  The Holy Spirit brings a new birth into God’s Love-nature. (Rom.5:5; John 3:3-7)

* By declaring, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts” (V.10a), God the Father has received and accepted the mediatory life of Jesus’ as the vicarious substitute for all human responses. This is what Paul meant when he said, “It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.” (1 Cor. 1:30; also Phi.3:9) Paul said further, “For it is God who is at work in you to make you willing and able to obey His purposes.” (Phi.2:13) Then in a sense of finality he told the Colossians, “You are complete in Christ.” (Col.2:10, KJV)

* When God said, “I will be their God, and they will be my people” (V.10), He promises humanity a new birth in the resurrection to immortality to make mankind His eternal children. (1 Cor. 15:51-58) Jesus said, “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:39-40) 

In these provisions, we see the fulfillment of the two broad objectives we read earlier in Genesis 1:26-27. The first three show what God does, and how He does it, in order to make man into His image of Love, and the fourth provision shows how He gives humans eternal life so humans can become His children and live in joyous existence with Him forever. Careful read of the Covenant will make us realize that the basis of the Covenant is the miraculous life the believer is privileged to live. Not one of the provisions can be executed successfully to its desired end without the direct immersion of the Trinitarian God in the life of man. The Covenant makes the miraculous life a reality in man. The Covenant is the source of the “Triune Life” believers live in heaven even in this earthly sojourn. Paul said this, “For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1 Cor.4:20)

Man today is still in this journey back to ‘Eden.’ God has handed Jesus reign “over all rule and authority, power and dominion” upon this earth, so it is He who will restitute all things back to God from Adam’s rebellion. (Eph.1:21; 1Cor.15:24-25) Take Jesus’ hands and let’s return to our true roots as humans created after God’s own image of Love and to reign with Him.

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.*

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

Kiang                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ)  

*The “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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.

JESUS’ FAITH! BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings again friends everywhere! Let’s talk about faith in this post. I think you will enjoy this one. It is not presented in a conventional ‘churchy’ format, but I’m sure you will glean something to your spiritual benefit as a person.

Free Stock Photo of Trust Faith Indicates Believe In And Trustful

Spiritual Faith

What is faith? As a noun it describes one’s belief system. As a verb faith is the lifeblood of the believer’s acts and way of life. One describes who the believer is, and the other describes how he lives. Both elements work in unison to form a singular focus in life. In the same way Love describes God, faith describes man’s spiritual life. Love (God) is a noun because it describes who He is, and as a verb it describes how He lives and acts. (1John 4:8) We were created to become His image of Love. This is spiritual faith.

Human Faith

On the other hand, man displays a faith that’s entirely human and is unrelated to anything religious or spiritual. It deals with his life in the physical realm. For example, when we travel from one destination to another, we display a faith believing we will get to our destination safely and on time. Were it not so, we would not have made the trip in the first place. We travel to an exotic holiday destination believing it will give us an enriching experience. We move to a new job location in another city or state, and even a different country, believing it fulfills a dream and gives us security and a better way of life. Even brewing a cup of coffee requires some measure of faith, or else why choose one brand over another if it isn’t for some benefit we believe it imparts. Atheism is human faith which does not believe in the existence of God. We display this human faith all the time in our mental and physical activities. It is constrained to the human realm of reasoning and activity. The cogs which turn the wheel of human faith are man’s five senses. Anything unhuman and otherworldly it says, “I have to see, smell, taste, touch, or hear, to believe it.” This is human faith.

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The Great Physician at Work by F. Hoffman, 1890. His Medicine? Faith! (Wiki Commons)

The Two Faiths – Never the Twain Shall Meet?

When it comes to matters of the divine, man requires a faith that is not human because God is Spirit. Human faith and spiritual faith comes from two different sources and made of two distinct substances, yet not completely unlike. Whether it is spiritual or human faith, they both require the mind where both faiths are cultivated. Here is the crux of the matter, most Christians are relying heavily on their human faith to get by when it comes to spiritual matters, and that poses a problem. Paul said, “But people who aren’t spiritual (do not have the faith of Jesus) can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to mere human judgments (human faith), for, ‘Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’” (1Cor.2:14-15) In other words, spiritual matters are discerned through spiritual faith, not human faith. When it comes to spiritual discernment, human faith is riddled with doubt—always on shaky ground—and lives with double-mindedness.

The Faith OF Jesus

Human faith is incompetent for spiritual matters. So what is the answer to this faith question? It is clear man was not born with this saving faith. Paul makes the answer plain to the Roman Christians, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ to all and on all them that believe.” (Rom.3:22, AKJV) Yes, the answer is Jesus’ very own personified faith! You may have heard it said, “Believe in yourself.” My message to you today is, “Believe in your true self” – in and by Jesus’ faith! So, your faith-scale has to be reversed and tipped in favor of the faith of Jesus. People may and can believe Jesus with human faith alone, but ultimately they will find it incapacitated in situations requiring deeper spiritual discernment, especially as it concerns God’s personal destiny for them. Jesus is not for mere intellectual inquiry, but for a far more deeper spiritual infusion of faith. The human mind is not for cerebral activity alone, it possesses a transcendent quality having infinite capacity. The difference is like night from day. Science today continues to be baffled by the complexities and mysteries of the human mind. We may see Jesus as a historical figure, a great moral teacher who went about doing good. One faith is activated by mere human intellect and physical capacity, while the other is produced by the miraculous life God promises those who receive Jesus as Mediator. Where the divine and physical intersect, miracles happen. Paul said, “For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1Cor.4:20) Faith in the spiritual brings the miraculous activity to life in the believer which the five senses or mere cerebral response has no answer. This is the spiritual aspect of the mind where the Spirit of God moves.

Free Stock Photo of Belief Shows Believe In Yourself And Hope

“The righteousness of God which comes by the Faith of Jesus to all” (Rom.3:22). (pexels)

Be that as it may, human faith is not entirely lacking or hopeless. As inadequate as our human faith in spiritual matters, it is still relevant because God’s work of salvation in man cannot be done without human participation. Through God’s Tri-Personal nature as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, He reveals Himself to be a Loving participatory God. That’s how He desires His Love to work with humans He made in His image. So we use our limited human faith to believe and trust in the spiritually all-competent faith of Jesus to change us in ways man’s faith can ever imagine or think of doing. This is what Paul makes clear in this passage from Romans – “righteousness of God which comes by the faith of Jesus to all and on all that believe (with their human faith).” (Rom.3:22, AKJV) We are not mindless automatons. We are free personalities resembling God’s own Triune Personality. This is how the participatory life works: humanly we express our faith IN Jesus, while in our spirituality we live by the faith OF Jesus’ living Faith. The human and spiritual are fused into one expression of life. As Jesus’ faith grows, we’ll find our faith-scale begin to tip in favor of the faith of Jesus – our limited human faith will have less and less of a role and impact. As John said, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30). Why, because the place where Jesus is taking us, our narrow human faith has no scope of reference to maneuver this unknown landscape. We are now traversing in the Spirit’s territory which requires the faith of Jesus to pioneer and forge on forward. It’s effect is we will grow to become a whole person because we are not limited by what our human faith allows. The two faiths, walking side by side, form one life of man in Christ. (Amos 3:3) 

To Believe is to Please God

As an example, when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” how would your faith react to such a claim? (John 11:25) The human faith by itself would dismiss such claim as preposterous. We can ‘believe’ it as part of the ‘faith system’ we were brought up from childhood. It’s a hand-me-down and unproven faith of our parents, therefore still considered human. But it would take the faith of Jesus to believe it unquestionably with your life.This movement of the faith of Jesus in the believer triggers something so powerful in the realm of God. Faith is a powerful spiritual substance, for only Jesus’ faith moves God to act, nothing else does – that’s how awesome Christ’s faith is to man. Whatever gives God pleasure, moves Him to act. We please God by doing His will for us, and it starts with Jesus’ faith. Scriptures says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” (Heb.11:6) The purpose of life is to please God so He can move in our lives and be a blessing to others. Everything about His Son is pleasing to the Father, and we become equally pleasing to Him because of our faith in Jesus: “And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I Love; with Him I am well pleased.” (Matt.3:17) God’s relationship with sinful humans is constantly mediated in the life of His Son.

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Specifics of Jesus’ Faith

The faith of Jesus as a noun is specified in the provisions of God’s New Covenant promise. (Heb.8:8-12; Jer.31:31-34; Matt.26:28; Heb.12:24) As a verb it describes our willingness to live by its provisions, and second to be dedicated to the work of dispensing the New Covenant Gospel message into the whole world. (Matt.28:18-20; Act.10:38) (You can read about the specifics of the New Covenant in my next Blog Post on 8/5/14: http://bulamanriver.net/2993) John 3:16-17 stands prominent in the expression of the faith: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Before his death He said, “Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying,“Drink from it, all of you.This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt.26:27-28) If you read the provisions of the New Covenant you will find that every step of its fulfillment will require the direct act from the divine hand of God for its execution and success. That means, for man, the covenant requires God’s Loving hand in human life. The covenant makes the miraculous life necessary. This is how the faith of Jesus brings about the miraculous activity of God in the covenant life of the believer.  

The Gift of Faith – Holy Spirit!

The first act of God in blessing man for his faith in Jesus is He gives him His Spirit, the third Person of the Triune Godhead. His Son’s faith signals the turning point in a believer’s life which enables a spiritual Father/Offspring (Son/Daughter) relationship based upon the covenant to be established and nurtured in the Spirit. Jesus prayer was notable when He asked His Father to bless the disciples, and by extension all who believe in Him, “I WILL ASK THE FATHER, AND HE WILL GIVE YOU ANOTHER ADVOCATE TO HELP YOU AND BE WITH YOU FOREVER— THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” (John 14:16-18) There is no more powerful blessing God could give the faithful than the gift Himself in the Person of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist said this of Jesus “I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8) Listen to what Paul said when a person receives the faith of Jesus, “WHEN YOU BELIEVED (JESUS’ FAITH), YOU WERE MARKED IN HIM WITH A SEAL, THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT.” (Eph.1:13).

Did you see that? Do you see what Jesus’ faith does? Faith moves God to perform an exclusive personal miracle upon the person who has the faith of Jesus. He is “marked in Him.” What is this miracle? The miracle is God’s act of sealing the person with the Holy Spirit. To be sealed means you have God’s divine stamp of ownership – you belong to Jesus. (2 Cor.1:22) You are His, you are loved, He is your security, you are a citizen of His Kingdom, His army of angels set up camp around you, He blesses you, you will experience the miraculous way of life, you enjoy being in His presence. (Psa. 91) In other words, man is unified to God’s divine nature through the Spirit. The faith of Jesus becomes our own when the very nature of God in the Spirit’s life dwells in us – “forever.” (John 14:16; 1 Cor.3:16) Paul said, “For by grace are you saved through (Jesus’) faith; and that not of yourselves (human faith): it is the gift of God.” (Eph.2:8, italics mine) This is the “Triune Life”** man is privileged to live and enjoy. The Spirit is the Source of the miraculous life and the personification of Jesus’ Personal faith in the believer. We saw how He worked mightily through the hands of the disciples on Pentecost. (Act. 2) What could be more providential and awe-inspiring than to be a front-seat participant in the work of God’s covenant promise which He carries out through the power of the Spirit in this world and in your life.

Spirit’s Threefold Role

But what is the purpose of the Spirit in the believer? There are three roles the Spirit play, the first is to bring the reality of Jesus’ faith in man, and make it more and more potent as He sanctifies man. Jesus’ faith has to grow to take a person from a spiritual babe to a mature believer. (1Cor.3:1-2) He becomes less dependent on his human faith and more reliant on Jesus’ faith. The second is to guide the believer into the will of the Father and the Son. And the third is He is the power of God that will morph man from mortal into immortality at the return of Christ. These are provisions of the covenant. Listen to how Jesus lays out the Spirit’s work in the believer, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear (still babes, needing maturity). But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth (act of sanctifying man). He will not speak on his own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come (reveal the will of God). He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you (enhancing the faith of Jesus). 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 16:12-15) Yes, man got his work cut out for him in responding to the Spirit’s move in his life. Remember, God’s work is participatory. That’s what Love does.

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Gentle Dove, Symbol of God’s Love (Wiki Commons)

Paul makes reference to the Spirit’s third role, “who (referring to the Holy Spirit) is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His glory,” (Eph.1:14) Yes, “glory” means the Spirit sanctifies and unifies man to God, guaranteeing man’s immortality in God’s family. (1Thes. 4:16-17; 1Cor. 15:12-58) That ought to make us see that our human faith is helpless in this activity which God alone can do. Only Christ’s faith can move man to believe and bring immortality to man. What an awesome blessing to have the Spirit in our lives. Jesus said, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him.” (Luk.11:13) All we can do is ask with open hearts believing.

Example of Human Faith

Now I would like us to consider two separate pieces of research material as it deals with human faith in spiritual matters. The Pew Research Group says, “Nearly half (47% of Christians) says that one’s actions are the key to determining eternal fate, with nearly one-third (29%) saying that being a good, moral person is the key to everlasting life.” So, what do you think? Is it about man’s moral code? Is it about the “goodness” of your heart? Or, is it something much deeper? A Barna survey says most Christians don’t believe in the existence of the Holy Spirit, neither do they believe in the existence of the devil, Satan. (www.pewresearch.org ; www.barna.org) How does a believer attain immortality without the Spirit who is God’s pledge of eternal life in humanity? Only the “uncreated” (God) can impart immortality to the created. (John 1:1-4) Man uses his limited human faith to try to discern matters that’s beyond the limits of human comprehension in the spiritual realm. Without the faith of Jesus, man has no alternative but to put Jesus in a box of his own making, and He becomes an extension of man’s powerless human faith.  

“Whether Thrones or Powers or Rulers or Authorities…”

I wonder if our human faith can comprehend what Paul says of Jesus’ position in relation to man’s future, “This secret of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. In him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” (Col.1:16-17; 2:3) Only His personified faith in us, backed by His divine power that holds together all the power in the universe, both in the physical and spiritual realms, can give us the confidence to live the “Triune Life.”**

Free Stock Photo of Faith Word Indicates Believing Faithful And Believe Created by Stuart Miles

“It is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him” (Heb.11:6).

Unbelievers

In closing, what of those who do not believe even with their human faith? Their faith is misplaced. They may be atheists, of a different belief altogether, or whatever their persuasion. The Spirit is the ‘divine spark’ at work activating even the human faith as it befits the divine will. Jesus said, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44) So even our human faith is left to divine prerogative. Does this mean that those who don’t believe are eternally doomed? No, God is the final arbiter of human salvation. Not man, or human interpretation of it. The Bible gives us a peek into the plan of God where each person will be called in His order to salvation. Paul said, “For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when He comes, (then) those who belong to Him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.” (1 Cor. 15:22-24, emphasis added). The underscored words “each in turn” implies that “every person will each have their turn.” Firstly, Christ Himself, then the “firstfruits,” then those “when He comes,” and lastly “those who belong to Him.” And here, the context is referencing the resurrection to immortality.

The Bible show there is more than one resurrection. (Rev.20:5, 11-15) Even the Jews who do not believe Jesus is the Messiah will be saved in the order of God’s timetable and according to His Loving will. (Rom.11:24-28) Remember, the Jews were the people used by God to preserve the Bible down through the centuries to our time. If God has placed His elect (Jews) in ‘disbelief’ to reconcile the whole world, how much more the Gentiles? God could well ‘graft’ anyone in again as He so choose, and when He choose. (Rom.11:14, 20-27) When does all this take place? It is a mystery beyond us, as Paul says, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” (Rom.11:33, AKJV) Jesus told His disciples,”But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matt.24:36).

I reiterate what Paul said earlier, when you have the faith of Jesus it makes you a whole person having access to everything God is doing in your life, and more. Your decisions will be based on sound judgments because you’re not relying on your limiting human faith alone. (1Cor.2:15) Paul said, “Look to Jesus the Author and Finisher of your faith.” (Heb.12:2) Go now my friends, use your shaky human faith to ask for and trust in the infinite, limitless, and miracle-working, faith of Jesus, which alone saves!

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.* 

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

Kiang                                                                                                                                                    (Your Servant in Christ) 

*The “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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

** Triune Life: means a life lived according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life man lives in himself. It means God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and walks in you the Bulamanriver*. 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)

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.

WORLD OF EVIL – IN THE COURSE OF LOVE & FREEDOM! BY KIANG P LEE

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Greeting once more from Dallas, Texas!

Many ask why God allows so much evil in this world, and why He will not do something to stop it. Others prefer to live by the motto ‘see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil,’ and hope everything will work themselves out. People like to invoke God’s Love, but they leave out the second attribute of His divine nature that constitute who He is –freedom! Invoking God’s Love while choosing (freedom) not to take responsibility for our acts, is the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. These are the two attributes of His nature: Love and Freedom! God seeks to have a relationship with man He made in His image, and the foundation upon which that relationship is built is Love and freedom. We are speaking of divine terms, not the human definition of love and freedom.

“See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil!”

He desires to share these two attributes so we can enter and experience the very essence of His Being as God who is Tri-Personal in the Father, Son, and Spirit. We are speaking of attributes which have united the Triune God from eternity and will continue forever.

Consider the first attribute of God’s nature for a moment: Love. The Bible says, “God is Love.” (1John 4:8) What is the opposite of Love? If God is perfect and sinless, then sin is the opposite of Love. If God is Love, then what is man? Man is sinful! It is for reason of man’s sinfulness that Christ came to die to save us from our bondage (absence of freedom) to sin. Only then, we are given the freedom to Love one another. Man cannot Love one another and end evil in this world until he is freed from his slavery to evil and sin. The Love of God is real, and can be felt, touched, and lived, so is sin! Freedom is real, so is bondage!

The second attribute, freedom, expresses who He is – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are free Persons who exists as One in the communion of the Trinity. They are free functional Personalities, homousiosly and relationally One God. The human personality derives its uniqueness and propensity from the three Personalities of the Triune Godhead. The personhood of humans was created autonomous and distinct from one another resembling the Triune God. This is a vital element of man’s relationship with God that never leaves him. We do not lose our differentness and become lost in a giant pudding, so to speak, yet we are united with God through Christ in the Spirit. We have the freedom to be who we are destined to become as a person unique in our calling. The poet William Wordsworth said all persons “in the constitution of their souls, differ by mystery not to be explained.” (“The Excursion, Book Fourth: Despondency Corrected.”) Every person who has ever been born is different in gifting, just as no fingerprint is identical. The mystery of human personhood reveals the deeper mystery of God Himself in whose image man was created. But the Spirit makes known to men the mysteries of God as it concerns man, “The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” (1Cor. 2:10b) Most especially as it affects human personhood and uniqueness in gifts and personalities – for that’s man’s language of communication with Him.

We are accountable for our freedoms, as God is in His own actions. You cannot have Love without freedom, or have freedom without Love! They form the same substance, one cannot do without the other. We see how these twin attributes stands inviolate in the very Being of the Triune God. 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.” (Gal.5:1) Freedom is God’s nature. Jesus came to bring us divine freedom from sin’s bondage which is the root cause of evil in the world. 

The Synonymy of Sin and Slavery.  U.S. Senate Passes Resolution Apologizing for Slavery. Photograph from the SHC’s Edward Ward Carmack Papers, 1850-1942.

The degree of evil in this world is commensurate with the degree of man’s slavery to sin. The opposite of Love is sin and rebellion, and the opposite of freedom is bondage. Just as God is free to express His Love, man is a slave (not free) to express sin (opposite of Love). So the answer to evil is divine freedom which only God can give through His Son. It has nothing to do with the “goodness” of our human hearts. God says our “goodness are like filthy rags.” (Isa.64:6) 

Rebellion is sin! The word rebellion renders a more precise constitution to the condition of sin in the world. The word sin has become so religionized and lost its painful and offensive meaning. What is rebellion?  It is the condition of pride manifesting in non-compliance with the divine will of Love (God). The opposite of rebellion is humility and compliance. The Bible says that “rebellion is the sin of divination.” (1 Sam.15:23) Divination has to do with evil fallen angels whose sin occurred before man’s creation which was open rebellion against God. (Isa.14:12-15; Ezek.28:13-15; Jude 1:6) Rebellion is part of man’s nature who has been held captive by the devil since Adam’s (man’s) rebellion. (Gen.3) Paul tells us, “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) Hence, the answer to good and evil in this world has to do with unseen forces that controls the spirit of Love and rebellion, and freedom and bondage, not the “goodness” or “badness” of our human hearts. They create the “condition” which in turn create the outcome we see in the world today. The evil forces became “adversary” to God. Therefore, rebellion means to be adversarial with God (Love). God’s purpose is to bring us back to His Love and freedom, the purpose for which He created mankind. (Gen.1:26-27) The evil forces of the dark world are powers and authorities which hold sway over mankind, and man’s only hope is Jesus. And this He has already done, defeating the devil in the battle for mankind’s freedom. (Matt.4)

The prophet tells us what the dark forces has done to the heart of man making him adversarial to God, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jer.17:9) This speaks of the darkness of the human soul. The prophet says, “We look for light, but all is darkness; for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows…we are like the dead… Our sins testify against us.” (Isa.59:9, 10, 12) Rebellion is the essence of this darkness in the human heart. Love is the light of God’s own heart which shines into the darkness of the human soul. And from the glory shone out of the light of Jesus’ life man can live in the ever increasing glory His brightness which covers our darkness. So, the end of evil and darkness in this world is commensurate with the ending of rebellion against the will of God in the heart of man, and the appearance of the light of God’s Love.

In all of creation humans are regarded as the dominant species. But this is not because of natural selection, human genetics, or man’s doing. Man derives his dominant nature from God at creation because he is made in His image. (Gen.1:26-27) When it comes to human relations we see humans trying to ‘dominate’ other humans, instead of Loving and encouraging the freedom of others to express their gifts as God does when He relates with man. This is the basis of evil in this world. What man don’t fully appreciate is the ‘dominion mandate’ precludes man from ruling over another human. Yes, we are to have dominion over all creatures and the earth and its resources under God, but not over another human. (Gen.1:26, 28) Only God has the prerogative to rule man for he was created in His image. God ‘rules’ mankind in Love and gave His Son to save humanity. Paul said we are to “owe no man anything except the continuing debt of Love.” (Rom.13:8) Jesus restated the Genesis ‘dominion mandate’ after His own disciples argued about who was greater or more dominant among them (Matt. 20:25-28). He said, “those who exalt themselves will be humbled; those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:8-12).Jesus washed His disciples’ feet to show the humility that ought to govern our relationship with each other. He was the chief servant, not chief dictator. He gave His life for them. Life is about stewardship, not ruler-ship. We are stewards of His way of Love and freedom.

Spiritually, slavery means to live in the condition of sin under the influence of evil forces. But Christ has freed us from the slavery of sin through the mediation of His perfect life that was sacrificed for our forgiveness and freedom. Jesus is our freedom! Jesus is the expression of all good in this world that man seeks.The evil we see in the world is the result of spiritual slavery to sin, and man desperately needs true freedom. He has called us to freedom, not slavery. Paul said, “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about you adoption to sonship (free as His children). And by Him we cry “Abba, Father.”” (Rom.8:15), emphasis added)

The Bible says what you sow, you shall also reap. (Gal.6:7) That’s freedom, but man resents taking responsibility for his actions. If you sow the seeds of God’s Love, you will reap the fruits of good in the world, but if your sow the seeds of the devil’s rebellion, you will surely reap evil. We are all given the freedom to choose the seeds we sow. G.K. Chesterton said men are incomplete thinkers who “want things in fragments, that way we do not have to think about our inconsistencies. That way, we do not mind when our work contradicts our ideals (or principles), or when our politics contradicts our faith, and we keep each thing in its watertight compartment.” (The Apostle of Common Sense, p.19). Yes, we live life filled with contradictions. If you live the ‘wilderness life’ it never leaves you, it stays and follows you wherever you go. No amount of compartmentalizing life will change the harmful outcome! If you enter the ‘promise land’ you are freed from the ‘wilderness life’ to live life in the Spirit. (Love, Rom.5:5) God (Love) cannot be mocked, the degree of evil in this world corresponds with our sojourn in the ‘wilderness of sin’ we allow ourselves to be held bondage to. Likewise, the degree of good in the world is matched by the degree of the Spirit’s life in us (‘promise land’), where we freely choose to Love others as ourselves. (Mark.12:31) Like the force of gravity, Love is no respecter of persons. Your own actions (Love or rebellion) will be the judge of your life.

God waits for man with open arms, it’s up to us – choose Love, choose Freedom!

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.*

If you wish to read more, please obtain a copy of my book, “Bula Man-River – The Miracle of Triune Living,” from my web site: www.bulamanriver.com. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Kiang                                                                                                                                                          (Your Servant in Christ)  

*The “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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.

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

IMMORTALITY – FACT OR FICTION? BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings once more friends! Let’s talk of a subject hardly discussed at the dinner table – eternal life or immortality!

The Most Important Question About Life  

Is the belief in eternal life something viable for mortal humans, or is it just imagining a fool’s paradise? Why do millions believe death is not the end of our existence? Most religions have some form of belief in life after death. The ancient Egyptians practiced elaborate ceremonies to prepare the pharaohs for their next life. On the other hand, many more believe that like animals, once we die that is the end of everything, there is no afterlife. Someone said everyone is afraid to die, so this is how we deal with this fear through belief that there is a magical realm in which you will forever be reunited with your loved ones, and above all experience complete bliss for all eternity. Of course belief in immortality goes with the belief in the existence of a God who has the power to give immortal life to man. It is not my purpose to discuss the pros and cons of this topic which has been subject of debate for centuries, but to provide the Christian view of immortality which millions claim to believe, which same belief is revealed in the book of the Christian faith, the Bible.

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Fountain of Eternal Life, downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Wiki Commons)

Christian View of Eternal Life

Though religions have different forms of belief about eternal life, they are not all identical with the Christian belief. The Christian concept of immortal life, based upon Bible revelation, is that eternal life is attained through belief in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and by a resurrection from the dead to immortal life. (1Thes. 4:16-17; 1Cor.15:12-58) Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lay down His life for the sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:7, 11, 27-28) The hope of the dead is the resurrection.

Bible ‘Silent’ about Afterlife

The Bible is virtually silent about the afterlife or what we will be doing there, but it has much to say about what we ought to be doing here and now in this earthly life. What we do on earth will ultimately determine our eternal future. Jesus said as much as we extend a hand of Love to our fellow humans, or lack of it, we are in reality doing it to Him. (Matt. 25:31-46) In other words, our actions have eternal consequences. In fact the entire Bible is about how to live life on earth, not the afterlife. If there’s an afterlife whether in heaven or hell as many presume, what then is the purpose of the resurrection which is clearly revealed in the Bible? The Bible teaches that the resurrection is man’s entry point into immortal life, not at death. (1 Cor. 15) It says prior to this we were all ‘asleep’ – for those who are dead – “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of the eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory'” (1 Cor. 15:51-54). Sleep is the symbol of death. (1 Kings 2:10; 11:43; Job 14;12; Psa.13:3; Act.7:60)    

Resurrection at The ‘Last Day’

Whether we believe someone is in heaven or hell, it presupposes the judgment has taken place. But the Bible speaks of the judgment of all in the last day. The resurrection presupposes the dead will be raised in the future to be judged. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:44) Martha spoke to Jesus about the resurrection as it concerns Lazarus, “I know he (Lazarus) will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (John 11:24; also, Rev.20:4-6, 11-13) There is no hint of a life after death until the resurrection. Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (V.25) The Hebrew thought on the other hand, predating the Greeks, is based upon scripture (Bible) which upholds the dead to be in their graves awaiting the resurrection. (Eccl.9:10; Psa.6:5; 16:8-11) The New Testament speaks eloquently about the resurrection. (1Cor.15:12-58; 1Thess.4:13-18)

“Immortal Soul” Originated in Greek Philosophy

The common teaching in Western thought about the afterlife actually originated in Greek philosophy. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle were prime proponents of the concept of the “immortal soul” which predated Christianity. Socrates explains death saying, “Is it not the separation of soul and body? And to be dead is the completion of this; when the soul exists in herself, and is released from the body and body is released from the soul, what is this but death.”** These are not words from the Bible, but by pagan philosophers. Socrates explained that the immortal soul, once freed from the body, is rewarded according to good deeds or punished for evil. The term “immortal soul” appears nowhere in the Bible. By presupposing the afterlife, and thereafter reward the good and punish evildoers, it follows that Western thought have the afterlife presented in two broad concepts: heaven for the good, and hell for the evildoers. This is not of Hebrew or biblical origin, but Greek philosophical thought.

Greek Paradigm?

As a blogger claims, existence of a “immortal soul” (or immortal life), if it were assumed to be true would mean that death, the greatest absolution known – become suddenly meaningless.  And that’s just the point, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25)  Jesus was not affirming the “immortal soul” concept, He qualified the afterlife by a resurrection. In Western thought, we have used Greek philosophy as the paradigm to filter and interpret the Bible, at least on this subject. Yet, the Bible warns us about adding to, or taking away, from the truth it reveals. (Rev.22:18-19) This passage from scripture was spoken in the context of mankind’s eternal inheritance of immortality which God gives to mankind.  

Pope’s View on “Hell”

The Catholic Church has changed its teaching about a literal hell, when Pope John Paul II said, “Hell is symbolic and figurative of the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Rather than a physical place, hell is the state of those who freely and definitively separate themselves from God, the Source of life and joy. Hell is a condition resulting from attitudes and actions which people adopt in this life.” Hell is not some place where evil doers are made to suffer in torment in an undead condition. Life on earth is a ‘hell’ for many. Only the fallen angels exist in an undead state for they were created spirits, man was made of the dust of the ground. As a blogger says, if we spent our mental and physical effort in consideration of future generations like we spend it on a form of afterlife, the world would be a better place to live. If the concept of the afterlife inherently demands of a judgment, then morality will be one’s compass in life, because handing judgment to a higher power forms part of moral consciousness.

Fountain of Eternal Life, downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Wiki Commons)

“Hell” – Hard Concept to Stomach

Hell is a difficult concept to stomach with a God who openly declares Himself a God who is Love in His Triune nature. He is not made of Love, He is Love. (1John 4:8) I don’t believe as humans we would want such a fate on another even if we have only an ounce of God’s Love in us. To suffer in hell fire in an undead state for eternity is unimaginable. So, are we suggesting man who is intrinsically evil, is more compassionate than God? God forbid! There is something amiss with this worldview as it contradicts God’s very basic nature of Love. God did say He made man from the dust, and to the dust he is to return. (Gen.3:19; also, Eccl.3:19-20; Psa.146:4; 115:17) That’s about a death as eternal as any if you think about it; but existing in an eternal undead state is not biblical. (Eccl.9:5; also, Job 14:12) Hell is the grave (sheol) where man return to dust, not some unknown place where evil-doers suffer in an undead state. In Hebrew thought to be ‘alseep’ is the symbol of death. If I believe in the immortality of the soul the Greeks believe, then I’m expected to believe in a hell for the undead. 

“I Am The Resurrection And The Life!”

Immortal life in the Bible cannot be stated more clearly, Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25a) Paul says, “There shall be a resurrection (future) of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” (Act.25:15) We are not judged immediately after death, there’s a future judgment day coming for all in the last day. The resurrection to immortality presupposes the existence of an eternal God who confers immortal life to man. Like all life forms which produce after their kind, the Creator God is no different. He is Creator of the universe and this earth which He made specifically for humans, and for man’s grand purpose. This demonstrates His sovereignty over all creation. The scripture reveals His purpose of creating mankind is to form man ultimately in His immortal image and likeness. At creation God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so they may rule…So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Gen.1:26-27) This raises an obvious and legitimate question, what is God’s image? God is immortal in His Tri-Personal Being as Father, Son, and Spirit.

Jesus – Only Human to Attain Immortality

Only one human has so far attained to the resurrection to immortality: He is Jesus, the Savior of mankind. This is the Gospel account of it, “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He is risen, just as He said. Come and see the place where He lay.” (Matt.28:6) Here, we have an angelic messenger testifying to Jesus’ resurrection and by extension God’s plan to resurrect humans to immortality like Jesus’ own resurrection. Jesus paved the way for man’s immortal life by His own human resurrection to immortality. Paul gives the answer to man’s immortality, “For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son (human made immortal), that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” (Rom.8:29, emphasis added) So human immortality is to resemble Jesus’ own immortality when He was resurrected from the dead. Jesus is the firstborn human made immortal, among the many that will follow in the future resurrection to immortality. He is the “firstborn” and only human who has attained human immortality. The “many” to follow awaits His second coming, Paul comforts the church with this hope, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God: and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.” (1Thes. 4:16-17) This is man’s only hope for immortality!

Man’s Purpose To Reign With Christ

Immortality is the heart and core of the Gospel message. It is the basis of man’s eternal reign on earth. (Gen.1:26b, 28). Man is to rule the earth in Love according to God’s image. Rulership is the prerogative of the Creator God He shares with man. So though we may deny man’s potential for eternal life, we cannot deny the human essence to reign because we exercise dominion everyday over this earth in practically everything we do. Please note, it is not dominion over another human which is precluded in the Genesis dominion mandate, but dominion over creation apart from our fellow man. (Gen.1:26b, 28) As far as humans are concerned, we do not exercise rulership but relationship with people. Human relationship is governed by a continuous fulfillment of the “debt of Love” because we are all made in His image of Love. (Rom.13:8) Man was made to have dominion over all creation with the exception of man. How can the ruler be ruled? Jesus washed His disciples feet to show the humility needed to relate with our fellowmen. Jesus did not ‘rule’ His disciples, He served them, so ought we to do likewise. 

Immortality & Reign – Flipside of the Same Life

Rulership and immortality are prerogatives of God and flipside of the sole expression of God’s Being. To rule means one has the ability to sustain his reign eternally. When it comes to God, you cannot accept one and deny the other – that’s His image. God rules eternally in Love. If you accept one, you accept both. Otherwise, what’s the point of dominion if death is the end-all. Humans like to express this bent in his makeup for the afterlife by building monuments and legacies for themselves to be preserved for posterity. Humans think this way because he is made in the divine immortal likeness of the Creator. This poses a dilemma for those who don’t believe in man’s future immortal life. Man has exercised dominion over this earth, but the earth has remained while man has returned to its ashes from whence he was taken. Yet, the earth exists solely for man’s divine purpose. The Scripture says the earth groans and waits in eager expectation for the manifestation of man’s immortality as children of God. Why, because the earth’s ongoing meaning for existence in the universe is forever tied to God’s and man’s future upon it. “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.” Yes, they will dwell in the new earth and in the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming from heaven as God’s gift. (Rom.8:18-23; Rev.21:1-4) 

All human dynasties die eventually, only Jesus’ dynasty is eternal. Paul enlightens us, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ (kingdom/dominion), if indeed we suffer in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory (immortality).” (Rom.8:17, emphasis added) So we see rulership and immortality are one expression of God which He shares with those who become His children in faith. As the scripture say, “If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.” (1Cor.15:44) If there is to be reign, then there must of necessity be immortal life to eternalize man’s reign. He said this about man’s reign, “I appoint to you a kingdom, as My Father has appointed to me.” (Luk.22:29) 

Man’s Potential

Though man’s existence is temporary and ends in death, he has the potential for eternal life in the resurrection to reign in God’s eternal kingdom. Jesus said, “The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die.” (John 11:25b) Man’s immortality is secured in Jesus who, in Himself is the Personification of the resurrection. He said, “I AM the resurrection and the (true) life.” (John 11:25a) All life in the universe and this earth springs from, and is sustained by God, who is the Fountain of life, both physical and spiritual life. No human dies without His knowledge, not even a bird falls to the ground without His knowing, for all life springs from Him. He is omnipresent as He is omniscient. (Matt.10:29-31) Nothing created has life of its own, not even man. Only God is immortal and occupies true life. Life oozes out from Him, from whom all life forms are beneficiaries by His grace. Man is mortal, not immortal. Only the “uncreated” possesses immortality, the created possess mortality. Paul said to Timothy, “Who (God) alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Tim.6:6)  Of man, the scripture say, “For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same. As one dies, so does the other. They all have the same breadth, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.” (Eccl.3:19-20)

What Happens at Death?

The Spirit of God is the life-energy which envelopes our universe and all life forms upon this earth. Nothing can exist outside of God’s life-giving energy.The Spirit is the ‘divine spark’ (soul) which give the human mind his intellectual and spiritual faculties. Man has no self-sustaining immortality in him. Of all creatures, only man was blessed with the ‘divine spark’ (mind) to keep him connected to his Creator, for the purpose of remaking man in His image. Because man was formed in His image, the ‘divine spark’ (mind) enables him to live inter-dependently with his Creator, not independently apart from Him as some self-sustaining entity. (Gen.1:26-27) To the Greeks, belief in the “immortal soul” essentially means “uncreated” – not created. (“The immortality of the soul: a protest,” – #46 – Immortality)

How man uses his thoughts ultimately forms his subconscious mind which controls his life, whether for good or evil. Love is freedom, so man has to choose his thought process and thought form which will form his attitude to life. (read my blog post, “Penny for Your Thoughts,” 3/18/14) Also, this spiritual union show the vitality of the “Triune Life” whose underlying motivation is the collaborative, humble, inter-personal, and mutual way of life of the Trinitarian God. An independent self-sustaining life is non-existent in the “Triune Life.” Upon death, man returns to the earth from whence he was taken, and the ‘divine spark’ returns to the Spirit who gave it. (Eccl.12:6-7; 9:5; Gen.3:19; Psa.146:4; John 3:13; Psa.115:17; 89:48) At the return of Jesus, man is raised to give account in the judgment. (1 Thes.4:13-18; 2 Cor.5:10; Matt.12:36)

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Fountain of Eternal Life, downtown Cleveland, Ohio, USA (Wiki Commons)

It All Comes Down to ‘Faith’

There is so much that can be said about this topic. It must be said the subject of man’s immortality has been debated for centuries, and will continue to be debated for a long time to come. Be that as it may, I have tried to expound its salient features as it concerns the Christian faith as revealed in the Bible. I realize people will say they don’t believe the Bible is the last word on the subject. That may be so, but whatever position a person may take, they do express faith like Christians do. His faith rest upon the authority he has chosen to support on the subject. It is for us to question the validity and integrity of the authority we uphold and support. For Christians, it is the inspired word of the Bible, which they believe is authored by God Himself. (2 Tim.3:16; 2 Pet.1:21) It has survived for centuries, despite attempts to destroy it. When all is said and done, it is about our faith, isn’t it? Atheism is a faith which expresses disbelief in the existence of God and the supernatural. So accusing one’s faith in God as a ‘crutch,’ while expressing faith in the god of atheism, is hypocrisy usually found in the blind. 

The Biblical Account of Resurrection to Immortal Life

I close with this passage from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, “If the dead are not raised then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ is not raised your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive…The body that is sown perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (1Cor.15:16-18, 22, 42-44)

Paul goes on to tell us of that miraculous moment of truth when suddenly, like being awakened from a deep slumber, we find ourselves in an indescribable and transformed state of existence. What does it feels like to be an immortalized human and be profusely alive and not dependent on our humanity for existence? No one knows how that feels like, but here’s how Paul describes it, “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (1Cor.15:51-57) The weight and credence of the Christian faith rests upon the promise of immortal life.

What was the Question?

Let’s pose the question we asked at first, is immortal life viable? Paul said if there is no resurrection to eternal life, then what is the point of it all? “If Christ is not raised then your faith is futile (empty). If our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” (Vs.17, 16, 32) But if there is a Higher Power who made man in His Loving image, who is the Judge of mankind, and who confers immortality, then there is moral palpability in the way we live and in all we do.

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.*

If you wish to read more, please obtain a copy of my book, “Bula Man-River – The Miracle of Triune Living,” from my web site: www.bulamanriver.com. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com.

Kiang                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ) 

**Five Great Dialogues, 1969 P.93

*The “Bula man-river” 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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

NOTE: All information from this website is copyrighted. Any use of its content should be acknowledged by citing the website, address, date of acquisition and information pertinent to original authorship.

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

THE GOSPLE ABOUT JESUS CHRIST, BY KIANG P LEE

17 Replies

Greetings again friends! What is the Gospel of Jesus Christ?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the message to mankind from God the Father who gave His Son out of His unfathomable Love to save man from his sins. It is His desire to make good His promise to unify mankind as His children for all eternity through His Son Jesus as our atonement. (Gen.1:26-27) John tells us, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1John 2:2) He sacrificed His Son to make our eternal glorification with Him possible. (John 3:16) As a token to His promise He also promises to give us a friend in the Holy Spirit to be with us throughout our earthly life and to be there in the future resurrection to raise us from the dead.(Rom.8:11) His one desire is we will find nothing but a life of pure eternal joy in His presence. (Psa.67)

Our Father’s words to us is, “Fight the good fight. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called…” (1Tim.6:12). We are called to immortality made possible because Jesus as the second Person of the Trinity, came down to earth and who took our humanity in Himself to save us from the corruption and death in our sinful nature. He gave His life, so that we might gain eternal life through Him. That is what the Gospel message of Jesus Christ is about. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Gal.3:13). The law demanded our lives, but “by the grace of God He was given to taste death for every man.” (Heb.2:9) Peter says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” (1 Pet.3:18) 

Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus (Wiki Commons)

The purpose of the gifts we have been bequeathed is to share and make known this wonderful Gospel to all. (Matt.28:18-20) But before we can share this wonderful message of man’s salvation with others, it has to begin with us. It has to be real to us before we can make it real to others. Nothing can be shared genuinely to others unless unless it is real to us first. Jesus said, “Whoever is ashamed of Me and my Words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luk.9:26) If we are embarrassed about our association with Him as His followers, our faith is not genuine. If the eternity He has prepared for us is not real to us, then certainly we cannot share it with others. He goes on, “Whoever acknowledges Me (and the Gospel) before others, I will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.” (Matt.10:32-33, emphasis added). Jesus asked, “What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life (in Jesus)” (Matt.16:26, Holman CSB, emphasis added) Life is far more than spending it on our fleshly indulgence. Jesus said life is more than about food, and our body is more than about the clothes we wear. (Luk.12:23) In other words, we can get so caught up in the transient things of life that we are blinded to the reality just beneath it. He said to look beyond the veneer of the material, and into the reality God presents to us in His Son.  

What could be more foolish than denying our very Creator? Certainly, He ought to be ashamed of us because of our depraved and corrupt humanity. Paul was inspired to write, “But God demonstrates His own Love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom.5:8) Yes, despite our corrupt spiritual condition, He emptied Himself to become one of us, and to die in our place so we may share His place in glory. The Bible goes on, “Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledges that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phi.2:9-11)

The Gospel is about the Person of Jesus, as the Son of God, who superimposes His redemptive self over all of humanity, and under His liberating shadow we exist today, and enter the rest of our eternity with the Father in Him.

The reality we see in Jesus who now lives His life in us by the power of the Spirit is what we share with others. He does not expect us to do this work in our own power. It is impossible for any human to do the work of God. So he gives us help. What was the gift given to the disciples on Pentecost when the work of the church started? It was the Spirit’s power to preach the Gospel with courage, and without fear or favor. The Spirit is the light of God in the life of man. The Spirit is the gift of God in the believer. If God’s gift to man is his calling and destiny, then Herald* the Spirit is the power who animates man’s gift for the purpose of preaching the Gospel. Like Peter’s ability to fish, the Spirit changed his gift to be a fisher of men. Or like Paul’s tent-making skills and turn it into a gift of building churches through Asia.

We are reminded of the commission Jesus gave His followers for all time, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt.28:18-20) It begins in our earthly lives where God has given us gifts to define our individual ‘personhood’ in Christ so we can know and see Him in our personal relationship and destinies. (Rom.12:6; 1 Pet. 4:10) We are given a work to do, and He gives us gifts in the Spirit to do them. That’s how Jesus lived His earthly life, and how He related with His Father, His disciples, and the people. As a boy Jesus told His family, “Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business.” As an adult He never deviated from His mission and calling, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work.” (Luk. 2:49; John 4:34) He said, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17)

John Tal Murphree, in his book, The Trinity and Human Personality, informs us, “On our part, relating with God also requires a recognition of our separate individuality from Him and His difference from us. We must accept our status before Him as dependent rather than independent, creature rather than Creator, servant rather than Master, human rather than divine. Such is the moral dimension of the relationship.” (Pg.49)  In other words, I am trying to emphasize we relate with God through the gift of personhood and calling He bequeaths on each of us as His children. The opposite picture of the ‘false self,’ would be independence from Him, where we would assume the mantle of creator rather than created, master than servant, and we would take on the divine prerogative and made it human privilege in deciding our destinies. We were made to be replicated in God’s image, not in our image of the “false self.”

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 today and give you strength for authentic creative “Triune Living” as a Bula man-river.*

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

Kiang                                                                                                                                                            (Your Servant in Christ) 

*The “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. Man is the “riverbed” and the Spirit is the “living waters” that cover him and flows to all in his valley (destiny). (John 7:37-39)

*Herald is the name I have affectionately call the Holy Spirit

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THE MIRACULOUS LIFE – NO ORDINARY LIVING! BY KIANG P LEE

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Greetings again friends around the world!

I would like to share a true life miracle with you, my readers. My wife, two family friends, and yours truly, were privileged recipients of God’s saving grace. I remember the miracle like it happened yesterday although it has been years now. I share this miraculous event to impress upon us that when we enter into a relationship with God, we will walk a life of miraculous activity which He intended for humans to live from the moment of man’s creation. Adam and Eve lived with God in Eden experiencing this miraculous life. When they alienated themselves from God’s presence the miraculous life stopped, awaiting the second Adam who would restore man’s place in God’s presence. Man has always lived under God’s sovereignty no matter what, but not in relational oneness in the bond of Love which produces the miraculous life which the second Adam makes possible. That comes as a matter of choice on man’s part.

This momentous event took place when the Son of God came as the Immanuel, God in the human flesh in the person of Jesus, fully God and fully man, to restore man back to the miraculous life which is man’s birthright. (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23; 2 Tim.1:7; Eph.3:20-21) Hence, we see Jesus went about doing good through God’s miraculous power which we read in the four Gospels. (Acts 10:38) By taking our humanity upon Himself, Jesus, through His defeat of Satan in the Judean wilderness, His perfect life, His sacrificial death for our atonement, His human incarnational resurrection and ascension, fused our humanity forever to the very Triune Being of God. Man can now enter a life of miracles as his birthright. Miracles come wrapped in God’s Love expression for man. God is divine and we are mere mortals, and when the two intersect in the bond of Love, miracles happen.

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Jesus Walking on Water, Artist – Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (1817-1900) (Wiki Commons)

Keep the “end” in mind – that’s a vital nugget of wisdom in the journey of life. Beasts don’t set goals. They behave spontaneously through their God-given instincts in the moment and for the moment. But humans live in the present relative to his past and with an objective “end” (future) he has set out in his mind to achieve. There are many “ends” humans can craft for himself, but life’s true “end” is to live for our heavenly Father’s purpose of living in His presence. The Creator set for man his “end” from the beginning: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule.’” (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) Everything we do in life must have this overriding purpose behind it. His image is He is divine and immortal and He is Love by nature. (1John 4:8: John 4:24; Neh.9:6)

There’s only one way to achieve God’s objective “end” purpose for man – it has to take a hands-on miracle from God Himself. It’s that plain, it’s that simple. Immortality and Love is God’s image in His Tri-Personal Being, and for man to attain that objective requires God’s direct input. It is impossible for man to attain the purpose of God for him so miracles has to be part of his life. That brings about a constant miraculous activity in man’s journey on this earth. So the miraculous life we experience as humans is a foretaste of the immortal life we will share with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is a trailer, a preview, of God’s movie of man happening in real life, if you like. It is your birthright and mine to live the miraculous life as a human, and eternally in immortality in Christ. Paul said, “For the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1 Cor. 4:20) The miraculous life humanity is ordained to live stems from God’s power. It is for man to make a choice, as God gave Adam, whether he will enter into this relational oneness (Love) with Him in faith through His Son in the Spirit’s move.

God affirms the miraculous life He has given humanity through the promises He has given us in His Word, the Bible. To read more, go to: http://bulamanriver.net/11339

Here’s what I wrote about my miraculous experience in my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”:

“The year was 1996 – the night of November 9th to be exact. I was living and working in Fiji in the South Pacific. The day, like any other, was fraught with its usual hectic demands of work. Yes, even in this beautiful idyllic paradise on earth, the strife of life is no respecter of your world. Little did I know the extraordinary event that lay in wait and about to unfold before me—that day will forever change the course of my life.

“Scheduled to take an early-morning flight to Canberra, Australia, my wife and I had to drive to the other side of the island where the international airport is located. A couple, friends of the family, traveled with us on this two-and-a-half-hour drive. The night was black as could be, with only the car’s headlights slicing through the pitch darkness. This stretch of the road ran straight and level for about a quarter mile with a bridge at the end and then turned sharply left around a mountain on the far side of the bridge.

“At around 2:30 a.m., the one thing most dreaded by drivers happened: I fell asleep at the wheel. I drove off my side of the two-lane road, drifted into the opposite lane, and finally went off the road onto the stopping lane. By now the car was not aligned with the bridge ahead to take us safely across the river. Instead, we were heading for a nosedive into the waters below the bridge.

Intense Blinding Light

“My short but deep sleep was the kind you just don’t get out of unless you are vigorously shaken. Then something amazing occurred. In my mind’s eye I saw the most blinding white light I have ever seen. The light was so intensely bright it woke me from my sleep. As I opened my eyes, astonishingly, there before me I saw the source of this intense white light – literally in front of me. I now looked directly at a person clothed in dazzling white garment to his feet, standing in front of me. With his right arm outstretched he held up his lamp, the source of the brilliant light that woke me. He would not move out of my way. He never flinched but stood his ground.

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Intense Blinding Light Awoke Me From My Deep Slumber (Pic: Wiki Commons)

“All this happened so fast my immediate reaction was to swerve to evade a head-on crash into the person. As I veered left, I found myself on the road landing on the road again and crossing the bridge. The spot where the person in dazzling white garment stood led directly into the river below. If he had not stood his ground, forcing me to turn sharply to avoid a collision, we would have headed straight into the river and most likely died of drowning—leaving seven parentless children behind.

“What happened next was equally astonishing. The bridge, made of concrete and pipe railings, lit up the dark night. Yes, the whole bridge was ablaze in brilliant white light. So as I swerved to avoid the crash into the person with the lamp, I was unwittingly maneuvered onto the bridge. The bridge’s railings turned into lights, something like fluorescent tube lights with a more intense brightness about them. By the side rails of the bridge I saw more people, all dressed in dazzling white shorts and short-sleeved shirts, walking along happily chatting and delighting in each other’s presence. All I could remember from their demeanor in those fleeting moments was the aura of complete joy and peace that radiated from their presence. It was a short but unforgettable few seconds in my life.

“My mind reeling, I wondered what had just happened. As we crossed the bridge and made the ninety-degree turn, we had a good view of the bridge we crossed. All we saw was nothing but pitch darkness, the brilliant light-show evident no more. I drove slowly for a few moments trying to collect my thoughts. “Did you see what just happened?” I asked my wife. She nodded, equally dumbfounded, and said she did. I asked my friends, and they said they too saw what happened. We all sat silent for a moment as the truth sank in: we had just tasted a miracle of angelic intervention.

Angels to the Rescue

“God sent angels to rescue us from certain death. (Psa.91:11) At the hotel, my wife and I knelt to thank God for His love and mercy for keeping us all safe. Seven children would have lost their parents that pitch-dark morning, but for the grace of God. It would be an understatement to say the event affirmed and solidified our weak human faith in God’s existence, His sovereignty over our lives, and unquestionably, His extraordinary Love.

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A Bridge in Nadi, Fiji Similar to One Crossed by Author, With Its Steel Pipe Rails Lit Up Like Fluorescent Light in The Pitch Dark Night (Wiki Commons)

“I know the Lord saved us for more reasons than His awesome Love for us. You see, a friend from the nearby village had told me stories of lives lost to the awkward bend in the road—but why spare us? I had read about one such tragic incident at this very bridge in the local newspaper not so long ago. As this event kept replaying in my mind, and I recognized God’s unerring hand in my life from before and after the event, I kept asking “why” because I felt no more deserving than the next person.

“When I think of the people who have lost their lives in that river it’s hard not to see yourself as special to Him. God brought me to see that what He did for us that pitch-dark night, He would do for anyone – yes, you and me and everyone. Yes, I was special and so were my wife and friends and all of humanity. Everyone is precious in His sight. I was not any more special or exclusive to Him than the next person. His love is for all, and no one person can claim exclusivity to it. And as for the people who perished in that river? As we shall see, God’s Love never left them.

God is Love

“God Loves all humanity, make no mistake about that. However, the secret to the miracle-life is to have Him Love us intimately – like the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:7-9). Doesn’t this make God partial? Isn’t this the selectiveness we just discounted? God gives us the freedom to make choices. Freedom, as we will see later, undergirds the Love God extends to man. There is no Love without freedom and no freedom without Love. Love and freedom are relational and reciprocal by nature, for “God is Love.” (1 John 4:8) Therefore, because of God’s Love, we have a choice to make. We experience God’s Love intimately when we reciprocate His Love through the exercise of our free will—when we Love Him in return.

“That is the difference. God’s Love is impartial; He has unreservedly set aside His Love for every man, woman, and child for all time, and nothing can make Him change His mind. He sacrificed His only Son to prove His Love for all mankind. However, this intimate relationship can be made to happen in human reality. God waits upon man to choose to freely Love Him as He has chosen to freely Love humanity.

The Person with the Lamp

“As for the Person holding the lamp, I believe He is more than an angel. His attire and the lamp are symbolic of His station. The Person who held that lamp emitting the blinding white light on that black November night was none other than Jesus Christ Himself. The brilliant light emitted from the lamp is analogous of Him as the Personified Word (Ps. 119:105). He is the Word of God, who guides man. He is also the Author of the literal Word of God, the Bible, who wakes us to see our human weaknesses which does not conform to God’s image. The bridge represents the crossover we make when we express faith in Him as our Savior.” (Excerpt from: “Bula Man-River – The Miracle of Triune Living”)

Yes, miracles become a way of life when you receive Jesus and the Holy Spirit live in you as His temple, where God says, “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people” (2 Cor.6;16).

If you wish to read more, please obtain a copy of my book, “Bula Man-River – The Miracle of Triune Living,” from Amazon.com, Banrnesandnoble.com; Xulonpress.com, or my web site: www.bulamanriver.com,

Blessing:

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

Kiang,                                                                                                                                                                  (Your Servant in Christ) 

* 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.

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