Greetings Friends! Jesus used many parables to try to make His listeners understand the Kingdom of God. (Matt.13:10-11) He gave the parable of the talents to show how God has conferred gifts in humanity so they may discover the treasure of their calling and purpose and use them to partner with God for His Kingdom. (Matt.25:14-30) Then He gave a parable of the good Samaritan to depict how being hospitable to our neighbors should always be an organic strength and common human denominator. (Luk.10:25-37) There was the parable of the sower, and the mustard seed, the wise manager, the great banquet, and so on.

Today, I would like to share a parable with you which I believe the Spirit help to inspire. Like Jesus’ parable, I’ll begin with His words, ‘the kingdom of God is like’…the oceans of the Seven Seas teeming with marine life swimming in the ocean of God’s Love – see picture below.   

Let me elaborate. The water in the ocean is the enabling ‘condition’ which empowers marine life to go about living with other marine species, each fulfilling their individual role in the overall marine ecosystem. So likewise, the waters of the ocean is like God’s Love which enables humans to be sustained in His spiritual ecosystem and live out their divinely conferred gifts and purposes for the eternal destiny of God’s Kingdom. I likened the ‘ocean’ to the life-force of God’s Love as ‘conditions’ because inherent in its oceanic makeup is the power which enables humans to live under God’s purpose for all its inhabitants. The ocean of God’s Love-force immerses humans in the way of life that’s monopolized by God’s Love, and the fruits of His Love. (1 Cor.13) 

There is another ocean of fear and trepidation, that exists opposed to God’s Love. This is the ocean where the enemy of God, Satan, is master. Its waters are murky and therefore hard to navigate. It has many predatory marine species which lay in wait to devour helpless marine life – see picture below.

The people who now live in the ocean of God’s Love were once inhabitants of this fearful and dreadful ocean. In fact, because of Adam’s fall when he and his wife succumbed to the Satan’s temptation in Eden, all humanity were fated to become unfortunate and inescapable inhabitants of this dreadful and destructive ocean. (Gen.3:1-6, 21-24) Just as our fist parents were banished from Eden, so humanity has grown in the fearful and destructive ocean. (Gen.3:21-24) We were born and raised in it. But for those who respond to God’s call, they have been given to be extracted out of and saved from this ocean’s deathly and deadly waters and now placed in and inhabit and swim in the ocean of God’s Love-force.

The two oceans are different inherently in the makeup of their waters which provides the energy which generate their respective motivational ‘conditions,’ or, they encourage appropriate ‘conditional responses.’ The ocean of fear and trepidation produces the ‘sin-condition,’ while the ocean of Love generates the ‘Love-condition.’ For it is the ‘condition’ that triggers the behavior and life of its inhabitants. Paul referred to the two spiritual oceans in this way, If you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom.8:13).

How do people enter into and live in the peaceful, productive, and fulfilling life in the ocean of God’s Love? And how do humans find the way to extract themselves out of the ocean of fear and sin? It is obvious the marine life like fish, turtles, and other species cannot extract themselves out from one ocean into the next. So, it has to take the owner of the respective oceans to let their inhabitants or citizenry in and out at their voluntary free will. God is the owner of the ocean of Love. The devil is the owner of the ocean of fear and sin.

God is the Creator who rules supreme over all, including Satan. (Isa.45:5; Deut.32:39) The devil exists under His divine sovereign rule. Therefore, only God can rescue the people imperiled in the hazardous ocean of fear and sin. And God can execute a rescue plan for humanity, so to speak. And this He has already done by appointing and sending His Son, Jesus Christ, as master and owner of the ocean of Love. (John 3:16; Heb.1:2; 2:8) This is the ‘miraculous life’ that is our human heritage and preordained to live because mankind was created in God’s Love image – you can read more about the ‘miraculous life’ at http://bulamanriver.net/22961, where I share my own personal miraculous story as testimony.

Yes, the enemy must first be defeated, so he is made powerless to hold people captive in his ocean of sin-generating fear and rebellion. Through Jesus’ victory, people are released from their captivity so they may enter the ocean of Love in the Spirit. Jesus has done exactly that by defeating Satan in the temptation, lived a perfect sinless life, was crucified upon His cross for human sins, resurrected and ascended to heaven and made humanity’s High Priest, forever mediating for mankind. (Matt.4:1-11; 27:32-56; 1 Pet.1:3; Act.1:6-11; Heb.4:14-16) The Bible attests through Paul, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery” (Gal.6:1). Yes, Jesus has set humanity free from the sin-conditioned waters of fear and rebellion of the enemy.

Paul further states “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness (sin-generating Ocean) and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son (Love-generating Ocean)” (Col.1:13, italics mine). John said, “There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). Here, we see the Bible disclose to us the identity of the two metaphysical oceanic conditions: Love and sin (fear).       

Paul explains and makes plain for us what God did through His Son, and provides the answer between the distinction of the two supernatural oceanic conditions as the “law of sin and death,” and the “law of the Spirit (Love)”: “For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Rom.8:2). Note, the “law of the Spirit of life” frees us from the “law of sin.”  The “law of sin” is the ocean that empowers the sin-condition from which the destructive way of life of the enemy emanates. And the “law of the Spirit” is the power that inspires the Love-condition” and Love-force in the ocean of God’s Love, and generates righteous and uplifting living.

Jesus gives us the mechanics of how a person is taken out of the murky deadly waters of the devil, and installed in the Love waters of the Holy Spirit. He said, “You must be born again of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5-8). Let me paraphrase the passage as it relates to our topic today, “You must be born again into the waters of the Spirit’s Love.” This is a spiritual birth, as Jesus made plain to Nicodemus. (John 3:3-7) You see, the waters which flow in the ocean of Love is empowered by the Holy Spirit Himself. He is the very personification of the Love-force in God’s ocean.

Jesus made this clear when the Bible states, “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, ‘Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” (When He said “living water,” He was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in Him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into His glory.)” (John 7:37-39).

So, we see that the waters of the ocean of Love is the Spirit of God, the third Person of the Triune Godhead, empowering and enabling humans to swim in God’s ocean of Love. Paul said this to the Romans, “God’s Love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom.5:5). Yes, the Holy Spirit is likened to the cleansing waters which flows in humanity. (John 4:14; 1 Cor.12:13; Rev.21:6; 22:1-2, 17)

So, all the various life forms that exist in the ocean of the sin-condition, has to depend upon God who overpowers its evil owner, pluck humanity out, and resettle them in the life-giving ocean of Love. This is mankind’s true home, it is the home of their birthright. (Gen.1:226-27; Eph.4:20-24; Gen.5:1) It is the ocean where the words of the Psalms is brought to life where human live the celestial life in the Spirit, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple. For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling” (Psa.27:4-5). Yes, in God’s ocean humans are in God’s Love-temple, and vice versa. Let us be clear, the ‘house of the Lord,’ ‘His temple,’ is very much the life and heart of humanity, for Paul affirms this, saying, “Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” (1 Cor.3:16). Yes, the Psalmist is referring to the true temple of God – the very heart and innermost being of believers who now swim and exist in the ocean of God’s Love.

Paul asserted that the Father chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight in Love. We are the focus of the Father’s Love, and it is in the environment of the Spirit’s transcendent oceanic Love-force where we are renewed, transformed, and abundantly blessed. (Eph.1:3-4)    

We recall and remind ourselves of God’s trinitarian divine nature of Love in the Father, Son, and Spirit, into which humanity has been inducted. (Matt.28:18-20; 2 Cor.13-14) In their Loving union, they act as one for they are indivisibly One Triune God – so, the act of one is always the act of all three, and the act of three is always the act of one. Since God is a Tri-Personal divine Being, thereby Jesus is very much part and personification of the spiritual oceanic Love-condition in which humans exist and swim.

Jesus said, the Spirit’s role in our lives is to manifest Christ in each of us. Jesus said, “He (Holy Spirit) will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you” (John 16:14-15). Paul makes this plain, “For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor.3:17). In the supernatural ocean of God’s Love-force, humanity is always existing in the inner sanctum of God’s Love-Being, for John affirms, “All who live in Love live in God, and God lives in them” (1 John 4:16).

Paul goes further, “For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col.3:3). By saying, “For you died in this life,” Paul means the old life we lived in the enemy’s deathly ocean is gone forever, for Christ has paid the ransom to free humanity from the devil’s deathly waters and bring us to God’s living waters. (1 Tim.2:6; John 4:14; Rev.21:6) Yes, the ocean of God’s Love-force in the Spirit immerses and embrace us so that Jesus through the Spirit is by our side, He is over us and in us, so our every action and impulse are wrapped in the mysteries of God’s Love by which the Triune God reveals Himself to and in humanity. Yes, the scriptures reveal God’s triune nature in the Father, Son, and Spirit, acting as One in their Love for humanity. (Matt.28:18-20; 1 Pet.1:2; 2 Thess.2:13; 2 Cor.13:14)

The ceremony of baptism was inaugurated in the Christian faith to show in a visible form how humans are inducted into the new life in the ocean of God’s Love – notice, “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body–whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Cor.12:13; Matt.28:18-20). Yes, we are drinking from the same Spirit of God’s Love who unites us to Christ and the Father. Peter affirms this process where God, through His Son, brings humanity out of the prison of fear and sin, and inducts them into the ocean of God’s Love, “Repent 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” (Act.2:37-38).

In short, living in the ocean of God’s Love (Spirit) in Christ is what the whole purpose of life means. Paul goes further, saying, “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph.4:22-24). Let us not forget, that in addition to saving humanity from the raging waters of death of the devil, Jesus also handed people gifts so they may live their lives with genuine divine purpose. Note, “That is why the Scriptures say, “When He (Jesus) ascended to the heights, He led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to His people” (Eph.4:8, also, Eph.4:10-13, NLB). Yes, Jesus opened the eyes of the people He saved with the gifts God conferred in His living ocean of Love.

It is within the sovereignty of His empowering Love veiled within His spiritual oceanic environment that all the good, both spiritual and physical, that God has promised in His Word is made possible and brought to reality for all humanity. The inherent and substantive value of human life is all about living a free-flowing metamorphized life through the oceanic currents of the Spirit’s Love-force, so through our gifts He may carry each of us to our respective divine destinies. (You can read of the Promises God gave mankind out of His great Love at: http://bulamanriver.net/15209).

On the other hand, the enemy’s ocean of fear and sin exists for the purpose of establishing false and damaging motivations and activities which opposes God and neutralize His awesome Promises. The entrapped people in this destructive ocean live a life of deception where they are given the false and the dubious aspirations by following self-made promises influenced by the devil. It is a life where people aspire and pursue their own brand of success and are blinded from seeing and realizing their divinely-ordained gift and dream-life intended for them.

First and foremost, among God’s numerous awesome Promises is the promise of eternal life, while the devil’s lot has been determined as the very harbinger of destruction and death. (John 3:16; Rom.3:23, 6:23; Rev.20:10). Then, this is what He Promised concerning our human sojourn upon this earth, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer.29:11, NLB). The context of this verse means that God’s plans are always good for us, provided we do not seek our own plans that’s really influenced by the enemy. The Psalmist tell us, “Those who trust in the LORD will lack no good thing” (Psa.34:20). Also, we are admonished to, “Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord” (Psa.27:14, NLB). Those who willingly follow the devil in his sin-conditioned oceanic environment, will finally meet God’s judgement, as the Bible states, “Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev.20:10, 15).

To read more about God’s Promise or Covenant of Love for humanity, and how a person is taken from the spiritually deathly oceanic environment to the Loving environment of God’s Love, go to: http://bulamanriver.net/17484.

Petition: Friends, as I have closed my post in the past, I customarily give our readers the opportunity to give their lives to our Maker. I thank you for investing your precious time with me in the sharing of the good news of Jesus who has enabled us to live the Triune Life* through the 3 Ascents. Jesus is alive today as our High Priest in heaven seated at His Father’s side, and ceaselessly mediating for us. I hope that in your heart of heart you will receive Him as your personal Savior, receive God’s Spirit, and be part of living this glorious humanity made children of God forever. You can privately and quietly pray the prayer below in your heart. I am asking you to pray this prayer as a human being Christ died for, regardless of your background. All are inducted into the one mankind Jesus saved, not into any religious sect or denomination – into the glorious humanity that Christ is preparing as the holy temple for God’s dwelling:

Prayer: “Almighty God, Father of all humanity, forgive me of all my sins for I receive Your Son, Jesus, as my personal Savior. In Your incalculable grace, thank you for recuing me and my loved ones, and all humanity, from the enemy’s fearful and destructive waters, and bringing us home into the life-giving waters of your Ocean of Love. Grant Your promised celestial life in Your Son through Your Holy Spirit, and open my eyes to the wondrous gifts you have conferred upon us all so we may serve one another in your Love. May Your Love guide and protect me and my Loved ones always, and bring us all into Your beloved and divine Kingdom. I praise and thank You, Amen.”

Welcome to the celestial life of Love in God’s holy, eternal Family. (1 Tim.6:19) Then keep in touch with God’s Word for you by reading and studying your Bible, and visiting this blog and website and look at various subjects that may be relevant for your situation – go to: http://bulamanriver.net. You can email me with your questions at the address shown below.

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.

Farewell for now!

Kiang,  (Your Servant in Christ)                                                                                                                         

*Triune Life: “Triune Life” speaks of the process of theosis or deification of humanity. What is theosis or deification? “It refers to apotheosis, meaning “making divine.” Theosis or deification is a transformative process whose aim is likeness to or union with God (as taught by the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church).” (Wikipedia.org) The belief in the process of ‘deification’ is understood in accordance with Jesus’ teaching, when He said, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I have said you are “gods” ’? If He called them ‘gods,’ to whom the Word of God came—and Scripture cannot be set aside (cannot be broken)” (John 10:34-35; Psa.82:6). (You can read about the Triune Life at: http://bulamanriver.net/9199, and other posts)

I have written about this subject of ‘deification’ in my blogs under the theme ‘substitution’ and ‘attribution’ (see, http://bulamanriver.net/564), where I showed how Jesus came as God incarnate (Immanuel) to assume our sinful humanity in order to save mankind from sin and death for the express purpose of human deification. (Matt.1:23; Rom.3:10-12, 18, 23; John 3:16; 1 Cor.15:50-55; Rom.8:29) Further, we read the following, “As a process of transformation, theosis is brought about by the effects of catharsis (purification of mind and body) and theoria (‘illumination’ with the ‘vision’ of God). According to Eastern Christian teaching, theosis is very much the purpose of human life. It is considered achievable only through a synergy (or cooperation) between human activity and God’s uncreated energies.” (Wikipedia.org)

So, the “Triune Life” reveals the intersection of human life and activity and the uncreated divine energy flowing from the Tri-Personal Being of God of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is a way of life which explains that process of theosis whereby humans are transformed in body, mind, and spirit by the Love of God. God’s uncreated energy is His Love. So, the foundational tenet of the “Triune Life” is based upon the Love of God, for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Thereby, it can also be called aptly, the “Triune Love.”

I had coined the term “Triune Love” and “Triune Life,” to refer to a person who lives the three-dimensional life within the Tri-Personal Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matt.28:19) This is opposed to the one-dimensional human way of life influenced by the devil. We see God’s Tri-Personal Love move in an inward, outward, and upward trajectory, in this process of theosis which I have called the ‘three ascents.’ The three ascents are three steps which dovetails into one another showing how all three Persons of the Godhead are in the relationship of Love with humanity – where God reveals the fullness of Himself to humanity, both individually and collectively. (2 Cor.13:14; 1 Pet.1:1-2) That’s to say, the act of one is the act of all three, and the act of three is the act of one, making them unified in Love. (Mar.12:29; Deut.6:4)

Every aspect of human living follows this three-step format revealing the three-dimensional aspect of how the Tri-Personal Being of God in the Father, Son, and Spirit, directly and collectively involved in the life of human believers, individually and collectively to bring humanity to salvation. These three steps move in an ascending order, so I will call them ‘ascents.’ Each ‘ascent’ dovetails into the next and finally reveals the ‘manifestation’ of the topic, which we will call the fourth step, in this case, Love!

Hence, all my articles are framed within this three-step format, or ascents. The subject of the article dovetails into each ascent and spontaneously lead to the manifestation of the divine Love and reveals how humanity is enlightened by God, and cleansed in mind, body, and spirit. The ascents reveal three doors one must enter to attain the manifestation of God’s Love relationship with humanity. The ascents are not to be misconstrued as some ‘secret knowledge’ or mystical activity. Rather, each ascent represents the relationship of Love a human enjoys with the Triune God in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, throughout a person’s life. In fact, the ascents are actually three Love relationships the believer encounters with the Tri-Personal God. This three-way relationship is what I have called by the term, “Triune Life” or “Triune Love.” These ascents represent the movement of God’s Love in an inward, outward, and upward, trajectory to bring God’s enlightenment in a person. The fourth step reveals how the article is made to manifest in the life of the person, both individually and then collectively in humanity.

Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living/Loving,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune Godhead. (John 1:1-2) He took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead by cleansing it of all sin and rebellion. To live the “Triune Love (Life)” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit (Love) in humans. (Rom.5:5) 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).

The Bible states, “He (God) does great things that we cannot understand and miracles that we cannot count” (Job 5:9; 37:5). If God acts in ways that cannot be fathomed and is beyond human comprehension, then the miraculous life where humans are privileged recipients, cannot be deciphered by the human mind to its grandest manifestation. But we understand its meaning through divine revelation in that God reveals Himself as Love, and His miraculous activities are enveloped in His Love. (Jer.29:11)

The three-dimensional Triune Life/Love is opposed to living the one-dimensional solitary life of the fallen humanity inherited from Satan through Adam’s rebellion. For additional information about the Triune Life: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036. Also at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092.                                                   

**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.

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

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

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