Jesus, our resurrected Lord and Savior, was born a human on Christmas Day, so we can have our day to be born into His immortal image by a resurrection. (1 Cor.15:35-58)

I greet you all with a joyful and peaceful Christmas 2018!

God’s Threefold Gift For Humanity (Wiki Commons)

At Christmas, we give careful thought about the gifts for our loved ones. God have gifts for His Loved Ones also – us, His human children! There are three gifts God our Father has guaranteed for each and every human alive. As we think about those we love most, in this post I want to share God’s best Love gifts for each of us. His gifts are timeless, magnificent beyond words, unmatched, and comes with an eternal destiny.

Because Christmas has become so heavily commercialized, let us be judicious about not tripping into that pitfall, but instead spare a moment to think about the origin of gift-giving, and who is the greatest Giver of all. Yes, let’s not omit the vital spiritual aspect of Christmas and God’s gifts to His human children, most especially the gift of His Son.

Travelling from Afar to Bethlehem, The Wise Men Bear Gifts for The Baby Jesus (Wiki Commons)

At creation God gave humanity the gift of life. The Bible records, “Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person” (Gen.2:7, NLT). Yes, from the very beginning of human existence, God has always existed in His giving nature – giving us the gift of life. God uttered these now famous and never-to-be-forgotten words about human creation and existence, “Let Us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…In the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.” (Gen.1:26-27).

All was well with humans at creation, until Adam chose to rebel against God’s clear directive and ate the forbidden fruit. Realizing what he and his wife had done they hid from God. God called out, “Where are you?” Appearing before their Creator, God asked, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Gen.3:11). So, the purpose of Christmas goes back in time when Adam took humanity down the path of alienation from God, into a life of emptiness and futility, and reveals God’s plan to bring humanity back into fellowship with Him and be recipients of His Love and His wonderful blessings. Adam’s path was, and continues to bring all kinds of human suffering and pain, emptiness and vanity, broken dreams and promises, which are evident all around us to see. And regrettably, the ultimate reward for sin and rebellion is eternal death. (Rom.3:23 & Rom.6:23)

So, we saw God’s original purpose is to fashion humans to become like Him in His divine Love image and character by giving us His Spirit. (Rom.5:5) It’s very simple, yet deeply profound. And He intends to finish what He sets out to accomplish. He said, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'” (Isa.46:10; also Isa.14:24).

Let us see the three timeless gifts God our heavenly Father reminds us every Christmas so we will never forget His great Love for us. These are three foundational gifts necessary for life in God’s Kingdom – they are pillars upon which humanity’s eternal destiny rests. There are other promises God has given His people which help us live our lives with purpose and conviction. (2 Pet.1:3-4)

First, God is Spirit and existed from eternity, without a beginning nor end. That is His basic and primary image – He is Spirit and eternal, and we are mortal with temporary, earthly existence. For we are dust existing in chemical form and will return to dust. (Gen.3:19) So, His purpose is to eventually make humans like Him in His immortal image and likeness. The Scripture says, “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” (John 3:16; 1 Cor.15:50-56). Immortality is the heart and core of the Gospel message. So, immortality is the first of man’s three-fold gift. (To read more on this topic, go to my post titled, “Immortality – Fact or Fiction” at:  http://bulamanriver.net/2677

  “In a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality” (1 Cor.15:52-53). (Pic: Fountain of Eternal Life, Downtown Ohio, Cleveland – Wiki Commons)

Second, Scripture also tells us, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Love is His nature and character. God is not made of Love – He IS Love! God IS forever “giving,” it is what Love does. Love is both His Name (noun) and His nature and occupation (verb). It is not our human narrative of love, which is mostly ulterior in its motives, but a Love so pure springing from His divine Being, with never a trace of spoof in it. God and Love are one and the same, there can never be separation of the two. Paul wrote to the Romans, “We know how dearly God Loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His Love” (Rom.5:5). So, God is at work making man into the likeness of His divine nature of Love. The Bible states “Without Love we are nothing.” (1 Cor.13:1-4). Of course, we cease to be who we truly are as humans if we deny the divine Love-likeness of our Creator in whose image we were created. Can a riverbed find meaning and purpose without the living waters which flow through it? No, the brush and jungle would overtake the riverbed and it would soon disappear without a trace. A human being is a riverbed, and the living water which flow through it is God’s Love. (John 7:38-39)

So, we can become successful at what we do in life, but if we fail at Love, then we are nothing. Even if we give the ultimate sacrifice for some ‘worthy’ cause, but if Love is not its underlying motivation, our sacrifice would amount to nothing. John was inspired to write, “No one has ever seen God; but if we Love one another, God lives in us and His Love is made complete in us” (1 John 4:12). In other words, to Love one another is to see the face of God. But it is not human love, but God’s divine Love He imbues within us with His Spirit. (1 Cor.13) So, making us into His divine Love, as He is Love, is the second of the three-fold gift from our heavenly Father. (To read more in depth on this topic you may go to my post titled, “The Command to Love God First,” at:  http://bulamanriver.net/11833)

Love is profoundly deep and can never be fathomed in its grace and integrity, neither can it be constraint in its influence nor compass, therefore Love eternally exists in infinite freedom. “God is Love” – 1 John 4:8 (Wiki Commons)

Third – Relationship has no meaning without Love, and vice versa. By its very nature, Love cannot endure in solitary existence. So, when God said “Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness…” He was revealing Himself as existing in His Tri-Personal Being as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. (Gen.1:26; Matt.28:19; John 14:10, 16; 16:7) The Hebrew word for ‘God’ in the creation account is “Elohim.” It describes God as uniplural – a Tri-Personal Godhead, which other scriptures attests. So, God is Trinitarian in His Love nature. Love by its nature is relational as God is. Hence, man was created a relational being. Adam was solitary and incomplete until God made Eve. He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone (solitary). I will make a helper suitable for him” (Gen.2:18, italics mine). So, God gave Adam a family to raise composed of a father, mother, and offspring, to reflect Himself in His plural Being. The Bible states that the Church’s (humanity) destiny is to marry Christ, the second Person of the Triune Godhead, in the new age to come. (2 Cor.11:2; Eph.5:23-27, 32; Rev.19:7) The Bible is abundantly clear about God’s nature and declaration of Himself in His relational Triune Being from the past, the present, and the future. God has never lived in solitary confinement. So, God’s third gift is He gives us to enter His divine Being and live the relational “Triune Life”** with Him in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Spare me a few moments to explain this Trinitarian aspect further. It’s noteworthy to realize that Eve was not an individual creation, that is, she was not created apart from Adam as a individualized being with isolated existence. Instead, she was taken out from Adam’s side to show she was biologically One and indivisibly part of Adam, not detached (solitary) from him. Similarly, when Jesus (God the Son) became human, He finally united humanity spiritually to God’s deity and made mankind part of the God-kind (Immanuel). (Isa.7:14) All this shows is humans were created to be indivisibly one to reflect God’s Tri-Personal image of Oneness, not separateness. This applies to all of humanity for we come from one parent, as one inseparable and relational species from Adam. We are relational because God is relational in His Triune Being.

Adam saw the most beautiful woman ever created and said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man” (Gen.2:21-23). Each one of us was created as an indivisible relational human being incubated and given birth from Adam’s mold as one species fashioned in God’s image. We are born for relationships with the divine Love as our guiding principle. Hence, when we exhibit all forms of narcissistic behaviors like hatred in all its guise, we are living against the grain of who we are created to become – God’s relational Love-likeness. So humans exists in the very spiritual template of God’s One Loving relational Triune Being.

Most religions believe God is “solitary.” Yes, God is One, not three, but He is not solitary by any means. (Deut.6:4) The three exist in One hypostatic union – of One substance like Eve was biologically part of and never physically separate nor solitary from Adam. Is it possible for God who IS Love to exist in isolation, in solitude – unaccompanied, secluded, alone in self-absorbed existence? No, He created a whole host of angelic beings before He created humans upon this earth to reflect His plural Being. If God were one solitary person, with no one to Love and share His divine Being, then the Scriptural affirmation that “God is Love” would be meaningless. (1 John 4:8) By stating He IS Love in His Triune Being, He is not vague about revealing Himself to us as a relational Being. God has always been a Trinity in relationship from eternity. God exists in His One Tri-Personal Being through the power of their Love for each other, and embraces humans through His Son. Jesus instructed His disciples to induct believers into the “Triune Life”** of God, saying, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19). We are inducted into their Loving relationship to fellowship with and in each other for eternity. So let me reiterate, the third gift is the invitation to participate in His relational Tri-Personal Love-Being for all eternity.

God, A Tri-Personal Being in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Rublev’s famous Icon of the Trinity – Wiki Commons)

How Does God make this three-fold gift a reality in the life of each and every human? Because the gifts are essentially spiritual, there is only one way they are received and made real. We must be reunited with God in a sinless state of existence as Adam was before the fall. From the outset when Adam fell and alienated mankind from God, God promised to send His Son to save us from enslavement to the sin-condition and reunite us to Him. (Gen.3:15; John 3:16) In other words, humans have no spiritual power on their own to accomplish this task involving reconciliation with God. This is God’s work, not man’s. God is redeeming mankind from the sin-condition. This is God’s gift to mankind, which no other can give but God. Only He knows how to reconcile fallen humanity back to Himself, and only He can accomplish what this undertaking requires in the way He sets out to save fallen man.

But God will need to enlist human participation and cooperation if He is to successfully carry out His purpose in mankind. Hence, when He created humans He gave the necessary spiritual capacity to enter into relationship with Him through the human mind. His Love is immeasurably deep and can never be fathomed in its grace, integrity, and truth; neither can it be constraint in its influence nor compass. Therefore, Love has eternally existed in infinite freedom. Thereby, the mind is the only place in the universe which God has made as a receptacle and fountain for His divine nature of Love and freedom. (Gen.1;26-27; 1 John 4:8; Rom.8:2; Gal.5:1) Hence, throughout the ages humans have fought for freedom because it is the life force of humanity’s very existence shaped in God’s likeness. Mankind has resisted bondage in whatever shape and form. The old adage, “Give me freedom or give me death,” rings true over the length and breadth of our human history and experience. Love (God) will not and cannot exist without freedom.

So, humans are given the freedom to choose, just as Adam and Eve were free to choose between the two trees. Freedom works in the human mind where decisions are made and acted upon with the help of the sanctifying Spirit. Yes, with freedom comes great responsibility with presumptive blessings or curses. By enlisting our participation in His plans, He is exercising His own mode of doing things the “Triune” (collaborative/relational) Love-way. There can be no other way for God to relate with us but in the template of His Triune life through Love and freedom. So, freedom must come with a sense of duty and trust and must be applied with Love, not selfishness, which is the face of bondage (sin). So, the flip side of God’s Love is freedom.

Now, we know Adam and Eve chose to follow the path of rebellion albeit by means if the devil’s devious seduction, and so has mankind since. (Gen.3:1-6) They were banished from Eden and God’s presence, “After He drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen.3:24). Leaving Eden behind them meant they no longer had access to the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life symbolized the Holy Spirit which gave them power to relate with God and follow His way of life (“Triune Life”*). The “Tree of Good and Evil” represented man’s solitary self-centered way under the influence of the arch-deceiver, Satan. God is the source of all life, especially spiritual life which connects God with man. So when man alienated himself from God, he was uncoupling himself from the source of God-life itself. The only other alternative, outside of Eden, is where the enemy and death reigned.

Adam and Eve Banished from Eden (Wiki Commons)

It is vital to understand what God said to our first parents about what would happen if they disobeyed and ate the forbidden fruit He said, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Gen.2:16-17). Love and freedom motivated and drove their relationship. We know when God spoke of death to our first parents, He was not speaking of instantaneous physical death once they ate the forbidden fruit, because Adam and Eve continued to live for many, many, years thereafter. (Gen.5:5) So, God was referring to a different kind of death. It was a spiritual death, where God’s Spirit (Tree of Life) had once indwelt Adam and Eve, now the Spirit had totally withdrawn Himself because they were controlled by sin. Love and true life was no longer present with them in the Person of the Spirit. (1 Cor.3:16)

Eden was their perfect home on earth. God did not charge Adam to plant a garden home in the jungle somewhere, no, God planted the most beautiful garden for their home. It was His gift to our first parent. Their relationship with God was an intrinsic part of life in Eden and they lived in total Loving harmony with God where only good, joy, and everything magnificently beautiful was their only experience in life. But now everything had changed, “So the Lord God banished him (Adam) from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, He placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen.3:23-24). With their banishment, Adam and Eve lost their home and were compelled to build one with their own hands, and toiled for their livelihood. (Gen.3:19) With Eden gone, the “tree of life” (Holy Spirit) which our first parents imbibed upon daily to fill them with God’s Loving nature and thus relate fittingly with God was no more, instead, the sin-condition took charge and dominated their lives.

Adam and Eve walked out of Eden as fallen humans, cloaked in the sin-condition and burdened by fear, they no longer had God’s Spirit in them to guide and keep them. More tragically they severed and abandoned their relationship of Love with God. Their separation from God, the very source of life, meant only one thing, they now existed in a condition opposite from life itself – death! (Rom.6:23) Sadly, this was and is true for all of humanity. Adam’s eviction from Eden placed man on a path of self-centered fear in place of God’s outgoing Love. It left a trail of destruction as evident in our human history, and will end ultimately with our total demise, were it not for God’s grace. However, humans were given the freedom to change if they choose to do so. God’s desire is for man to freely choose Him so He can impart His three-fold gift which ultimately ends in immortality and the blessings of paradise. (2 Pet.3:9)

A Depiction of “Tree of Life” (Wiki Commons)

What is the answer to man’s dilemma concerning sin and the sin-condition? What will come of this standoff with sin which alienated humanity from his Creator? Simple, bring back the Holy Spirit, bring back the “tree of life” so we can be sustained by its divine Love-fruits on a continual basis. But the Spirit cannot enter into a space where sin is dominant and controlling – in the case of the fallen human life. So, sin must first be removed before the Spirit can occupy the human space as a home for His dwelling. (1 Cor.6:19; Rom.8:9) It must be understood without a shadow of doubt that this three-fold gift of God: Immortality, Love, and living the relational “Triune Life,” are made real in the life of a human solely by the power and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

How will sin be removed once for all so the Spirit can reenter the life of humans and be made into a temple for God’s dwelling? (1 Cor.3:16) Enter the Savior: Jesus Christ! Yes, Jesus the second Person of the Godhead came as a promise from the Father, was born a human for the purpose of living a perfect life and die as the only worthy sacrifice for human sins. This attributing act of Jesus from His divine origin to take up His mortal humanity is commonly called the “incarnation.” Jesus came to save humanity from sin and bring us immortality, God’s Love, and eternal relationship in God’s Trinitarian realm. John gives us that immortal passage from his gospel, “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.” (John 3:16-17).

Then Jesus said this about the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Triune Godhead, “But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you…And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever” (John 16:7; John 14:6). From this we understand how the three Persons of the Trinity are unified harmoniously, and are inseparable relationally, so they work as One: the Father sends His Son, and the Son sends the Spirit. The Spirit then unites humans back to God and bring to reality the divine threefold gift and destiny of man. (To read more on the topic of sin, go to my post titled, “Sin is a Conditional Response, So is Love” at”: http://bulamanriver.net/13942)

Jesus explains to us how the Spirit is made to come and occupy a person making him/her a temple for God’s habitation. He said, “You must be born again of the Spirit” (John 3:6-7). Peter added how this new birth takes place, “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.2:38). To be ‘born again’ speaks of the act of repentance and forgiveness of sins by receiving Jesus as Savior – only then will the Spirit return and enter into human fellowship once more as it was from the creation. In the Bible rebirth springs out death itself – death of the old fallen self (fallen “Adamic human”), and the birth of the new self in Christ (reborn “Immanuel human”). Death always precipitates rebirth, and conforms with Christ’s own death on the cross and rebirth by His resurrection to life, paving the way to human immortality. (Rom.6:6, 8-9)  We listen to Paul’s words about this new birth, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live (death), but Christ lives in me (rebirth). The (new) life I now live in the body, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who Loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20, italics mine). To the Roman believers, Paul said, “But if Christ is in you (new life), you body is dead to sin, yet the Spirit gives you life because of righteousness” (Rom.8:10, italics mine).

So, Jesus role as Savior and Mediator makes it possible for the Spirit to reenter humanity’s space since Adam’s fall, and indwell human life as it was in Eden. This comes about through the spiritual death of the fallen human person born to sin from Adam, and take up the risen new life in Christ through the Spirit. (Rom.6:6; 1 Cor. 6:17; Gal.2:20) Once this death and rebirth takes place, we are back to square one, a clean slate, a fresh start, where God has always predestined for us to be at, like Adam was before the fall. With Jesus as the second Adam, humanity will face a even even greater and more magnificent future. (1 Cor.15:45; 1 Cor.2:9; Jam.1:12)

Jesus tells us the Holy Spirit will be our friend “forever” doing His sanctifying work of conviction in our sojourn on this earth. (John 14:16; John 16:7-11). Our “forever” friendship with the Spirit is made possible solely because of Jesus’ role as mankind’s eternal Savior and High Priest in heaven where He is “forever” mediating on our behalf to keep us in right standing with God. His eternal ongoing mediation sanctions the Spirit’s continuous sanctifying work in humans – this is what Jesus meant when He told the disciples, “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). This means, there is a once-off inaugural giving of the Spirit at a person’s conversion by faith at baptism, then there follows a constant “filling” of the Spirit during the whole of the person’s life. (Eph.5:18; John 7:37-39) The Bible tells us, “Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Such a High Priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens” (Heb.7:24-26; also, 1 Tim.2:5; Rom.8:1; 1 Cor.1:30).  Yes, Jesus must pave the way for forgiveness and reconciliation so God can bless humanity with His Spirit and become recipients of the sacred threefold gift. (To read my post titled “Born For His High Priestly Role and Function,” go to: http://bulamanriver.net/11230)

Christmas reminds us about God’s Love and His promise to send His Son to enter our human realm and save us from our sins and join us forever to Himself. On that memorable first Christmas day when the Savior was born in Bethlehem, the angel who announced Jesus’ birth said to His mother, Mary, “You will conceive and give birth to a Son, and you are to call Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (Luk.1:31-32). The name Jesus means “Savior” or deliverer. Jesus was no mere human, He is the Son of God. According to the revelation given to and spoken by the prophet Isaiah, prophesying the birth of Jesus, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and will call Him Immanuel” (Isa.7:14). Jesus’ messianic title, “Immanuel” means “God with us.” Jesus is both God and man. His divine origin from the Triune Godhead qualifies Him to be our Savior, for no human could be found to save mankind. Peter told the people in his day, “Salvation is found in no One else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Indeed, this is the essence of Christmas, it is the day God chose to unite Himself with mankind, keeping His promise to send the Savior in His Son, and His Spirit to fulfill His three-fold  gift and destiny for humanity. God has never deviated from His purpose and promise to mankind.

The account of Jesus birth is recorded by Luke in Luk. 2:1-20. I encourage you to read this passage – no need for a Bible, just click on the scripture reference above and the text will appear. This is the most beautiful and inspiring account about Christmas. For in it we witness the humblest of manner God chose His Son to enter our human world, in a manger, and in the most unlikeliest place for a Savior and King to be born, in a little nondescript town called Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2)

Adoration of the Shepherds at The Birth of Jesus – The Immanuel,  “God with Us” (Wiki Commons)

How does this three-fold gift and promise of God begin to take shape in the life of man? It starts with the person freely exercising his/her faith to believe in the Savior given by God at Christmas. Faith is the primary spiritual vehicle which activates God’s miraculous activity in man. Faith activates repentance and forgiveness and the conferring of the Spirit in humans. (Act.2:38) You see, to carry out His three-fold purpose and gift in man will take a miraculous act. How will man attain immortality except by the miracle of resurrection from God. (1 Cor. 15:52-53) So it goes with the other two gifts of Love and divine relationship (“Triune Life”). God’s gifts are spiritual and faith gives us the pair of eyes to see and experience spiritual realities. Regrettably, we take faith for granted to our own detriment. The opposite of faith is to doubt – James tells us, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord” (Jam.1:6-7)

Faith comes from the Spirit as part of His sanctifying work in humans. With God, faith is the turning point in human life. Listen to the promise God makes us, and realize the power of faith, “WHEN YOU BELIEVED, YOU WERE MARKED IN HIM WITH A SEAL, THE PROMISED HOLY SPIRIT, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of His glory” (Eph.1:13-14, emphasis mine ). Because we had faith (believed) in the Savior Jesus, you and I were specially and personally marked by God our Father as His own CHILDREN with His own seal of adoption in His Spirit. He is the power who will resurrect humans to immortal children of God. (Rom.8:11) Hence we read, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” (Heb.11:6).

We have human faith, but it is limited to this material life validated by our five physical senses. Divine faith can be likened to a ‘bridge’ that connects humans across the impassable chasm of the physical realm of man into the spiritual realm of God. Think for a moment about Adam’s sin. He believed (had faith in) Satan’s word over God’s word and the spiritual realm reacted to his faith – he died spiritually because of sin flowing from his misplaced faith. Events in Adam’s physical world vibrated and turned in line with his faith resulting in his eviction from paradise (Eden). It shows how powerful and far-reaching we ever imagine faith can possibly be. Adam’s descendants (mankind) experienced all the human sufferings and man’s inhumanity to man as a consequence of his faith and continues to our day. As sure as the Scriptures tell us, faith is a living, dynamic thing, listen, “faith is the reality of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Heb.11:1). Faith is real in the divine realm. In other words, you don’t have to see it physically through the 5 senses to believe its effect in the spiritual realm. As long as God says it (Spirit), then faith makes it true both physically and spiritually.

In God’s spiritual realm, faith has the power to activate both life and death – the ordinary or the miraculous. Faith provides divine protection, as Peter said, “And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation” (1 Pet.1:5, NIV). Paul said, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh (human faith) but are in the realm of the Spirit (Jesus’ faith), if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you” (Rom.8:9, italics mine). That’s to say, faith is the ‘doorway’ into the spiritual realm and all things about God, and the enemy too. Only through Jesus’ personal faith manifested as a gift in humans can bring man back to Eden (God’s presence), just as he was ejected when Adam’s faith was misplaced. (Eph.2:8) (To read more on this vital topic of Faith, go to: http://bulamanriver.net/8382)

 Dove, Symbol of Holy Spirit and God’s Love & Comes to Man by Faith (Wiki Commons)

Here’s where Jesus’ birth and God’s three-fold gift through the power of the Spirit in man comes together. The Scripture says an angel appeared to Joseph and said, “What is conceived in Mary is from the Holy Spirit” (Matt.1:18-24; V.20). What we see in Jesus’ miraculous birth through Mary was God’s way of taking our humanity and joined it permanently to His Triune Being and Godhead. Thus, in a literal sense God takes on our sin-laden humanity through Christ’s birth on Christmas Day so we may be renewed by His role as the Messiah. But Christmas was not intended to be ‘one-way’ affair with just God entering the human realm. Now, humanity must have a similar miraculous birth by the same Spirit who made Jesus’ human birth possible, and enter God’s realm and take up His three-fold image as His gift to mankind. Jesus told Nicodemus about this spiritual birth, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:5). John the Baptist told his listeners, “I baptize you with water, but He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (Mark 1:8, italics mine)

Jesus has conformed to our human image by becoming fully man while being fully God (Immanuel), now God the Father wants us to reciprocate and freely choose to conform to His divine likeness by becoming perfect like Jesus in the Spirit’s power. Thus, we read in Romans, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters (into immortality). And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” Rom.8:29-30, italics mine). This is God’s work made possible by faith.

So, we see Jesus was born a human and entered our physical realm through God’s Spirit, and the self-same Spirit gives man a spiritual birth to enter God’s spiritual realm. In both instances, there is a birthing process. Jesus was born a human on Christmas Day, in order that we can have our day to be born into His divine image into immortality by a resurrection. (1 Cor.15:35-58) Jesus promised the disciples, “Very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate (Holy Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” (John 16:7, italics mine). The promised Holy Spirit lives in man “forever” and He is man’s ‘security deposit’ and guarantee of immortality. (John 14:16; Rom.8:11; Eph.1:13-14) Just as Jesus has a birthday in His human birth, so do we in our spiritual birth. That is the essence of the Christmas message.

As we saw, death always means a rebirth into new life in the Spirit. Paul tells us the reality of the Spirit’s work today, “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Gal.2:6). What we see here, at long last, the once fallen “Adamic human” inherited from Adam is crucified and put to death on Jesus’ cross, and the new life in Christ resurrected and alive as the “Immanuel human,” through the Holy Spirit. Man can once more commune with God in the very presence of God’s heaven where He dwells. Man is put back on track in his journey to fulfill his divine purpose of conforming to the image of our Loving Triune God. (To read more about the fallen “Adamic Human” and the risen “Immanuel Human,” go to: http://bulamanriver.net/9718, entitled, “Jesus’ New Humanity”).

Now, what was God’s purpose for creating man in His three-fold image which God has given as gifts to humanity? I have left the best for last. Let me complete the passage of man’s creation: “And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over all the earth…” (Gen.1:26). God’s sovereignty over all creation is unquestionable and absolute. He possesses all power and authority for He is Creator and Ruler, that’s the personification of His divine Triune image. Therefore, as His three-fold image explains how He rules and creates by His power, thereby, the identical threefold gift to mankind is ultimately the gift of dominion and rulership with Christ upon this earth. (see Rev.20:6; Rev.3:21) The Bible states clearly, “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth” (Rev.5:10).

Today, man has limited creative abilities, which proves he is made in God’s likeness as Creator. Earth is man’s eternal home as Revelation 21 says clearly. God will remake a new universe with a new earth and new heavens, and He encourages us, “He that overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My sons/daughters” (Rev.21:7). His desire is we become like Him and inherit the recreated “new heaven and new earth” in the new age to come. (Rev.21:1) Yes, in the manner of Christmas, God will produce a newborn earth and universe where humanity is destined to rule in Love and Freedom over all creation with Christ. (2 Pet.3:10-13) This is all made possible only through Jesus and the Spirit working through us to bring about the three-fold gift of immortality, the divine Love-nature, and relationship with the Trinitarian God. (2 Tim.2:11-13; Rev.20:6)

“Then I saw a New Heaven and a New Earth” (Rev.21:1). (Wiki Commons- First Image Taken by Humans of the Whole Earth. Photographed by the Crew of Apollo 8)

Christmas Blessing:

As Christmas approaches, I encourage you to think about this threefold gift God our heavenly Father has given to humanity. It is truly mind-blowing when you imagine what it means to you and your loved ones this Christmas. Only Jesus through the Spirit’s work in us will give us the eyes through faith to see His unfathomable Love and conviction in His three-fold gift and purpose. May I wish you my readers the joys of Christmas and to your loved ones!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write to me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.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.” Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)  

**“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional Love relationship with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to experience the attributing relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

>>> Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

***Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.net, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” 

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

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

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

“The World’s SIN Is That It Refuses To Believe In Me” – John 16:9

Greetings Friends! Do you want something to lift you up and be truly thankful this Thanksgiving? I hope when you have finished this post and see God’s unfathomable grace to take us beyond our wildest imagination, you will agree with me it is something we will not find the words to show our deepest appreciation.

Did you know that sin, in the true sense of the word, is not what most people think it is? It may surprise you what the Bible truly says about the subject of sin. If you were to look up the dictionary for the definition of sin, you would find the following, “an offense against religious or moral law,” or, “transgression of the law of God.” (Merriam-Websters) The late Billy Graham gave a more elaborate biblical version, “A sin is any thought or action that falls short of God’s will. God is perfect, and anything we do that falls short of His perfection is sin.” (http://billygraham.org/)

If you look closer at these definitions, you’ll note that sin is seen as individual thoughts and acts which are religiously and morally wrong. Though this may sound right, but is sin merely individual acts of sin or something more? It is correct but not an entirely correct definition of sin. How so? Because every individual act, be it good or bad, right or wrong, virtuous or sinful, arise out of a first cause. We were taught that there is a cause to every effect. That first cause is what I call the sin-condition which triggers individual sins. The same happens with good, it is generated by the Love-condition. The sin-condition and man’s fallen nature are synonymous. It is the spiritual prison in which mankind is held captive to the sinful nature. The fallen nature of man originated with Adam’s fall to sin which mankind has inherited since. (Gen.3:6)

So, individual sins do not happen randomly out of the blue, no, we are creatures of conditional response! What a person does, whether good or evil, stems from the condition which triggered that specific action. So, sin or Love (virtue), is a condition – not an individual act! Don’t get me wrong, sin is an individual act, but it is generated by the sin-condition. Another word for sin is fear. The sin-condition generates fear which begets individual sins. It is an evil cycle within man’s fallen nature (sin-condition). We are all products of our fearful environment which conditions us this way or that. Sin and Love are conditional responses depending on our environment.

Sin is a Condition, Not Individual Acts (Wiki Commons)

If sin is more than an individual act, a condition, what does the Bible tell us about it, and how can we better understand and deal with it? Paul made it quite clear, and calls it “the law of sin”: “I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me” (Rom.7:23). So, the “the law of sin” and the sin-condition are the same. We can say the sin-condition operates like inertia with its gravitational pull. So is the Love-condition. Then Paul ask the important question, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body (fallen nature/prison) that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom.7:24-25, parenthesis mine). Yes, this passage tells us that God has given us His Son, Jesus, to free us from the sin-condition which generates all individual sins. 

Jesus explains the sin-condition, and reveals the Holy Spirit’s work in humans in this fashion, “And when He (Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment” (John 16:8, NLT, parenthesis mine). Here, Jesus specifies the three areas the Spirit convicts the human mind concerning: sin, righteousness, and judgment. And all three are related as we will see each expounded. Jesus unambiguously explains the Spirit’s work as it relates to the sin-condition, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me” (John 16:9, NLT). So, clearly all sins and the sin-condition which generates them has to do with faith – faith in Jesus’ mediation as Savior who takes away mankind’s sins, and the sin-condition which holds people imprisoned as slaves to sin. (John 3:16) In other words, sin is a person’s refusal, by either denial or defiance to believe (trust) in the Messiah God the Father has provided for our forgiveness and freedom from human confinement to the sin-condition (Gal.3:22, NLT).  Very simple, very clear!

Let me explain this further to make it even clearer, individual sins will not cease because man exists in this spiritual cocoon called the sin-condition the devil created. The sin-condition generates individual sins. The Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one…there is no one who seeks God” (Rom.3:10-11). This world is held in bondage to the sin-condition ever since Adam’s fall in Eden. So, the Messiah Jesus becomes the hand of God to exterminate and remove totally the sin-condition and introduce the Love-condition through Jesus who brings righteousness now and forever. In fact, to deny Jesus as personal Savior is the unforgivable sin, for the Spirit’s work is to provide personal conviction of faith in Jesus’ role as the Savior from our incarceration to sin. (Matt.12:31-32; Eph.2:8; Gal.3:22) Righteousness is the second conviction the Spirit brings, which springs from the Love-condition. (John 16:8; Rom.8:2) The Love-condition generates right living. Jesus explains how righteousness through the Love-condition comes to humans, “Righteousness is available because I go to the Father.” We will get to that point in detail a little later.

Crucifixion of Jesus by Tissot (Wiki Commons)

From the foregoing we see a simple truth, the Love-condition which destroys and nullifies all sins and brings forth righteousness, is housed in the Person of Jesus Himself. So, as Savior He saves humans not only from past sins, but He is the complete Messiah who takes care of present and future sins in His role as our Mediator High Priest in heaven. (John 3:16; Heb.4:15-16) Jesus did not remain a dead Savior on the cross. By His resurrection from the dead and ascension to His glorified role as eternal High Priest in heaven, He revealed Himself to be the true Messiah. (1 Cor.15:14) What does this picture of the Father giving His Son, and the Son sending the Spirit, tell us? (John 3:16; John 16:7) It portrays a relationship of Love which God brings humanity into His Triune fellowship. Yes, that is the key word, in all this God ensures we will never be without this Love-relationship we will forever share with the Triune Godhead in this earthly life and forever into eternity.

One may say, “I can understand past sins, but how does God save us from present and future sins?” Fair question, since throughout life a person’s wrestle with sins and many failed responses in life can be discouraging enough. This has been the outcome of legalism because people have accepted the legalist’s definition of sin through the law. True, the Bible says that “sin is the transgression of the law,” but we are not called to have a relationship with the law, we are called to have a one-on-one relationship with the Law-Giver through Love. There is a difference. Our relationship is with God not the law. Although the law finds its basis upon God’s Love for God (Love) gave them at Mt. Sinai through Moses hands, our interaction is with the Law-Giver, not an impersonal code written on stone (legalism). We cannot Love God out of the law, but out of the Spirit who manifests God’s Love in us. We can’t Love God by duress and coercion through the law, but by free choice through Love.

It is much like the law of the land where we live. Does the government institute laws so you can love your elected representatives? No, they created the law to send you and I to jail or pay a fine whenever we break them. That is how we fill up our jails. It’s true the law forces us to be law-abiding citizens, but it was never intended to create a benevolent relationship, but conformity through fear and intimidation. Anything which orders you to behave in a rigid lawful fashion does not come with freedom but legalism. Only Love can make us freely choose – even the most disagreeable activity through glad surrender and sacrifice. (Rom.12:1; 1 Pet.4:12-13) Most human laws are good, others can be autocratic and even draconian. The point is the law was never anticipated to create a friendly and loving environment, rather inherently they are catalysts for our jails where people are incarcerated. That’s what human laws ultimately do. The spiritual laws are no different. So, if you are guilty of breaking the law, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the only way out is for someone who is generous enough to stand in between you and the courts who hands out your sentence and punishment. For some offence a fine is adequate, for others some imprisonment time is mandatory. It is your faith in that someone who will come and rescue you from punishment that is now your only hope for deliverance and freedom from the law.

But we are not talking about human laws, but the divine laws of God which brings on the punishment of eternal death. (Rom.6:23) With human laws, sometimes you may not get caught and escape its punishment, but not so the spiritual laws. No one escapes, no one gets away. (Rom.3:23; 5:12) But here is the human impasse and breakthrough, where the enemy has deceptively created a spiritual environment (sin-condition/law of sin) through the spirit of rebellion to imprison humanity with the death sentence, our heavenly Father has provided the way out to freedom through His Son (Love-condition/law of the Spirit). Jesus, not only rescues and frees humanity from spiritual incarceration, but He Lovingly extends the gift of immortality to all who receive Him as Savior and Mediator. (John 3:16-17; John 11:25-26) Yes, Jesus is that Someone who stands ready to redeem us from our sins and the punishment we deserve. All it requires is faith, His mediation is free,

The law has no energizing power to enable us to Love God but to only condemn us. Not for a second in time is the law capable of instilling Love in us. The Bible says, “For if any kind of rule-keeping (law) had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time” (Gal.3:21-22, MSG). The “power to create life in us” requires the gift of life from the Spirit (Love), (Rom.5:5). The law only holds the power of condemnation over us each time we break it. Then why did God give the law? Paul said “The purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (Abraham’s descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It was arranged by angelic messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is a middleman as there was at Sinai, then the people are not dealing directly with God, are they? But the original promise is the direct blessing of God, received by faith.” (Gal.3:19-20, MSG) So, originally there was no law but just faith alone, then the law was added as stated above, and now we are returning to the first principle of faith which Abraham has established the example to follow. (Gen.15:6; Heb.11:8)

The greatest example of faith was Abraham who is called “the father of the faithful.” The Bible says this about faith and righteousness, “Abraham believed (had faith in) God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith. (Gal.3:6, 29, parenthesis mine) So, Abraham was esteemed righteous by God because of his faith in God, not by way of the law. The law was our teacher which cannot justify us (make righteous) until the Spirit (Love) came to return us to faith, he said, “Therefore no one will be justified in His sight by works of the law. For the law merely brings awareness of sin” (Rom.3:20). (To read more about the topic of faith, go to my blog entitled, “Jesus’ Faith” at: http://bulamanriver.net/2811)

From this we see how the law can be utilized for ulterior motives as the devil cunningly used the law to create the sin-condition by imparting the rebellious heart in humans when Adam gave in to the devil’s temptation. That was the original sin – rebellion! It was rebellion that made Adam eat the forbidden fruit. Rebellion is sin. The opposite of rebellion is Love. Adam and Eve lived by faith in the Spirit’s Love-condition pictured in the Tree of Life, until rebellion entered their hearts through the Tree of Good and Evil at the hand of the devil. (Gen.2:8-9; Gen.3) So, the only way out of sin is for a person to be extricated from the bondage of rebellion in the sin-condition (Tree of Good and Evil) which produces sins, and be installed into freedom in the Love-condition (Tree of Life) which generates righteousness. Paul said, “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were (possible) through the law, then Christ died for no purpose” (Gal.2:21, parenthesis mine). Faith is the ground where Love sprouts and grows. Jesus gave His life out of Love trusting (faith) in His Father. Law is the ground where sin grows and kills.

In the Trinitarian Godhead, the Triune relationship does not exist upon the law but upon the unqualified nature of God – their relationship of Love and faith in each other! Their faith in each other stems from their Love which unifies them as One undivided Godhead. That is why the Bible tells us “God is Love,” not law. (1 John 4:8) Jesus does not use the law, instead He utilizes the Spirit (Love) to bring us to God’s Love-condition. He said, “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). It is from within the Love-condition in the Spirit that all the demands of the law are met and realized, for the Bible states, “Whoever Loves others has fulfilled the law” (Rom.13:8). What this passage is saying is: when we live in God’s divine Love through the Spirit we automatically fulfill all the laws without living under the legal demands of the law (legalism). How so? Through the fruits of Love as detailed in the Bible. (see a summary of the Love-fruits in the appendix below)

Although there are 10 Commandments, Love is much more overarching than the law’s capacity and reach. For example, there is no command to be patient and responsible, kind and humble, tolerant and honorable, forgiving and joyful, generous and thankful, all fruits of Love, and much more. They all stem from and is a matter of the heart, not the law. (Matt.15:19) God is after our hearts. (Matt.15:8; 5:8; 1 Pet.1:22; 2 Tim.2:22; 1 Tim.1:5) When our heart is right with God everything else will fall into its proper place, including the matter of the law. The Spirit puts us on the divine Love-mode as opposed to the law’s physical legalistic-mode. So, the Love-fruits springs from the heart of the Spirit to give us the power to go well above the demands of the law into the underlying spirit and divine intent of Love itself. (read Matt.5:27-28) For that reason, it’s not about actually stealing what does not belong to you, but by merely coveting in your heart what belongs to another already gets you the guilty verdict. Thus, we see how the law in its legalistic form of application becomes irrelevant and inconsequential. In other words, Love (Spirit) makes us live above and beyond the law’s reach. We shall see later how God instills His divine Love nature in humans to this new way of life in the Spirit.

In the final analysis, the law is merely a reflection of God’s Love. We err when we separate the two and try to relate with God through the law (legalism) instead of through faith in Jesus’ mediation and the power of His Love through the Spirit. Paul said, “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good…But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind (spirit of rebellion). This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin” (Rom.7:12, 23-25, parenthesis mine).

The Love-Condition, Antithesis of The Sin-Condition (Wiki Commons)

How do we get inducted into the Love-condition that brings every blessing from God? Paul answers and give us a clear distinction between the two conditions: “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” (rebellion) is the sin-condition which generates sins, and the “law of the Spirit” is the Love-condition” that begets righteousness. Paul gave us the purpose of the law, “So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith” (Gal.3:24). So, while the law condemns us, Jesus’ faith saves us. (Rom.3:20-24; Eph.2:8) Paul said, “We have been released from the law (sin-condition) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit (Love-condition), and not in the old way of the written code” (Rom.7:6, italics mine). The law cannot save us, it condemns us – only Jesus can save. Paul said, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom.8:1). We enter the Love-condition of the Spirit in order to live a life of joy and immortality in the Lord, not a life of discouragement, depression, and ultimately death, in the sin-condition (rebellion).

From Paul’s explanation, the Love-condition requires the presence of the Holy Spirit: the “law of the Spirit.” Paul explains to the Romans what the presence of the Spirit does, “We know how dearly God Loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His Love” (Rom.5:5). So, the Spirit is the personification of God’s Love-condition in mankind. It is very simple, no Holy Spirit, no Love-condition. No Love-condition, no righteousness. Paul explains that the Spirit indwelling a believer is part of God’s plan, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Cor.3:16, NASB). A temple is where humans enter into the presence of God to behold and bask in the radiance of His Love and righteousness. In this passage, God says the temple is actually the individual and collective human life of all mankind. The temple is the dwelling structure for His abode which He created in His own likeness: humans (Gen.1:26-27). The temple God had instructed Israel to build and erect in the wilderness was to portray the true temple of the heart and mind of humankind God sought to reside and live in which He created to be molded and fashioned in His Love-image. You and I are that temple. Therefore, there is no sin but only righteousness in God’s temple.

Paul told the Romans, “You, however, are controlled not by the flesh (sin-condition), but by the Spirit (Love-condition), if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Rom.8:9, italics mine). The term “Spirit of Christ” reveals the trinitarian activity of the three Persons of the Godhead acting as one through the divine Love-nature and never in isolation from each other. The next logical step would be, how is the Spirit made to come and indwell human believers? Jesus answers, “You must be born of the Spirit” (John 3:6-8).

Before His crucifixion, Jesus reminded the disciples of a vital promise from the Father, “I am going to send you what My Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luk.24:49; John 14:26) Jesus was referring to the Holy Spirit as the “power from on high.” After Jesus’ resurrection and before His ascension to heaven He again reminded the disciples of the Father’s promise, “And when they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss” (Act.1:4). Yes, man must undergo a rebirth from his fallen state of being, and be freed from the prison called the sin-condition, and take on a new risen state of being (Love-condition) living in freedom from sin. In my other blog posts I have called a human born in the sin-condition as the “Adamic human” after the fallen Adam, and the reborn human in the Love-condition as the “Immanuel human” after Jesus’ messianic title, the new human modeled after the risen Jesus, the Son of God. (you can read more about this topic, titled, “New Humanity of Jesus,” at http://bulamanriver.net/9718)

Dove – Symbol of The Holy Spirit and the Divine Love-Condition – Matt.3:16-17. (Wiki Commons)

As Paul was inspired to write, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Rom.8:29). We are not being conformed in the image of the law, but in the image of Jesus Christ who is “For the Lord is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; it is He who will save us” (Isa.33:22). Yes, by being the “firstborn” means Jesus was the first human who was given the new birth through the Holy Spirit whom He introduced to humanity at His baptism in the Jordan. (Matt.3:16-17) He set the stage for mankind to follow Him on the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was poured upon all who believed. (Matt.3:11, 16-17; Act.2:1-4; Joel 2:28) Paul goes on, “And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory (Love-condition/Spirit)” (see Rom.8:30, NLT, Italics mine).

How do we experience this rebirth in the Spirit (Love-condition)? Peter told his listeners on that memorable day of Pentecost, “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.2:38). Yes, faith in Jesus’ mediation as Savior of mankind is the prerequisite to being given birth in the Spirit as the Father’s gift. (John 3:16) We have discovered sin as a person’s unbelief and rejection of Jesus as the Deliverer from sins and the sin-conditon. The same faith does more, it opens the door so the Spirit now enters the believer’s life wherein He abides forever. (John 16:14)  Repentance and baptism symbolizes the believer’s affirmation to terminate and bury in the watery grave of baptism the fallen self that was reared in the sin-condition, and rise up like Jesus did from the dead to live a reborn new self in Christ and be nurtured in the Love-condition of the Spirit. The person is taken out of prison (sin-condition) and given freedom (Love-condition) for the very first time. Paul said to the Ephesians, “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph.1:13). Here, we are told of being marked and  sealed in the Love-condition in the Spirit. A seal is a mark of ownership where the believer is given to enter God’s Loving filial relationship. Sin no longer owns you, Love and righteousness is now  your domain. The Love-condition can be likened to an ocean of “living waters” that propagate Love and right living. (John 7:37-39).

The “Love-Condition” Can be Compared to an Ocean in which Marine Life is Likened to Believers Sustained by Its “Living Waters” (Wiki Commons)

The spiritual ocean with its “living waters” depicted in the above picture is a portrayal of believers living in the realm of the Holy Spirit. The various species of marine life is compared to the people of faith who have accepted Jesus as Savior, and received the gift of the Spirit to enter this spiritual aquatic world of Jesus Christ. The Spirit is the ocean of God’s Love in which all humanity (marine life) swim and draws life from its life-giving waters. (John 7:37-39) Empty out the ocean and all life will cease to exist and die. No other life-form can live in this oceanic realm, except for marine species (believers). All other species that are not adapted to living in the ocean, like the birds of the air, the beasts of the forest, etc, cannot survive in this aquatic kingdom. In like manner, only humans who have believed and received Jesus have been given the gift of living faith which enables them to live and swim in the divine ocean of the Love-condition in the Spirit. Here, we see humanity on a collective level.

On a personal individual level, the Bible compares the believer to a riverbed filled with the Spirit pictured by the living waters which cover the person creating the Love-condition. (John 7:37-39; Isa.55:1; John 4:14) The marine life represents the people with whom the believer will have various contacts and develop relationships in the journey of life. The winding course of the riverbed (picture below) with its living waters (Love-condition), is determined by God who confers gifts and utilizes them to water, refresh, and fill the people where the believer flows in life’s sojourn on this earth. Then all the riverbeds (believers) ends in the Ocean which represents Jesus Christ. There’s the “deathly waters” depicting the “sin-condition” of the devil from which we were plucked out portrayed in the baptismal waters and reborn into the “living waters” representing the “Love-condition” in the Spirit. (If you wish to read more on this topic, go to my post titled, “The Source of The Living Waters” at: http://bulamanriver.net/1846)

On the Individual Level, the Winding Riverbed (Person) with its Living Waters (Love-condition) Reveals God’s Purpose to Water and Refresh People Wherever He Calls Us to Flow. (Wiki Commons)

Try to think of yourself as a container filled with the Spirit’s Love. Immersed in the “living waters” of the Spirit, this Love-condition is intrinsically the catalyst for the miraculous life the believer is brought into and can lay claim upon. This ensures all situations the person encounters is always working together for good regardless of the circumstances. (Rom.8:28) How can it not be since we are wholly immersed in the very nature of God in the Spirit’s Love-condition? We ought to be aware though, the container’s water can deplete through activity and heat and can run dangerously low, just like a riverbed’s water can run dry from use and drought. (1 Thess.5:19; Eph.4:30; Act.4:31) We hear the term ‘burnout’ often, meaning loss of interest and energy. So, it’s incumbent upon us to ensure Love is not stymied and/or quenched and the riverbed (believer) never suffers from spiritual dehydration. But instead we take care and being watchful so that we’re filled continuously with “living waters” through prayerful contact with Jesus and being energized by and in the Love-condition in the Spirit. In so doing, we are always watering, replenishing, and filling the people of our valleys with the same miraculous “living waters” (Gal.5:16-17). Yes, we are speaking of the Source of all energy and power in the universe both physical and spiritual. 

Paul affirms this truth, saying, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh (sin-condition) but are in the realm of the Spirit (Love-condition), if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom.8:9). Paul admonished the Ephesians, “Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Eph.5:18). Man’s fallen nature (sin-condition) entices him to sin, but in Jesus (Love-condition) we live vicariously in His victorious triumph over over sin in His  temptation and His cross. (Matt.4:1-12; Matt.27:26) The role of the Spirit is to articulate the life of Jesus and His glorious victory over the sin-condition. (John 16:13-15)

Whenever believers are told to overcome every single sin in their lives, it discourages them to no end because they know it’s an impossible task to do as a human. And, God our Father knows this well and paves the way to remove sins once for all time and make us perfect – it’s called righteousness. Righteousness is the antithesis of sin. So, the second aspect of the Spirit’s work concerns the human conviction about righteousness – what is that? Jesus answers, “Righteousness is available because I go to the Father” (John 16:10, NLT) Jesus had just defined sin as, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me” (John 16:9). Now He defines righteousness. 

Here again, the Bible’s definition of righteousness is not what most people think it is. Most think of righteousness as obedience to the law because sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4) Thereby, the law condemns us whenever we break it (sin). But we are not bound to the law, we are bound to Christ who covers us with God’s Love that “covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Pet.4:8). Jesus is the only human ever who lived a perfect sinless life before God. Therefore, the Father imputes Jesus’ righteousness upon all humanity. (read 2 Cor.5:21) It’s left for us to apprehend it through faith in Christ, for the Bible says, “The righteous will live by faith” (in God’s imputing Love) (Rom.1:17). The Bible encourages us with these words, “Whoever pursues (Christ’s) righteousness and (God’s imputing) unfailing Love will find life, righteousness, and honor” (Prov.21:21, parenthesis mine).

The Beatitude of Righteousness of Jesus Teaching – Matt. 5:6 (Wiki Commons)

So, we see how sins are forgiven and removed through Jesus’ sacrifice, and then the person is reinstated by a rebirth into righteousness through the Spirit’s power, no longer sinful. That is God’s answer to sin: Jesus’ righteousness! This is a life of faith which breeds attribution and Loving relationship, not obedience to a code whose only power is to condemn which can never save. God has decided what we are to obey in order to put us in right standing with Him – Jesus! So, the personification of the Love-condition that produces perfection is Jesus Christ’s mediation. Paul provides further insight, “But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness” (Rom.8:10). Paul underscores the centrality of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection in the believer, “We know that our old self (sin-condition) was crucified with Him so that the body of sin might be rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Rom.6:6, italics mine; Gal.2:20). Yes, Jesus has defeated sin once for all time, and the Spirit keeps us that way through His continual sanctification. Paul states unreservedly, “In Him you have been made complete” (Col.2:10, NASB).

But what has Jesus “going to the Father” to do with righteousness? Jesus gives the answer in the same passage, saying, “Unless I go away (to the Father), the Advocate (Spirit) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7, parenthesis mine). The Spirit is the personification of the Love-condition who brings Jesus’ righteousness to mankind. He (Spirit) cannot come and establish righteousness until Jesus returns to the Father in heaven. Recall when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and the Father introduced the Holy Spirit to humanity through His Son? (read, Matt.3:16-17) In His dialog with John the Baptist, there was a specific function  Jesus associated with the Spirit? He told John after he hesitated baptizing Him, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness. Then John consented” (Matt.3:15). Jesus introduced the Holy Spirit to humanity in His baptism in the Jordan. Yes, the Spirit is the one who sanctifies and brings “all righteousness” in the believer. The believer is the temple in whom the Spirit dwells, “For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you” (2 Cor.6:16-17; 1 Cor.6:19-20).

There is something else that’s equally important about Jesus’ return to His Father in heaven which interfaces with the Spirit’s role of coming and sanctifying human believers on earth. (1 Pet.1:2; 2 Thess.2:13) In the Father’s presence in heaven, Jesus is installed as mankind’s High Priest. As the perfect and glorified human He is qualified to be mankind’s High Priest forever. That is, He can perpetually mediate on our behalf, as Hebrews says, “God qualified Him (Jesus) as a perfect High Priest…Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them” (Heb.5:9-10; Heb.7:23-25). Paul said, “There is one Mediator between God and man, the Word of God who is Himself a man, Jesus Christ” (1 Tim 2:5). The role of the Spirit in believers is to sanctify believers in righteousness, as Peter said, “God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Pet.1:2; also 2 Thess.2:13).

The work of the Spirit is to take humans with all their imperfect human responses in life (past, present, future sins) to Christ the High Priest in heaven to mediate on their behalf before the Father, and bring Christ’s righteousness to humans. Hebrews again informs us how this takes place, “So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do, yet He did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God (by and through the Spirit in us). There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most” (Heb.4:14-16, NLT, parenthesis mine). Paul said Christ is “our righteousness” because of His Messianic role as High Priest who lives forever to intercede for humanity continually. (Jer.23:6; 33:16; 1 Cor.1:30) This is the only way for humans to defeat sin and the sin-condition forever and enter the pathway to Love and righteousness in God’s presence – there is no other way!

All this work of perpetual mediation in Christ is happening within the Love-condition of the Spirit, as Hebrews informs us, “Every high priest is chosen to represent other people in their dealings with God. He presents their gifts to God and offers sacrifices for their sins” (Heb.5:1). To what end? “He entered the Most Holy Place (God’s throne in heaven) once for all by His own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Heb.9:12; parenthesis mine). Paul further elaborates, “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; 1 Cor.6:11; 2 Cor.5:21). Yes, Jesus’ High Priestly mediation brings forgiveness, righteousness, holiness and redemption which is occurring as the reality of the Spirit’s sanctifying work in believers. So, Jesus’ return and ascension to heaven has to be for us – humanity’s forgiveness, righteousness, holiness, and redemption, thus uniting us to the Father. Here, sin is alien and unknown, and at best like being awoken from a bad dream before an eternity of Love we now share with the Triune God and His angelic hosts.

All of Jesus’ multidimensional mediation that’s materializing within the Spirit’s Love-condition now answers to the aspect of “judgment” which the Spirit brings to our awareness and conviction. Jesus explained judgment saying, “And about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned” (John 16:11). Now, Jesus help us identify the originator and instigator of all sin – “the prince of this world,” or Satan, the devil who holds mankind prisoner in the sin-condition. God is the Author of the Love-condition, who brings true freedom, while Satan is the founder of the sin-condition who imprisons humans as slaves to all manner of sins. By stating Satan “now stands condemned” means his sin-condition which propagates sin and his wicked and deathly rule over the people on earth, is at an end, it has ceased to exist since Jesus came, for Jesus is the gateway into the realm and habitation of righteousness and immortality – the Love-condition in the Spirit. (John 10:9, 1-7; John 11:25) Through Jesus as Savior and High Priest, God has made all things new again by establishing the Love-condition that destroys all human sins forever. This passage from John focuses on how “the prince of this world now stands condemned”: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8, ESV, also Heb.2:14; Heb.9:26).

Yes, sin originated with Satan when he rebelled against God’s divine order of creation by defying God’s rule and authority. (Isa.14:12-15) The original sin was rebellion that was committed by Satan, not man. He deceived and manipulated Adam to believe and take ownership of the same rebellious spirit which has passed down to his descendants. He is the architect and father of the sin-condition to continue his wicked rule by which he imprisons the people of this earth. (John 8:44) Satan’s depraved plan is to ultimately wipe humanity from the face of the earth by way of the sin-condition. (John 10:10-11) Paul said, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom.6:23). The gift of immortality and Jesus’ righteousness go hand-in-hand and are inseparable. Satan knew God’s mind about sin and the death penalty it generates. But God’s Love is greater than the enemy’s sin-condition with its death penalty, and paves the way to save humanity through His Son. (John 3:16-17) 

Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” – Luk.10:18. (Paradise Lost, Wiki Commons) 

The Bible says of the devil, “How you have fallen from heaven, O Morning Star, son of the dawn!” (Isa.14:12) Yes, once a Morning Star, now a fallen angel who controls the dark world of rebellion and sin. Paul tells us what we are up against, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph.6:12). The devil’s wicked plan came to a grinding halt and was defeated utterly when Jesus appeared as the Messiah. Jesus became the perfect human to stand in for sinful humanity and restore righteousness lost through Adam’s fall. He took on the role of Savior and Mediatory High Priest in heaven, so Satan’s wicked scheme is defeated forever. In so doing, Jesus destroys the sin-condition of the devil, and restores His Love-condition of the Spirit.

The Spirit is mightier than any enemy and gives us powerful weapons to defeat the devil’s temptation and cunning as He did with Jesus’ humanity. (Matt.4:1-12) Yes, the Christian life is not just smooth sailing into immortality, but our participation in the life of faith is vital in Jesus’ Ministry of Reconciliation for which we are ambassadors. (2 Cor.5:17-21; Col.1:19-23; Rom.5:10-11). Paul gives us insight as to what the battle we face incurs with the Spirit’s help, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph.6:13-17). ( Read about the faith we need for spiritual battle at: http://bulamanriver.net/8382)

Yes, it is from within the Love-condition in the Spirit that we are given the spiritual weapons to fight this spiritual warfare and keep and not lose our place of freedom in God’s ‘promise land.’ Yes, the enemy is always trying to drag us back into bondage of the sin-condition. Jesus taught us to pray, “And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one” (Matt.6:13). Paul stresses our prayers as a vital aspect of our spiritual warfare, “And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people” (Eph.6:18). In Paul’s testimony about his Christian journey, he told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim.4:7).

“Pray Without Ceasing” – An Essential Weapon in Our Spiritual Warfare (Pic: Wiki Commons)

In that day of judgment believers who exist under cover of the Spirit’s Love-condition will not be condemned because they have no sin to answer for. Remember, they were continuously sanctified by the Spirit under Jesus’ High Priestly perpetual work of mediation. But not so for unbelievers who doubted, disbelieved, and spoke against Jesus’ role as the prophesied Messiah. (Isa.9:6-7) The Spirit speaks to us through the divinely written Word, “Whoever believes in Him (Jesus) 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 3:18). The Bible says of the judgment day, “For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil… “This will come to pass on that day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel” (Eccl.12:14; Rom.2:16). Paul said this about the day of judgment, “Therefore, judge nothing before the proper time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God” (1 Cor.4:5; also 1 Cor.3:13).

We must resist passing judgment upon others, nor should we take matters into our own hands as self-driven avengers. Instead, we leave all judgment to the true Judge who said, “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Rom.12:19). Even Jesus who will eventually judge all of humanity (John 5:22), said this in His relationship with other humans, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world,” and so must we follow His example and do our part by participating in His Ministry of Reconciliation. (John 12:47; 2 Cor.5:17-21; Rom.13:8). Rather, be clothed in Jesus’ righteousness, for at the judgment God will reward His people with His invitation, “Well done, Come and share your Master’s happiness!” (Matt.25:21; also 2 Tim.4:8).

Lady Justice with Her Scale – All Will be Brought to Account Before God’s Last Judgment (Wiki Commons)

As for the devil and his cohorts, since he is the embodiment of the rebellious sin-condition, the Bible reveals he will be put away forever and deceive humanity no more. It is a new world of jubilee and release and humanity can now experience true freedom. God will have brought mankind into His own divine family made immortal and living in God’s Loving Trinitarian presence. (Rev.20:1-3, 10) This Love-condition becomes the nucleus for what will eventually become the Kingdom of God, where Jesus is King and Lord. (Rev.19:16) There will be a new heaven and new earth where the people are clothed in righteousness, and Love will be the culture of the God’s new civilization that will rule over the universe. Concerning this time of restitution, John records, “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. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev.21:1-8)

THANKSGIVING:

What a wonderful, beautiful, new world, and joyous life beyond our wildest dreams, which God our Father has lavishly bless humanity. Paul affirms humanity’s blessed future through these words, “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who Love him–these are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor.2:9-10). We have every reason to be deeply thankful and filled with profound appreciation for our heavenly Father’s Love for making us sinless and righteous and joyful in triumphant celebration before Him! And what more fitting time to be grateful and give our profound gratitude than now as we approach Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving, A Time For Family Get-Together and to Give Thanks (Wiki Commons)

CHRISTMAS:

Friends, as we enter the 2018 season of Christmas when we pause to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, let us not be unmindful of this momentous event in all human history and give it the devout attention it justly deserves. For Jesus’ birth commemorates the end of our human incarceration in the sin-condition, and the profound, freedom, hope, joy, and triumph Jesus brings in the divine Love-condition. (2 Cor. 2:14) May God bless you, your family and loved ones.

Thank you very much for visiting!

The Adoration of the Magi before the Baby Jesus (Wiki Commons, By Jan de Bray,)

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write to me in the space provided below, or email me on bulamanriver@gmail.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)  

Appendix 1: Here is a summary of God’s Love-fruits from the Bible: *patience, *kindness, *contentedness, *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *joy, *peace, *goodness, *faith, *gentleness, *self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *The fruit of gratitude and thankfulness, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; also Gal.5:22-23; Rom.12:9-21; Col.3:12-15)

**“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional attributing life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

>>> Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

***Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.net, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” 

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

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

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

“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the Ministry of Reconciliation” – 2 Corinthians 5:18

Greetings once more Friends!

Mankind’s current state of affairs in the world has been building up to a flash point where events appear seemingly impossible to reverse. What we are witnessing is the spectacle of excessive negative energy expended in practically every facet of human and non-human activities. It appears nothing can stop this relentless march to the menacing reality these events are hurtling man towards – human annihilation. It may seem like mankind is teetering on the brink unless something drastic is done to address the many pressing issues like: conflicts and displacement of large populations, poverty, lack of security and peace, climate change, disease outbreaks, the environment, economic disparity and lack of opportunities, lack of basic education, corruption and greed, lack of clean drinkable water, terrorism, racial tensions leading to bigotry and violence, natural disasters, religious conflicts, inequality, trade disputes, etc. We are spiraling out of control. Science, the supposed savior of man, seem helpless and incompetent. Unfortunately, most of the hurtful and suicidal issues we face are man-made. Fortunately, man can change and reverse them.

       Poverty                               War                                    Epidemics,               Refugees  (Wiki Commons) 

The Bible prophetically states our human dilemma with these words, “Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Famines and earthquakes will occur in various places. This is nothing compared to what is coming.…There is going to be trouble on a scale beyond what the world has ever seen, or will see again. If these days of trouble were left to run their course, nobody would make it. But on account of God’s chosen people, the trouble will be cut short.” (Matt.24:7-8; 21-22, The Message). What an ominous future humanity faces. But there is light at the end of the tunnel.

In John’s vision, he saw it like this, “Then I looked and saw a pale horse. Its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed close behind. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill by sword, by famine, by plague, and by the beasts of the earth” (Rev.6:8). John spoke in symbolism to mean humans are heading for a cataclysmic future. Something has to be done, and God assures us “for the sake of the chosen ones” He will shorten those terrible days and save humanity. “Chosen people” does not refer to persons born with super power attributes, it simply means someone who has freely chosen to follow God’s purpose and do something about saving mankind and this dying world. Yes, freedom cannot be discounted because a “chosen people” is contingent upon a person’s choice to participate in the divine will. And what is that purpose of God?

This post proposes to challenge the ethos of human civil society and culture, ask the important questions, and learn from our past actions. This is about second chances, and the prospects we are given to change things for good and right the ship of human destiny before we see matters get even worse than they already are. As all these events unfold before us, we dare to ask, what is God’s thoughts in all this, after all He is the Creator who made this earth and put humans on it. Yes, what is God’s purpose, if there is one?

The Bible calls God’s purpose to save and restore humanity to its rightful place, the “Ministry of Reconciliation.” What is the “Ministry of Reconciliation?” The term is taken from Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor.5:18, NASB, emphasis mine). Yes, it means that in the depth of His Love God has taken the first step to reach out and save humans from the sin-condition under which man is held prisoner. (Rom.5:8; Rom.7:23) (To read more about the sin-condition go to my blog titled: “Sin Is a Condition As Love is a Condition” at http://bulamanriver.net/5437)

The sculpture Reconciliation by Vasconcellos of two former enemies embracing  (Wiki Commons)

Ministry: 

A ministry is a calling, it is a mission. As we will see, this gospel of reconciliation encapsulates the central theme of Christianity. From its heart flows the lifeblood of the Christian faith and gives form to every aspect of the Christian life. For this is the heart and pulse of the mission of the Church under the New Covenant dispensation. (Heb.8:7-13; Luk.22:20; 2 Cor.3:6; Matt.28:18-20)

Reconciliation:

What does reconciliation mean? It means an act of mitigating a state of discord and alienation which exists between two parties. It means to bring about reunion where separation exists. We have seen the many issues humanity faces which need mitigation and reconciliation. Reconciliatiion in biblical terms means God has extended His Love and brought sinful humanity to be in right standing with Him. It also conveys the process by which reconciliation is achieved through the act of atonement. The march to oblivion mankind is headed toward will be halted because reconciliation between the Creator and mankind will have been achieved.

Atonement:

What is atonement? It is the restitution paid by God to make reconciliation with humans possible. (Act.20:28; 1 Cor.6:19-20; 1 Cor.7:23) Since reconciliation applies only in a situation of hostility between two parties, what was it that brought about this alienation between God and man in the first place? The answer is sin! Sin simply means the opposing way of life from God’s way of life. God’s way of life is His way of Love, for the Bible states, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Love is outgoing, generous, and selfless. Sin is the way of fear which produces self-interest, greed, and narcissism. Every evil and despicable act of man that will ultimately lead to his demise finds its home in the spirit of fear based upon the sin-condition. (Rom.7:23) Every suffering a person has experienced personally, or incurred and confronted inter-personally with another, can be traced back to a single starting point and source: the sin-condition! So, atonement is God initiating reconciliation by giving us something very precious to Him in order to save humanity. The Bible reveals God’s act of atonement in this way, “For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, NLT, Rom.5:8).

Jesus’ Participation in the Ministry of Reconciliation – Savior of the Mankind (Wiki Commons)

Whose Ministry Is It?

Yes, let us be clear as to the source and ownership of the Ministry of Reconciliation. Let’s read it again: “Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2 Cor.5:18). It is from God the Father who initiated it through His Son Jesus as Savior of mankind. (1 John 4:9; John 3:16, 18, 36) The Ministry proceeds from God the Father. It was initiated by Jesus Christ, and is set in motion today by the Holy Spirit. (2 Cor.13:14)

Gift/Holy Spirit:

There is another vital part to the Ministry of Reconciliation we must be cognizant. The Bible states that “No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven” (John 3:27). These inspiring words were uttered by John the Baptist when his disciples inquired about the identity of the Messiah. A person cannot participate in something unless he/she is given and enabled to contribute. In other words, a person must not assume it is totally up to the human will and they have control in the matter. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just like anything that is not ours, we need acquiescence to participate.

There was a time in ancient Israel when God wanted a message sent to the people, and asked, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” The prophet Isaiah answered, “Here am I. Send me!” Then God said to Isaiah, “Go, tell the people…” Yes, even a great prophet like Isaiah understood he had to be sent. (Isa. 6:8-9) Why is it important to be sent? Because the task is spiritual one from a holy God. The message is spiritual and carries physical consequences with divine reckoning. Sinful humans are not equipped to do the divine will. Thereby, when a person is sent, God will anoint the one sent to do a divinely ordained task. God’s anointing comes with a gift which empowers the one sent. (Jam.1:17; Luk.24:49; John 6:65; )

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan, God anointed Him with the gift of the Holy Spirit of power to carry out His part as Savior in the Ministry of Reconciliation. It was the beginning of His part in God’s ministry as Savior of humanity. This gift of the Holy Spirit was to set an example for any human who is called and sent to participate in God’s saving Ministry. The gift of the Spirit sets the one sent apart and is prerequisite to carrying out the will of God. The Spirit is conferred as the gift upon a person’s repentance and forgiveness. Peter told his listeners, “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.2:38).

Dove, Symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit’s role in the Ministry of Reconciliation – to Sanctify by Personifying God’s Love (Christ) in Humans & Impart Immortality (Wiki Commons)

After Jesus repented for mankind’s sins in the Jordan, God the Father was extremely pleased and anointed Him with the Spirit, saying, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased” (Mar.1:11). In the parable of the sheep where Jesus homed-in on the one lamb that was lost and found, and said, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent” (Luk.15:7). Yes, the Father joyfully uses the same compliment articulated upon Jesus at His baptism to every human who follows His example of repentance and forgiveness through the cross. Baptism symbolizes the spiritual reality of a person’s spiritual death and burial of the old sinful self in the watery grave, and the resurrection of the new man in Christ by the Spirit’s power. (Rom.6:3-4)

From what we have seen above, there are three salient features to the Ministry of Reconciliation which Jesus brings. It follows the divine example of the three Persons of the Godhead as stated in John 3:16:

• “For God so Love the World” – The Father’s Love for humanity.
• “He gave His only Son” – Jesus’ Love by repenting for and forgiving human sins.
• “Shall not perish but have everlasting life” – the Spirit’s Love in sanctifying and rescuing man from destruction and conceive immortality in humans.

First, we are given and sent to Love this sinful world because the Father Himself does so and gave His Son to save sinners. We Love the sinner but hate the sins, for the sin-condition is the cause of all human suffering and death, and our sins are many. (Rom.7:23; 6:23) Second, we are to follow Jesus’ example who gave His life so the gifts of  repentance and forgiveness so humans may have true life. (1 Tim.6:19) Third, the Holy Spirit is the very personification of God’s divine Love in humans. (Rom.5:5) Herald* (Spirit) comes and sanctifies our human gifts on a day-to-day basis so they are used for Love’s purpose. With this basic three-way foundation established in line with the will of the Triune Godhead, we are given to utilize our gifts to make the Gospel known, and draw people into God’s fellowship of Love. Let us put some spiritual meat to these three aspects of the Ministry of Reconciliation.

Love: As sinful humans, it is impossible to Love our fellow humans because of sin. Love is self-less while sin is selfish. But we know that no human has lived without sin and Loved perfectly except one, Jesus. Therefore, God has imputed Jesus’ sinless life in our place so we can be in right standing with Him. This is the principle of attribution where one takes responsibility for another. Just as God the Father has taken responsibility for mankind’s sins by giving His Son, Jesus also takes direct responsibility for humans by living the perfect human life and dying a sinless man as the sacrifice for sin to save mankind. (1 Cor.15:21; Rom.5:15-19). (You can read about this attributive principle at http://bulamanriver.net/12351). Here, the Father’s Love for mankind is the primary message of reconciliation.

Forgiveness & Repentance: Jesus’ perfect life and sinless sacrifice has been imputed upon mankind so humans can become the righteousness of God (2 Cor.5:21; Rom.4:25; 8:3). The Bible refers to Jesus as “our righteousness” affirming the principle of attribution. (Jer.23:6; 33:16; 1 Cor.1:30) He became “our righteousness” by repenting for us in the Jordan, and dying for our forgiveness upon Calvary. And the world needs to hear this wonderful message of reconciliation, and more so to believe and have faith in its promise. So, when Jesus lives and walks through us we have been given the identical primary task that Jesus performed for His Father: to enable and accomplish mankind’s forgiveness through repentance. Repentance means to change and make a turnaround, a change of course, a U-turn, a change of heart, from our destructive ways (sin) and turn to God’s way of Love. Repentance and forgiveness goes hand-in-hand. So, our first task in the Ministry of Reconciliation is to pray, and never let up praying, for mankind’s forgiveness. Alfred Lord Tennyson famously said, “More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.” In prayer we are inviting and enlisting the divine reality of God to enter and touch our sin-ridden human reality. Second we are to pray for the gift of repentance to be showered generously upon humanity. Third, that we live the life of forgiveness and repentance ourselves by forgiving others and praying for repentance. (Matt.6;14) Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you” Eph.4:32).

“Pray Without Ceasing” – the Essential Part of the Ministry of Reconciliation (Wiki Commons)

That is how Jesus continues His Ministry of Reconciliation in and through us. This is the message of reconciliation we are all given to take to the world. This is an act of Love which started from the Father. This is our part in living the divine Love in our lives. It begins with prayer. There is a saying that goes, “The church moves forward on its knees.” Of course on its feet as well, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” (Eph.6:15, KJV). We no longer seek to do our own will, but now we live to serve the divine will of God. Remember, Jesus continues His Ministry from His heavenly office as mankind’s High Priest. (Heb.2:17; Heb.4:15; Heb.5:5-6) That is the seat of power behind the Ministry of Reconciliation. Jesus is the very instrument of reconciliation, which makes Him the very personification of the Gospel. Yes, Jesus is the Good News.

Living Our Gifts in Love Day-to-Day: The Holy Spirit is the most vital aspect of the Ministry of Reconciliation as far as living the Ministry day-to-day. Jesus told His disciples to wait for Herald’s* arrival on Pentecost. The reason was obvious, Jesus said, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” (Luk.24:49, italics my emphasis). Yes, we can’t be sent without His anointing power. Earlier Jesus mentioned why they needed power, “He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luk.24:46-47). Yes, without Herald we can’t speak the message of repentance and forgiveness (reconciliation). The Holy Spirit makes it possible for humans to live perfectly by sanctifying our human gifts and talents in the power of His Love. (Rom.5:5; Rom.15:16)

Gifts/Platform:

Every person is born with a unique gift which sets him/her apart from the next person. Nobody is born without one. On its own, a gift is futile in the work of reconciliation, no matter how uniquely talented a person may be. The gift of the Holy Spirit directly changes the complexion of a person’s talent and skill in every way, shape, and form. There is an interesting story about Jesus’ encounter with Peter which teaches us how the Spirit works in utilizing human gifts for the Ministry of Reconciliation. When Jesus met Peter he was a fisherman by trade. To be sure, fishing was Peter’s gift. He knew everything there was to know about fishing, and I am sure he heard many a story of the one that got away from up and coming anglers. For Peter fishing was a livelihood. Peter’s fishing business helped him support his family and relatives, and for the most part assisted his village and community. When Jesus called Peter into His Ministry, He said to him, “Let us do something different with your skills (gift), let us fish humans.” Yes, Jesus told Peter, “Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (Matt.4:19). Jesus turned Peter’s life around from a self-centered focus and become other-centered. In like fashion, this is how the Spirit works with our own gifts.

Turning Our Gifts into A Calling to Minister Reconciliation (Wiki Commons)

The Bible tells us, “For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable” (Rom.11:29). That’s to say, by divine determination every human being ever born has a gift that’s divinely bequeathed and inviolable. That means human gifts are guaranteed and undeniable. It is up to humans to turn the gift into a calling to serve both God and man. (Luk.10:27) All human gifts are vibrant and contrasting just as there are people of different color, background, nationality, and origin. In the Ministry of Reconciliation, the Spirit employs a person’s gift as a platform to promote the Ministry. The mission of reconciliation is conducted on the backs of the people’s gifts, empowered by the Spirit. So each person becomes the platform for reaching out to people with the message of reconciliation from God our Father. Just as Jesus was given the gift of healing and Savior as His platform to preach the Gospel (good news) of the message of reconciliation, we have our own unique gift following His example. (Act.10:38; Eph.2:10; Tit.2:14) Jesus Christ becomes the main proponent of the Ministry of Reconciliation for He was the only perfect human who repented for mankind, and died as the worthy sacrifice to make reconciliation possible. That is the core of the message of the Gospel.

However, whether we have taken the all-important second step of turning our gifts into a calling, a mission, for the purpose of reconciliation remains within the purview of the gifted (you). It is unfortunate and regrettable that most of us have become ‘mercenaries’ as far as human gifting is concerned. As a whole, we have utilized our gifts principally for monetary reasons. We have sold our talents to the highest bidder. We call it work, a job, occupation, profession, or whatever name we wish to give it. Whether we are plumbers, scientist, nurses, doctors, accountants, engineers, lawyers, shop assistants, pilots, writers, or whatever our profession, our primary purpose has been to use our gifts for our own livelihood. Some have corrupted their gifts by carrying out illegal, criminal activities, and degrading their self worth as a person. They are oblivious to the fact that there is a day of reckoning looming when all will surely reap what they sow. Peter was a fisherman by profession. That is not wrong in its rightful place and context. However, Jesus opened up a whole new reality to Peter he never experienced before. Jesus taught him how to turn his gift into something bigger than himself. In the Ministry of Reconciliation Peter saw his gift evolved into a mission and a calling well beyond what he imagined. It gave birth to his inner authentic humanity he never knew he had, which he would not have come to know and experience otherwise. Jesus does the same with us today. How wonderful it is to look past living in the dark shadows of our self imprisonment in the sin-condition, and for the first time gaze into the light of our true humanity that’s anchored in the care and refuge of His Love. He instructs us on how to use our gifts by turning it into a calling for the Ministry of Reconciliation. Let’s listen to His words,

“You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both.  If you decide for God… it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to Him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think He’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do His best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way He works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how He works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes” (Matt.6:24-34, The Message). (To read my post, “Money and God” go to: http://bulamanriver.net/6444)

                 GIFT      

A Person’s Gift Can be Traded for Money or God – Which Will It Be? (Wiki Commons)

When we use our gifts for His divine purpose, then He promises to miraculously provide for us in every way. Our sustenance, security, well-being, and self-worth, become His responsibility. The Bible promises, “When the Lord blesses you with riches, you have nothing to regret” (Prov.10:22). Yes, we can’t improve on God’s blessing. So, God emerges as our primary employer. He employs our gifts in His Ministry. His recompense or ‘pay’ is His many promises which is the basis of the miraculous life which only He can bring about to support you and your loved ones. Peter said, “And because of His glory and excellence, He has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share His divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires” (2 Pet.1:4, my emphasis in italics. Also, 2 Cor.1:20). Remember what Jesus said, “Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now” (Matt.6:32-34, The Message).  (You may read of God’s promises at: http://bulamanriver.net/11339)

There is nothing wrong with working to: pay the mortgage, feed your family, make the car payment, invest in your children’s education, pay the bills, take a vacation, etc. God will provide His blessing, so long as we do not turn our gifts into idols of worship. (Prov.10:22; Deut.8:18) Gifts are exchanged for money and money serves our self-interest and becomes the idol of worship, replacing God’s work of reconciliation. Idols replace God because they dominate our lives by becoming our sole and entire focus, with no thought for God who holds the key to our true self, who in turn have the answers to true joy and happiness. Peter was doing exactly that until he met Jesus. Here is what Paul adds though, “Servants (employees), respectfully obey your earthly masters (employers) but always with an eye to obeying the real master, Christ. Don’t just do what you have to do to get by, but work heartily, as Christ’s servants doing what God wants you to do. And work with a smile on your face, always keeping in mind that no matter who happens to be giving the orders, you’re really serving God. Good work will get you good pay from the Master, regardless of whether you are slave or free. Masters (employers), it’s the same with you. No abuse, please, and no threats. You and your servants are both under the same Master in heaven. He makes no distinction between you and them” (Eph.6:5-9, parenthesis mine, The Message). Employment is all about selling your gift to the employer who uses it to make money for the company and its shareholders. As we can see God has instruction for both employees and employers about who is the real Boss. What is Paul telling us here?

Paul says that if human talent are irrevocable gifts from a generous God as he mentions earlier (Rom.11:29), then its primary purpose and application is for the true Boss and His calling to save humanity from suffering, corruption, and ultimate extinction. Therefore, the believer is always serving God first before all else, not man’s purpose, not the company’s bottom line, and least of all not for our own self-centered interests. We are never to change the order of priority. First things must come first. God’s calling is to utilize our gifts upon the divine platform of the Ministry of Reconciliation drawing people to God’s forgiveness through the gift of repentance Jesus has made possible. The “chosen ones” are those through whom God receives prayers for reconciliation for unity with the triune Godhead to save mankind from destruction and extinction.

God Is Love (Wiki Commons)

Often we fall into the sanctimonious trap of failing to grasp that when God commands us to Love Him first above all else, including money, it is indirectly aimed at building us up for we reflect Him in His Love-nature. (Luk.10:27; Gen.1:26-27; Matt.22:37-38) Sins, like idolatry, reflects the opposite of God’s Love and tears us down and away from Him. It is a fallacy to think that by looking to our self-interest first, we epitomize how best to Love ourselves. You may think that, as many certainly do, but nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, it is in the dynamic of Loving God first and essentially being thrust into His triune Love-Being, that we actually Love ourselves truly and fittingly as humans were designed to live, as John explains, “God is Love. Whoever lives in Love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). Somehow, along the way we have missed the point that by Loving God first and becoming Love ourselves as “God is Love,” we are in the process of Loving ourselves authentically. How can we become Love ourselves in our being as God is, and not Love ourselves best? If we are created in God’s Love-image, then Loving Him seriously is the only way to Love ourselves genuinely.

Because sin has caused us to drift away from God, then the deeper we Love Him, the closer we come to Him and find our true self. The further we leave sin behind us, the nearer we are drawn to God and discovering how to Love ourselves more perfectly. The path to Loving others genuinely is anchored upon Loving God first, for we are all reflections of His Love in each other. (Matt.22:39-40) In human relationships, John states unequivocally how the Love-bond is reflected in our interactions, “If we Love one another, God remains in us, and His Love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12). So, when we utilize our gifts out of Love for our Father and His purpose of reconciliation with our fellow humans, we are honoring the essence of our humanity that’s made in God’s Love-likeness. And because God is Love, and no one can Love more than God does, He fills us with His Love through His Spirit and we become more Loving and discover the divine spark in us as never before. Intuitively we want to use the old self-centered paradigm and hoard Love for ourselves rather than give it away. But with Love it can’t be done. Love’s fruits are spawned by the Spirit to be given away, we cannot hoard something that’s designed to be exposed and generously shared. (1 Cor.13:1-13) Like the fruits of a tree, if the tree does not share its fruits for people to consume, they fall to the ground redundant and ineffective. That is how the divine Love works, generosity begets generosity. (Luk.6:38) Love is the divine spark in our humanity which glows brighter with each passing day when we feed on and surrender to God’s Love. The Love-fruits consist of the Christian’s daily spiritual diet that keeps his/her spiritual life nourished and healthy.

The Bible says, “Give, and it will be given to you…The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you” (Luk.6:38, GNT). Yes, this passage is encouraging us to let go and not hold back the Love the Spirit gives us to share our gifts. (Rom.5:5) It is unfortunate how religion has used this passage to elicit money from people. If you look up the context of this passage, Jesus was speaking about Love – it was about Loving your enemy, and not being judgmental. (Luk.6:27, 37) It was about relationships, not money. The closest Jesus came to mentioning money was when He said, “Woe to you who are rich” – quite the contrary. (Luk.6:24) It is speaking of using your gifts inspired by Love to repair and build relationships. It was about reconciliation. Jesus whole life embodied reconciliation.

Living the Ministry of Reconciliation on a day-to-day basis may not be as complicated as we imagine. When God’s Love is perfected in us we will know what to do. Peter helps us with his answer, “Keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy” (1 Pet.3:15, italics mine). God has distributed talents and skills in all humanity so people are inquisitive when they witness the divine spark (Spirit’s move) in you and ask questions wanting to know more. Truly, our action speaks louder than our words. Paul said, “A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other” (1 Cor.12:7). But when we are given to speak the message of the Ministry (repentance and forgiveness in Jesus), we do so courteously and never try to force it down people’s throat. We were never called to be judges so we refrain from being judgmental. Jesus said, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven” (Luk.6:37; Rom.2:1). Never complicate life, simplify it. God promises that His Spirit will enable us to use our words fittingly. (Luk.12:12; Act.2:4) Repentance and forgiveness must be presented perceptively that’s tailored to the inquirer’s reality, for people are never alike in gift and circumstance. This calls for discernment, sensitivity, and compassion. Gentleness and respect must the hallmark of our speech. Yet, our most effective tool is simply our example, yes, our actions speaks volumes.

We speak graciously because no one is capable of converting the human heart and mind – only the Spirit can do that. That is His role. That is the first lesson we must learn as a believer. Too often we think we are sent to convert others so we have the tendency to be judgmental toward others, when in truth we are conduits to answer questions about the hope in us so the Spirit will do His part in converting the human heart. No one can perform a task which belongs to another. Paul said, “Because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction” (1 Thess.1:5, italics my emphasis). To convict the heart to repent and activate forgiveness is a miraculous activity which only the Spirit can do, and our words,  prayers, and gifts, help in the process. So Paul admonishes, “Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Col.4:6). We are conduits for the Spirit as one sent so Jesus who resides in us may do His work. (Isa.30:21; Psa.32:8) On the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people was added to the church, but who was responsible for changing people’s hearts? (Act.2:41) Was it entirely Peter’s doing? No, he was largely the conduit for the Spirit, whose miraculous power touched and moved people’s hearts. God wants us to participate in His saving work. But we must know and play our role faithfully.

Most of us are not called to be preachers, much less gifted in public speaking. However, we are all called to be ministers of our gifts and talents. You are uniquely gifted and no one is exactly like you, so God has given humanity a level playing field where we can all play a part in His Ministry. The Bible says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (1 Pet.4:10). No one is left out. No one is superior neither inferior, and no gift is too small nor too great, that God cannot utilize them for His purpose and Ministry. Not a single person can claim he/she has nothing to offer for life comes with its inherent gift. We are all born to have a part in saving mankind through His Ministry of Reconciliation and bring people to repentance and forgiveness. Remember Peter’s words, “tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are,” and do it to the best of your ability in Love, and the Spirit will do His part. We cannot live any other way aside from a life that’s in sync with our gifts empowered in the Spirit’s Love.

Yes, the Spirit is the power of God’s Love who takes up residence in human life and changes human gifts into instruments for God’s peace and reconciliation. (1 Cor.3:16-17) Just as Christ has lived and sacrificed Himself for us, let us reciprocate by surrendering our gifts for His divine purpose. In the end, it is God the Holy Spirit who possesses divine power that will resurrect believers and impart eternal life upon humanity. (John 6:40; Rom.8:11; 1 Cor.15:51-56) So human destiny will not end in extinction but restoration. Mankind will not wind-up in obscurity but immortality. What a privilege each one of you have of contributing to humanity’s liberation and glorious future. God is pleased with you, “chosen ones.”

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or you may email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com. You may read many other helpful and uplifting articles at http://bulamanriver.net/. Thank you for visiting.

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

*Herald: it is the friendship name I have personally call the Holy Spirit.

**“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional attributing life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

>>> Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

***Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.net, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living” 

Mission Statement: Read the Triune Life 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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Greetings once more Friends everywhere!

This is the final of a three-part series on good health through sound spiritual principles. I hope you can find this blog site as a place where you can find rest and peace from a stressful and sometimes excessively demanding world out there.

The Surgeon General of America says this about emotional well-being, “Mental and emotional well-being is essential to overall health. Positive mental health allows people to realize their full potential, cope with the stresses of life, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to their communities.” (http://www.surgeongeneral.gov) 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)

Pardon me for flogging a dead horse on this matter about emotionally-induced illnesses. Yet, I would like to emphasize that when the three human relationships are functioning effectively in a person’s life, it produces therapeutic emotions which in turn induce homeostasis (balance) in the body. With the body functioning optimally at the emotional level, our diet and physical conditioning can be utilized to boost our overall wellbeing. Or else, we’ll be fighting a self-defeating battle with a body devoid of emotional balance and harmony.

As reminders, let us recap the points we covered in the previous two posts:

Part 1: “Is Good Health Part of God’s Plan for Us?” (http://bulamanriver.net/12475)

• We asked if God is concerned about human health and physical well-being? We saw scriptures which answers with an emphatic, yes!
• We saw that humanity was created after God’s image of “Love” (Gen.1:26-27; 1 John 4:8, 16), and that Love is fundamentally emotive, so humans are emotional beings by nature fashioned after God’s Love likeness.
• We saw that a human being is intrinsically holistic with three basic emotional needs, which he/she is naturally compelled to relate with and can’t escape: Love for God (spiritual man), Love for community (social man), and Love for the world at large (physical man). This triangular emotional life-expression forms the foundation to physical health.
• We concluded that no matter what our success in life maybe, “Without Love we are nothing” (1 Cor.13:1-3).

Part 2: “Then Your Light Shall Break Forth Like a Dawn and Your Healing Will Quickly Appear” (http://bulamanriver.net/12517)

• We read medical reports which indisputably show the link between human emotions and physical health.
• We saw the source of human emotions which began in the Garden of Eden. God planted two trees representing two ways of life: the tree of life or Love, and the tree of good and evil or fear and rebellion.
• Through the two trees we are given another aspect of God’s nature: freedom of choice.
• Freedom comes through our thought and emotional process where we are given to choose between moral decency (Love), and rebellion and corruption (fear).
• We saw the analogy of the prism and comparing its rainbow beam to the three human relationships we are involuntarily compelled to live by on a daily basis.
• We saw the various fruits of Love depicting the distinctive tones of God’s Love. The fruits act as filters in the mind to sanitize our thought process, identifying good information to feed and care for the three human relationships.
• We saw that human beings are blessed by the Creator with gifts and talents inherited at birth, and that all our abilities are transported upon the backs of the Spirit’s Love-fruits. (In Part 2 I itemized the various Love-fruits of God’s nature. You can see that repeated in the appendix below, titled, “Love-Fruits”).

Let’s begin. In this third segment, the core message will be based on the answer to a question I raised in the middle of Part 2, which went like this, “But how does a person immerse his good thoughts and intentions with positive emotional discipline so they can be mobilized around the three-pronged relationship in life? To think good thoughts is one thing, but to give it the emotion-filled life it deserves is another matter altogether. How does one get passionate about God, community, and the physical world at large?” I answered it partially, and hopefully answer in its entirety now.

Yes, how do we charge our thoughts with the positive emotional response with the Love-fruits of the Spirit. (1 Cor.13; Rom.5:5) Can we naturally muster and mobilize these Love-fruits and apply them to our gifts and talents by sheer human will? The answer is yes and no! What I mean by that is clarified by the words of Jesus, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit…Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt.7:18, 16, ESV). Jesus is talking about a person’s underlying motivation towards life. He is taking us back to the two trees of Eden and what they represent. They depict two ways of life. A person’s ‘way of life’ can be said to be governed by his/her attitude or motivation to life. Motivation determines choices which brings freedom or fear. Love or legalism. The Spirit or the Law.

God Is Love and Freedom. Stature of Liberty, Symbol of Freedom 1 John 4:8 (Wiki Commons)

We saw God is Love and Freedom in His divine nature. It’s a kind of yin and yang complementary energies so that one cannot be complete without the other. So, humanly speaking, we can’t ordinarily call up this energy (Love-fruits) and apply them to our gifts and abilities. Not by sheer human will alone – not unless we become the actual personification of Love and Freedom ourselves in the depths of our being. First, why can’t we call upon the Love-fruits with our human energy? Simply because we are fallen humans from Adam’s seed, born in and to sin. (Rom.5:12) Since the fall, we have been following a life of fear as we ate from the fruit of the “tree of good and evil.” On the other hand, Love (God) is sinless and incorruptible (holy/perfect). Jesus told His followers, “But you are to be perfect (Love), even as your Father in heaven is perfect (Love)” (Matt.5:48, Italics mine). Jesus’ citation from the Scriptures is repeated by the apostle Peter, “For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy (upright) because I am holy (upright)” (1 Pet.1:16; also Lev.11:44-45, Italics mine).

Jesus counsels humans on what to do, “Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches. I’m about to call each conqueror to dinner. I’m spreading a banquet of “Tree-of-Life” fruit, a supper plucked from God’s orchard” (Rev.2:7, The Message). The “conqueror” refers to those who have resisted the temptation to eat from the tree of good and evil, or actually the ‘tree of fear.’ People who use fear use force to manipulate others, whether physically, psychologically, or through other means. This leads to the arrogance of the mind and the many unintended consequences it brings on ending ultimately in death. Paul comforts us with this victorious phrase, “In all these things we are more than conquerors (over fear and death) through Him who Loved us” (Rom.8:37, italics mine, also, Rom.8:38-39). The fruits of the tree of life is the incorruptible Love-fruits of God’s divine nature. If peace, one of the Love-fruits, is our objective, how can we be pleased about any ‘victory’ that is won by fear and the use of force? Humans were created to eat and be sustained from the tree of life, just as herbivores like cows and giraffes feed on grass and plants. Then there are carnivores, omnivores, and granivores that are adapted to their specific sustenance regime. The Creator made each life form to exist in this web of life to sustain the earth’s ecological balance for human habitation and to ultimately serve God’s divine purpose.

These Love-fruits are not laws we legalistically obey, but rather they spring from the depths of our innermost heart and being in Christ. (Rom.8:12-13) They are not knowledge that puffs up the ego, but gems to inspire creativity for the greater good. (1 Cor.8:1) They are not nuggets of wisdom to promote man’s self-righteous image, but seeds to sow and gather unimaginable blessings shaped by self-sacrifice. (Eccl.1:16-18) They are not tools for exploiting others, quite the contrary they reflect the personal obligation we owe our common humanity because we all bear the likeness of the divine nature (Love). (Rom.13:8; Luk.12:15; Gen.1:26-27) They are not ‘instincts’ which control us like the animal kingdom is governed by its inflexible instinct, no, humans must make up their minds and choose. (Gen.1:25) Without Love we will live like people with empty superficial lives whose designs will come to nought. (1 Cor.13:1-3; Eccl.2:22-23) We dare reflect and ask, what has been the motive for our lives, conduct and actions? These Love-fruits tells us how God, in His Tri-Personal Being as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, have lived eternally in One unified shared experience in the Triune Godhead. These Love-fruits spring out from their innermost Being of God. God lives this way spontaneously without any compulsion nor compunction whatsoever. But how can humans live this way?

The Two Trees of Eden with Their Respective Fruits Represent Two Ways of Life: Love and Fear (Wiki Commons)

Paul further explains our human emptiness and lostness through Adam’s fall to the sin condition and our restoration to fullness and upright condition through Jesus mediation, saying to the Roman Christians, “Therefore, just as one trespass (Adam) brought condemnation for all men, so also one act of righteousness (Jesus) brought justification and life for all men. (Rom.5:18, Italics mine). Yes, because of the sin condition man inherited from Adam, he is consigned to death. With sin comes all the affliction of human sickness and disease and ultimately death. He said further, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom.3:23). From Adam, we are by nature born with the motivation to life that is biased towards Love. We lived life based upon fear and sin which ends in death both physically and spiritually.

If man is a fallen being from Adam and cannot muster and mobilize Love and true freedom that’s needed to make him/her a whole person unbroken by sin, how can he be called upon to live a life that bears the Love-image of the divine? (Gen.1:26-27). Jesus answers: “You must be born again!” (John 3:7) Yes, man must undergo a rebirth from his fallen state of being, to a new risen state of existence, a new human modeled after Jesus, the Son of God. Paul was inspired to write, “For God knew His people in advance, and He chose them to become like His Son, so that His Son would be the firstborn (rebirth) among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, He called them to come to Him. And having called them, He gave them right standing with Himself. And having given them right standing, He gave them His glory (Love)” (see Rom.8:29-30, NLT, Italics mine).

Our First Parent’s Expulsion from the Garden of Eden (Thomas Cole, Wiki Commons)

I will call the fallen state of human existence inherited from Adam the “Adamic Human,” while man’s new humanity in Jesus Christ (reborn), the “Immanuel Human” after His Messianic title given to Him by the prophet Isaiah. (see Isa.7:14). The name “Immanuel” means “God with us,” or God who took our humanity unto Himself through His Son. Paul said, “For we are members of His body (new humanity)” (Eph.5:30, italics mine). For the newborn human, it means God is with him/her and he/she lives to God; as opposed to the “Adamic Human” who lives to himself/herself under the influence of the devil. (see 1 John 3:8; Heb.2:14-15) Whenever believers partake of the bread and wine in a “communion service,” they are ritualizing the reality of Jesus’ new humanity in them, insomuch as the bread and wine are emblems of His body and blood. (Matt.26:26-28; 1 Cor.10:16-17)

“Born again” or to experience the new birth, does not mean to undergo a second physical birth, that would not be possible, as Jesus explained to Nicodemus who made this absurd observation. (see John 3:4) It is not a physical but a spiritual birth. Jesus said you and I must be “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8) The physical body is merely a shell, a casing, held together by human cells, connective tissues, nerves, organs, bones and the blood flowing in the veins give it physical life. (Lev.17:11) In fact, the human body is constantly undergoing metamorphosis (change) through cell regeneration as a consequence of our thought life, our diet, environment, and other factors which affect us epigenetically. The human body was created by God to be a temple in which His Spirit can take up residence for the purpose of sanctifying His human children. (Rom.15:16; Rom.5:5)

Paul said this about the human body, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price (by sacrificing His Son). So, you must honor God with your body” (1 Cor.6:19-20, NLT, Italics mine). This tells us that to be born anew means the demise of the rebellious spirit of fear (“tree of good and evil”), and a new birth through the Holy Spirit (“tree of life”). (Rom.6:6-7; 8:10) He told the disciples to wait for the gift of the Spirit, “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” (Act.1:4-5). Baptism by immersion is a ritual symbolizing burial (death) in the watery grave and rebirth by spiritual resurrection. (see Rom.6:4; Matt.28:19)

Water Baptism Symbolize Our Death and Resurrection (Rebirth) (Wiki Commons)

God made humans with a knowledge-based existence. That is, our motivation to life is determined by how we process knowledge and information and vice versa. Our thoughts are verbalized with our words, then charged with emotional energy (Love or fear) to give them life through our actions. To that end, I shared the analogy of the prism to human life in Part 2 (http://bulamanriver.net/12517). We are human prisms. The prism receives natural white light like humans receive information and knowledge. When light enters the prism at the proper incline, it emits a rainbow beam. On the human level, there is an energy source which converts light or information into the tri-colored rainbow beam representing the three human relationships: Love for God (spiritual man), Love for community (social man), and Love for the world at large (physical) man. Therefore, to possess that energy source, humans must be Love, as “God is Love,” in order to convert light (knowledge) into the three human relationship God had predestined for us to live by. (1 John 4:16) The key to physical and spiritual well-being is to live at a higher level of consciousness the Spirit (Love) brings thus creating form in our thought life we would not otherwise manifest.

In her book, Who Switched Off My Brain, Dr. Caroline Leaf, a cognitive neuroscientist with a PhD in Communication Pathology specializing in Neuropsychology, says that an average person has over thirty thousand thoughts a day. Others have given higher estimates. She goes on to say that “75% to 95% of the illnesses that plaque us today are a direct result of our thought life. What we think about affects us physically and emotionally. It’s an epidemic of toxic emotions.” An uncontrolled thought life can mean trouble for our health because they can create the conditions for illness. So how do we control all thirty thousand thoughts which bombard us each and every day? It boggles the mind to even think about it. But thoughts don’t come in text format we process line by line. But the brain’s mechanism for processing thoughts is done at the neuro-sensory level through a network of electrochemical signals acting as stimuli.

Consider that thoughts are invisible and exist in the realm of the unseen, though their effects  are on open display for all to see. And it’s not so much the quantity of thoughts that count. Rather, it is the quality of the thoughts we allow to influence us which the mind synthesizes to create form on which to base our decisions and actions. This happens at such blinding speed in the brain’s neuro-sensory level that this cerebral task is over within seconds. Science can’t explain it, for it’s all happening at a dimension that is unseen but acted out and felt in the three relationships – for Love or fear remains to be seen. The question is what is the quality of decision that was played out in real life? Was it generous and outgoing (Love), or malevolent and self-centered (fear)? Was it kindness or meanness? Was it honesty or dishonesty? Was it to make friends or enemies? That is what we will clarify going forward.

Science has yet to discover fully the complexity of the human mind and how it works. Author Ambrose Bierce has made a naive observation of the mind as “a mysterious form of matter secreted by the brain.” Science continues to be surprised and even baffled by fresh discoveries of this phenomena of the brain’s potential that’s beyond the scope of scientific explanation. It will remain so as long as science deny divine revelation about human destiny. God, in order to facilitate man’s relationship with Him, made the human mind to serve as a counterpart to His own spiritual mastermind. For that reason, the mind lives its creative and intellectual life in the unseen spiritual realm. (Gen.1:26-27) Despite doubts, science has made advances and has for example discovered the mind as having three levels of consciousness. To be sure, science has merely discovered (and continues to) how God created the human mind to integrate and work with His own mind. (Pro.25:2) The Psalmist said, “Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous–how well I know it.” (Psa.139:14, NLT) Solomon’s wisdom instructs us on how God interfaces the human mind with His own, “The spirit of man (mind) is the lamp of the LORD, searching all the innermost parts of his (man’s) being” (Prov.20:27, Italics mine).

At the first level there is the conscious mind, then the subconscious mind, and thirdly the unconscious mind. These three facets of the human mind act in unison as a filtering device to manage knowledge and information with all its nuances so as to propel in a positive direction the empirical personhood of human life. The subconscious mind performs the most vital role of the brain by acting as the controlling mechanism for all our conscious thoughts. Because of its overarching role I have called it the sponsoring thought. It is the mastermind which governs all the thoughts that comes through the conscious mind. The unconscious mind is the storehouse for all memories and past experiences which the subconscious may draw upon if there is a need. For the mind to process large amounts of information in a divine holistic manner, the only logical way is for the three functional levels of the mind to subsist at the unseen spiritual level.

The Thinker (Wiki Commons)

Hence, when a Christian undergoes the new birth or conversion, the primary site where this new birth takes place is in the cerebral activity of the person’s mind. It is here that fear is put to death and replaced by Love in the new birth process. (Gal.2:20; Rom.6:6, 8:10) In Christian thought, this activity of a changed life is referred to as “carrying one’s cross” (Matt.16:24). It depicts a state of ongoing forgiveness and freedom from fear and sin, and the presence of Jesus sinless glorified humanity with a Spirit-led mind. As Paul affirms, “For, “Who can know the LORD’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach Him?” But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ” (1 Cor.2:16). To have the “mind of Christ” means the imperfect mind of man has once and for all been united to the mind of God through Jesus’ mediation and in the Spirit’s power. It means that mortal man can now be given to comprehend the divine thoughts of the Creator. This is nothing short of the miraculous, where a human is living the miraculous life in the spiritual realm through the Spirit’s power. This is the logical and primary phase of the birth of the new humanity of Jesus in the mind and thought-process of the human believer.

But Love is not only spiritual power and influence, but first and foremost, Love is a Person! The Person and His power (Love) are one, and can’t be separated. The Bibles states, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). It also says, “God has spoken plainly, and I have heard it many times: Power, O God, belongs to You (Psa.62:11). God is not made of Love, He IS Love. He is not made of power, He IS power. This means when we speak of Love having replaced fear in man, it means God has come to Personally live and walk in humans to manifest His power (Love). John makes this abundantly clear, “God is Love. Whoever lives in Love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16).

But how does God actually personify Himself in a human being? Paul answers, “God’s Love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom.5:5). So, it is the third Person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, who is the manifestation of the divine Love in humans. Before His death, Jesus told His followers about the gift of the Spirit, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have told you… And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be with you forever” (John 14:16; 26). “Forever” means to inhabit humans for eternity. After His resurrection, Jesus, “Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Act.1:4-5, NASB). We read Paul’s statement earlier, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?” (1 Cor.6:19-20). This is what experiencing the new birth means when Jesus said you must be “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).

“There is No Fear in Love. But Perfect Love Drives Out Fear…The One Who Fears is Not Made Perfect in Love” – 1 John 4:18. (Wiki Commons)

The role of the Spirit is to personify Christ in us. Jesus said this about the work of the Spirit in humans, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify Me because it is from Me that He will receive what He will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from Me what He will make known to you” (John 16:13-15, my emphasis). The Spirit will not promote Himself but Christ in us. For the new humanity is Christ’s very life in us who has displaced the fallen Adamic spirit. Here, we see how all three Persons of the Godhead working as One, each having a hands-on involvement with the believer’s salvation. (2 Cor.13:14) The Father sends His Son (John 3:16), and the Son sends the Spirit (John 16:7). The Spirit sanctifies the believer by manifesting Christ’s new humanity in mankind. (Rom.15:16). Paul said, “Now you are the body of Christ (new humanity), and each one of you is a part of It” (1 Cor.12:27, Italics mine).

When we live life in the Spirit, Love will flow into our lives like a river of living water. Jesus said, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:38-39). The Spirit is the fountain from which God’s Love springs forth. (Tit.3:6) The ‘living water’ signify our sanctification by the Spirit’s power through Love. The Bible further promises, “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what He is saying to the churches. To everyone who is victorious I will give fruit from the tree of life in the paradise of God” (Rev.2:7, NLT). This shows that Paradise or the Garden of Eden means to live in God’s presence where sharing in the ‘fruits of the tree of life’ (Spirit’s Love-fruits) is a way of life as it has been with the three Persons of the triune Godhead from eternity. That is another role of the Spirit, He helps us live the victorious life in Christ for only He has defeated Satan on His cross upon Calvary, and His temptation in the Judean wilderness. (John 16:11; 1 Cor.15:17; Matt.4:1-11; Heb.4:15) The victorious life means to defeat the devil’s work of darkness (sin) through Christ who has led the way in triumphant march for our ultimate victory into immortality.

Dove, Symbol for the Holy Spirit and God’s Love – Rom.5:5 ( Wiki Commons)

Here is the bottom line about the new birth and how it ushers a new way of processing information. With the Spirit dwelling in us, God’s Love becomes the mold which frames the subconscious mind. Love gives the subconscious mind its frame of reference that I call the “sponsoring thought.” Only the thoughts that fits our frame of reference passes through to the next stage where thoughts are synthesized into a form based upon the divine Love which the person acts out in life. The sponsoring thought (Love) is the sterilizer of the human mind and the sieve that sanitizes all our thoughts and convert neutral light (information) to the tri-colored rainbow beam – the spiritual man, the social man, and the physical man. The sponsoring thought is the underwriter and guarantor of the thirty thousand thoughts our conscious mind encounter each and every day. Love is the eye salve which bathes and purifies our thoughts and gives our mind’s eye a healthy perception of the world.

Where does this process of Love begin? Paul answers, “We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (Love)” (2 Cor.10:5, Italics mine). It begins in the mind. It is launched from the subconscious where Love (Spirit) is the sponsoring thought. Yes, all our fearful thoughts and arguments must be put to death here – they must not be allowed to materialize into a person’s activity, in particular the three human relationships. (Rom.8:35-39, note esp. V. 36-37) That is the role of the Spirit (Love) – He sanctifies the mind’s thought-process to help us make right choices by convicting our minds of what sin truly is. (John 16:8) That’s to say, any knowledge which stand up against Love or whatever information is not Love-oriented. The foundation upon which sin makes its stands is the human disbelief and/or rejection of God’s provision of the Savior He has anointed whose role is to deliver mankind from the sin condition and the ravages it brings on, both physical and spiritual. As such, we see how profound and life-changing is the power of belief. (Act.10:38-39; Heb.11:6; Rom.1:17)

We are still humans and imperfect, and unquestionably we all make mistakes despite our best efforts to confront sin and do good. Consequently, only Jesus can save man from the sin condition which is relentlessly driving humanity to ultimate death. (Rom.6:23) Yes, one sin is enough to trigger the death penalty, were it not for Jesus’ unbroken mediation for humanity as our eternal High Priest in heaven. And yes, He also took all our sicknesses and diseases upon His cross, and brought healing and comfort. (Jam.2:10; Heb.5:5-6; Heb.4:15; Isa.53:4-6) That is how Herald* the Spirit sanctifies man by manifesting Christ in humans. (John 16:8-9) Paul said this of the new humanity we have in Christ, “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made Him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church (you and I) is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ’s (new humanity), who fills all things everywhere with Himself” (Eph.1:22-23, NLT, Italics mine). Since Christ is in heaven in His glory, His walk in our lives makes us equally perfect for we exist under His High Priestly mediatory function. (Heb.2:17; also 1 Cor.1:30) Paul affirmed our own perfection in Christ, “God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor.5:21; also Rom.8:3). For such is the splendor and majesty of God’s immeasurable Love for sinful humanity. And that is how God makes humans perfect and holy in and through His Son’s mediation so He can caress us as His very own children.

But the role of the Spirit is not to bring mere human physical and spiritual well-being. The ultimate reward for our right standing with God through His Son and in the Spirit’s power, is His promise of immortality. (John 3:16). Thus, immortality is conferred upon the sinless and perfect in Christ. Listen, Paul said, “And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you” (Rom.8:11). The Spirit is the One who brought Jesus’ dead human body back to life and gave it immortality. John said this, “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He wishes” (John 5:21). Jesus has glorified our humanity in Himself by giving it immortality, and as the second Person of the Godhead, He is God who has the power to bestow eternal life to humans.

Let’s be truly rational about life in its empirical sense: if human life is about a legacy we leave behind about a long and healthy life, with prosperity, security, and influence to go with it, which our children and grandchildren, and great grandchildren can leave as a lasting monument on our gravestone, then we must ask: is that all there is to human life? Paul himself asked the same question, “And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world” (1 Cor.15:9). Yes, Paul says, “What a pity!” The human body was created to have physical life no different from animals having temporary existence. The only distinction between man and other life forms on earth is that man was made in the Creator’s image and given a divine destiny. (Gen.1:26-27; Phil.3:21) The Bible reveals man’s mortality like this, “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature… for you are dust, and to dust you shall return” (Gen.2:7; 3:19; also Rom.8:29; 1 Cor.15:49). So, unequivocally the final answer to health and longevity has to be nothing less than human immortality. Even if you and I were to live to a blissful and healthy 120 years, life would nonetheless be pointless and hollow if the epitaph on our gravestone marks our end as personalities who walked and made a mark on this earth. But though man is mortal, his potential and destiny is inherently immortality – that is God’s idea, not man’s.

The Prism with Beam of Three Relationships: Spiritual Man, Social Man, Physical Man (Wiki Commons)

So, our search for answers to health and longevity has led us to the unmatchable quest for immortality. Anything less would be our final resting place six feet underground, and that is not even an answer for it spells our eternal demise. And here is the beautiful truth, immortality is the Creator’s ultimate plan for mankind. It is God’s end-game for human existence on earth. God alone has the power to bestow immortality upon humans. And immortality is a gift the Creator God promises His human children. This is not some Greek philosophy or mythology, not even some human concept. I am quoting from the Bible which we believe to be God’s infallible Word. If I am misinterpreting the Scriptures, then you are free to call me out. Divine revelation are just that – divine, not human. The Scripture is as clear as day about our eternal destiny, “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” (John 3:16, Italics mine). Nothing can be more unmistakable and absolute than that.

Today, many believe human life to have mere animal existence and the grave is the final answer to physical life as we know it. What I present in this post is something we can rest our hope in – divine revelation because there is nothing else that this world or anyone else offers that comes even close. So, we are speaking of crossing over from the mortal into the immortal as the ultimate answer to the essence of human life and existence. Yes, from the muted memorial stone to the eternal White Stone (Rev.2:17). From the crypt headstone epitaph to the everlasting Morning Star. (Rev.2:26-28) In fact, more than mere health and longevity, herein rests all the answers to our incomparable human potential: purpose, creativity, security, health, abundance, influence, and ultimately, eternity through immortal life. Paul uses a profound expression to describe the hope of humanity, “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived” — the things God has prepared for those who Love Him. These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God” (1 Cor.2:9-10). Paul was quoting the prophet Isaiah.

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

But here is the mind-blowing question for us, when God promised humans immortal life, did He reveal what man must do to attain it? The answer is, absolutely yes. It is: nothing and everything! What do I mean? First and foremost immortality is a gift, therefore by nothing I mean there is absolutely nothing you and I can do to deserve it or earn it. (2 Tim.1:9; Eph.2:8-9) The Epistle of Titus records this, “When the kindness and Love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life” (Tit.3:5-7) If you can earn something, then it ceases to be a gift, it becomes a trade that you must work for and earn. Paul was inspired by God to utter His promise this way, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life” (Rom.6:23).

By everything I mean since we are made in God’s Love likeness of three Persons united in Freedom, then His gift of immortality can be received or rejected by a matter of choice. That is a divine attribute we are all given to exercise. Everything depends on you because you have the freedom of choice in the matter. But who in his/her right mind would freely choose to reject the gift of immortality and choose eternal death instead? Of course we have to agree only the insane would choose that path. God’s advice to us as clear as day, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deut.30:19). God desires that we use our liberties to freely choose to Love Him by accepting His eternal purpose for us: to choose eternal life with Him!

So, we have answered what a person must do to receive eternal life as a gift from God. Let us answer how this is done? Assuming you have answered ‘yes’ to the what question, then, how did God propose to make this gift of immortality become reality in humans? Is there a road map man must follow to arrive at the destination? This is the primary Bible answer: “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” (John 3:16, also V.15, italics my emphasis). So, the answer to how is made abundantly clear: God has given us His Son Jesus, and made Him the gateway into immortality. Jesus Himself affirmed His Father’s promise, saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live even though he dies” (John 11:25). He further said, “I am the Gate. Anyone who goes through Me will be cared for—will freely go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9, The Message). The first road sign in the map to immortality is our heavenly Father’s promise. (Rom.6:23) Here, we see the second road sign is the gift of His Son as Savior and through faith in His mediatory role of High Priest in heaven. (1 Tim.2:5) The third road sign is the gift of the Holy Spirit which gives us the new birth into the new humanity of Jesus that we have covered earlier. (John 3:5-7)

We have answered the what and how questions of human immortality, let us now answer why did God chose Jesus to be the doorway into human immortality? Why not another human? The Bible is filled with passages about Jesus’ qualifications which will make amply clear why it could not be any other human, but Him. Let us see the answers as to why Jesus is the only One who can and will bring humanity to immortality.

The Crucifixion of Jesus (Wiki Commons)

• First and foremost, Jesus Christ is the second Person of the triune Godhead which reveals His divine heritage and origin. (John 1:1-5) Isaiah declared His Messianic identity as “Immanuel,” meaning, “God with us” (Isa.7:14). That is to say, God the Word or the Logos, became man, therefore Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. (John 1:1) As Creator who took our humanity upon Himself, Jesus qualifies to act in all matters concerning mankind, especially in matters of deliverance from sin and corruption to salvation, grace, and immortality. (2 Tim.1:10; Rom.2:7; John 1:3)
• The Bible, from cover to cover, from Genesis to Revelation, is about the Messiah who was prophesied to come and save humanity from sin, and unite mankind back with God. From the very beginning when Adam fell, Jesus was foretold to appear and save humanity from the sin-condition man was sold at the behest of the devil’s deception. (Gen.3:14-15) In the end, when restitution is complete, Jesus declares, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Rev.22:13). That is to say, Jesus is the final answer to mankind’s salvation, both physically and spiritually. (Col.2:10; Act.3:21)
• At the inaugural ceremony of Jesus’ ministry in the Jordan River, Jesus was baptized by John. Since Jesus was sinless, He was baptized and repented on behalf of mankind. Thus, He was responsible for introducing the gift of the Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Godhead, to mankind. Later, at Pentecost the Spirit was poured out upon all humanity. (Matt.3:13-17; Act.2:1-4; Act.2:38)
• During Jesus’ life and ministry He did what Adam failed to do – defeating Satan in His temptation in the Judean wilderness. Jesus defeated the enemy in the four areas of human life that the devil provokes a person to sin, so that we can live the victorious life vicariously through Him. (Matt.4:1-11; John 16:33) (read about the four temptations at: http://bulamanriver.net/11339 “The Four Temptations and God’s Promises”)
• Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, and was crucified upon Calvary as the unblemished human sacrifice for the forgiveness of human sin and brought healing of physical sickness and disease. (Matt.27:32-61; Act.10:38)
• He was raised from the dead, and by His resurrection He glorified and raised His, and by extension our, mortal body to immortality. Thus, Jesus opens the door to eternal life for all humanity. (Luk.24:1-8) Paul wrote, “And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins” (1 Cor.15:17).
• Jesus continues to perform His Ministry of Reconciliation as High Priest in heaven today and through those God calls to freely participate in the work of His Son. (2 Cor.5:17-21; Heb.4:14-16; Matt.28:19)
• At God’s appointed time, He will send His Son Jesus the second time bearing the gift of immortality by raising the dead back to eternal life. (1 Cor.15:35-54; Act.3:20; Phil.3:21; 1 Thess.4:16-17)

Now, when will this event of the resurrection to immortality take place? Jesus Himself answers, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40). Jesus further clarified this when He was asked about His second return, “But about that day (of My return) or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mar.13:32, Italics mine). So, we know when immortality is given to humans – at Jesus’ second coming. But no one knows the day or hour  except our heavenly Father. John was given a vision of the resurrection, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Messiah, and He will reign for ever and ever” (Rev.11:15; also Matt.24:31; Dan.7:13-14) Another aspect of the when question is immortality will occur at the seventh angel’s trumpet sound.

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

Paul said this about the resurrection, “I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor.15:50). Then, he reveals how humans “inherit” immortality, “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” (1 Cor.15:51-54). Yes, Jesus’ return will be heralded by the trumpet sound of the  seventh angel on the last day and our change will come in a blink of an eye – from mortal to immortality. What a marvelous future humanity has in store with the realization that the grave is not our ultimate destiny, but the gift of eternal life from God our heavenly Father.

Yes, we will continue to live the three relationships, but this time not as mortal beings subject to death, but as the new human race made immortal and sharing eternity in the presence of our Loving Heavenly Father, our Brother Jesus, and dear Friend Herald the Spirit, with the holy angels.

My parting words for you, my readers, is this: If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then you already have the seed of immortality in you. John said this, “I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13). So, in living faith…LIVE JOYFULLY, LIVE FOREVER!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to write me in the space provided below, or you may email me on bulamanriver@gmail.com. You may read many other helpful and uplifting articles at http://bulamanriver.net/. Thank you for visiting.

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

Indemnity Clause: The author does not assume any liability for the misuse of information contained in this post. The content of this post is provided for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as, nor should it be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The author is not a medical doctor, nor does he claim to be. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read. Always consult your medical doctor or your primary health care provider about the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your own symptoms or medical conditions.

“Love-Fruits” – Here is a summary of God’s Love-fruits from the Bible: *patience, *kindness, *contentedness, *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *joy, *peace, *goodness, *faith, *gentleness, *self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *The fruit of gratitude and thankfulness, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; also Gal.5:22-23; Rom.12:9-21; Col.3:12-15)

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

**“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional attributing life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

>>> Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

***Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.net, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

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

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

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

“Your Light Will Break Forth Like The Dawn, And Your Healing Shall Spring Up Speedily”

Greetings once more Friends! Our family visit to seven beautiful countries of Europe was indeed a memorable and unforgettable experience. Family members have returned to various parts of the globe, and we’re back home in Texas and feeling rested, although we miss the more pleasant climate of northern Europe.

This is the sequel to my previous post on physical well-being based upon spiritual principles. Last month we saw three perspectives or relationships which define the human holistic existence. I explained these are not three different parts of man, rather all of life is always articulated through the spiritual man, the social man, and the physical man at the same time revealing the whole man. While man is mortal, he is holistically driven. So, in terms of good health, we cannot take diet alone, or sheer physical fitness, in isolation from the emotional responsibility to the human relationships we are involuntarily compelled to live by on a daily basis.

Medical science has shown conclusively that a high ratio of modern day illnesses and sicknesses are emotionally induced through excessive anxiety and harmful stress. Consider the following statements from the medical community:

“A 30-minute argument with your partner can slow your body’s ability to heal by at least a day. If you argue regularly, that healing time is doubled.”

“Angry outbursts may last only a few minutes, but they can cause surges in blood pressure and heart rate, raising the risk of heart attack by 19 per cent, concludes a study at University College, London. Subtle forms of anger, such as impatience, irritability and grouchiness, damage health, too.”

“When you’re chronically stressed—anger, aggression, hatred, fear, prejudice, anxiety, insecurity, hopelessness, and other negative states that feed the energetic chaos that manifests as physical pain and disease All of these emotions, which we consider to be part of our conscious reality, are derived or produced by stress chemicals.”

“Depression, pessimism and apathy affect our health in several ways. ‘Low mood is linked to low levels of serotonin and dopamine, the feel-good neurotransmitters in the brain,’ says London GP Dr Jane Flemming. ‘Serotonin plays a role in regulating pain perception and could be the reason why 45 per cent of patients with depression also suffer aches and pains.’”

“Sick Man” by by Abel Salazar (Wiki Commons)

You can do your own research on negative emotionally induced thoughts and actions. However, on the opposite side of the spectrum we have these statements:

“When you count your blessings… Feelings of gratitude boost immunity, lower blood pressure and speed healing. Dr Rollin McCraty of the Institute of HeartMath in the US is studying the link between emotions and physical health, and has found that, like love, gratitude and contentment also trigger oxytocin. ‘Oxytocin is secreted by the heart whenever you feel open and connected,’ says McCraty. ‘It switches off stress by causing the nervous system to relax. Oxygenation to tissues increases significantly, as does healing. We’ve found that gratitude is also associated with more harmonious electric activity around both the heart and brain – the very state in which these organs operate most effectively.’”

“Expressing the affectionate feelings you have towards your partner lowers cholesterol levels. A study reported in the journal Human Communication Research showed that when people spent three 20-minute sessions per week writing about loved ones, their cholesterol count fell within five weeks.”

“In a study of the effects of laughter, Dr Lee Berk of Loma Linda University in California discovered that levels of mood-boosting beta-endorphins increased by 27 per cent, while human growth hormone, a substance that aids sleep and cellular repair, rose by 87 per cent. The effects were achieved by watching a humorous film. In another study, the mere anticipation of laughter was enough to reduce levels of the stress hormones cortisol and adrenalin. Cardiologists at the University of Maryland Medical Center found that laughing can reduce the risk of a heart attack by curbing unwanted stress.” (Source: (https://www.psychologies.co.uk/self/the-link-between-emotions-and-health.html)

Healthy Happy Man by Rudy Anderson (Wiki Commons)

The link between human emotions and health is indisputable. Our emotions can heal or inflict sickness upon us which can lead to death. And here is the heart of the matter, what is the source of human emotions which weighs heavily upon our physical and spiritual well-being? The answer: Love! Love is intrinsically emotive. We saw that “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Therefore, all positive emotional response is actually divine in its origin, and humans display them because they were created in God’s Love-likeness. (Gen.1:26-27). John makes this abundantly clear when he said, “God is love. Whoever lives in Love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). The Bible says, “The joy (positive emotion) of the LORD (God/Love) is your strength! (both physical and spiritual)” (Neh.8:10, Italics mine). So being Love (joy) is the most authentic self you can possibly be, because you are created in God’s Love-likeness as “God is Love!” However, we understand that human emotions are not all positive. In the main negative emotions abound and give rise to counterproductive actions which can lead to harmful consequences for our health. How did these two opposing emotions came to be part of the human reality? The answer takes us back to the beginning.

In the beginning God created the first humans – Adam and Eve – and placed them in the Garden of Eden. God planted two trees which symbolized two ways of life. There was the “tree of life” symbolizing God’s way of Love, and there was the “tree of good and evil” which stood for man’s way of fear and rebellion. They symbolically represent two pathways to human life. One stood for God’s way of life, while the other stood for man’s way of deciding for himself what is good and evil contrived through fear. God gave our first parents the freedom to choose between the two trees – we call it human freewill. Humans are given the freedom to choose because liberty is intrinsically bound to Love. The two virtues are opposite sides of the same coin, so to speak. You can’t have Love without freedom, nor freedom without Love. These are two inalienable espects of God’s nature. God desires that His children Love Him freely, not legalistically. You see, we can Love God because the law commands us to (legalism), or we can Love Him because we freely choose to do so (freedom). The difference between the two is like night from day. If you understand and live by it, you will bask in the light of its truth. And so also the other two relationships in life.

Love produces good (“tree of life”). Fear produces evil (“tree of good and evil”). Love stands for honor and moral decency, while fear stands for rebellion and corruption. Fear has an insidious way of masquerading itself as the bearer of good that we cannot fathom just how deeply toxic a role it plays in people’s day-to-day lives. God tells us how fear can be defeated: “Perfect Love drives out fear, for there is no fear in Love…The one who fears is not made perfect in Love.” (1 John 4:18). Thereby, all human emotions stem from the two trees of Eden. Why did God give us the two paths of life to pursue and follow? Think about this, how else can freedom be expressed unless there is a choice to be made? God is not merely about Love; He is also the embodiment of freedom. If Love is the nature of God, then Love is not static, but living, dynamic energy which requires our participation through human freedom. Can we imagine how dull and monotonous life would be if humans behaved and lived like animals with fixed mindless instincts? For such is the dynamic relationship God has called His children to have with Him through human freewill. Humans were given the mind to have dominion over all creation under God to freely care for and Love. (Gen.1:26)

Adam & Eve Exiled from Eden for Eating the Forbidden Fruit (Wiki Commons)

Love is genuine only when it is given freely. Love is authentic when as children of God we are immersed in its energy and dynamism through freedom. A person can be forced to love, but freedom is sacrificed as a consequence, and the person is a prisoner of his/her fear still. We see how the apostle Paul invokes this sacred gift of freedom, admonishing us, “Be very careful, then, how you live (choose) – not as unwise but as wise” (Eph.5:15, italics mine). The ancient king Solomon exhorted us likewise, being more to the point, “Be careful what you think (choose), because your thoughts run your life” (Prov.4:23, NCV, italics mine). What has thoughts to do with our emotions? All our words and actions are manufactured in our minds by way of our thought process. We are not mechanical devices like robots. We were created with a mind like God to live like Him through the choices we make. The way we choose to live begins in the evolution of our thoughts and driven by our emotions and vice versa. At times we are compelled to do something in a certain way but our feelings may lay elsewhere. Yet, it is vital that the two must be in alignment and travel hand-in-hand or else stress will clog our lives if the thought/emotion conflict persists. There are no bad emotions, only the way we think about and judge them. Hence, our reasoning process is vital to weighing our options to help us align our thoughts and emotions and set them toward the same three-pronged goal in human relationships.

All our thoughts are interlocked with our emotions and produce our words and behaviors. We are constantly reacting to the circumstance and information that bombard us each and every day. And it behooves us to ask: as humans made in the image of the Creator, how are we using our freedoms to choose or reject the type of information we receive on a daily basis and center them on Love and not fear. One thing is certain: we ought to know the thoughts we must esteem, store, and guard from corrupt influences. These are thoughts that promote the three relationships about life which are the basis for health and longevity: Love for God, Love for community, and Love for the physical/material world around us. But how does a person immerse his good thoughts and intentions with positive emotions so they can be mobilized around the three-pronged relationship in life? To think good thoughts is one thing, but to give it the emotion-filled life it deserves is another matter altogether. How does one get passionate about God, community, and the physical world at large? Let me delve a moment into an analogy as a sidebar to this topic. I believe you’ll find it relevant and hopefully illuminating.

I will dwell a little on the analogy of the prism as it relates to our topic. We may compare human life to a clear glass prism with a triangular three-sided shape. You and I were created to see life through the prism of the three relationships. The prism stands for human life, and its triangular shape represents the triune relationships he/she is born with and articulated through the spiritual, communal, and physical/material relationships in every-day life. When light enters the prism at a right angle it reflects off of the base and causes the neutral light to burst into a single three-colored rainbow beam. Only humans, in all of creation was made to reflect this indivisible three-colored beam (triune relationship) mirroring the Creator’s image.

The neutral light stands for knowledge which the prism (human mind) receives. The ‘right angle’ at which light enters the prism typifies how knowledge and information enters the human mind and is sifted and evaluated so their true meaning is decrypted, or rightly angled (utilized), with the aim of cultivating and sustaining the three relationships of life. Bear in mind, neutral light can pass straight through a prism with zero effect. Light must be made to enter at the proper angle in order to produce the rainbow beam. Finally, when the colored rainbow beam burst forth on the other side of the prism, which I call beam of enlightenment, we have the symbolism of an enlightened humanity fulfilling its role in the created order.

White Light Dispersed by Prism Creating Rainbow Beam (Wiki Commons)

The prism’s magnificent tri-colored rainbow beam is emitted from an energy source. Light will pass neutrally through the prism provided there’s energy to make the rainbow beam possible. Humanly speaking, that energy source which miraculously turns neutral light (information) into a rainbow beam (triune relationship) is God’s Love. We saw earlier that all our thoughts are inseparably intertwined and energized by the human emotions which charges and initiate all our words and behaviors. So, Love is positive passion (emotion) and is the energy which converts neutral light (thought) into its tri-colored rainbow beam (triune relationship). The Bible states “without Love we are nothing” (1 Cor.13:1-4). To put it another way, without an energy source (Love) we can’t convert neutral light (information) into the divine rainbow beam for people to bask in and enjoy.

Let’s dive deeper. Love’s energy is expressed through its emotional magnetism. Love is both a noun (name) and a verb (activity). It is not our human narrative of love, but the very divine Love of God. As a noun the Bible says, “God is Love” (1 John 4:8). We can utter that passage interchangeably, “Love is God,” or “God is Love,” it means the same thing and identifies God’s name. As a verb, Love is expressed affectionally so that its power is articulated through emotional energy: Love for God, Love for community, and Love the physical world around us. So, in order for the prism (man) to break forth with the beam of enlightenment, the prism (man) itself has to be made of Love. In other words, as humans we ourselves have to become Love as “God is Love” in order to bring about the desired effect in divine/human relationships. This is made possible because humans were created and exist in His Love-likeness. (1 John 4:8, 16; Gen.1:26-27)

The Bible shows how Love is converted to positive emotional energy: Love’s energy becomes real when humans live by and produce Love’s fruits in life. We use these Love-fruits to first internalize (personalize) and then externalize (materialize) them to the three perspectives (relationships) of human life: the spiritual (divine), the social (communal), and the material (physical). These Love-fruits, whenever it is lived and put into action, shows us the divine Love in its living energetic form in human life. Paul was inspired to reveal these Love-fruits so humanity is not left in the dark, nor be without excuse about them. (see 1 Cor.13:5-12).

Here is a summary of God’s Love-fruits from the Bible: *patience, *kindness, *contentedness, *the fruit of being modest and unboastful, *humility, *the fruit of honor, *the fruit of unselfishness, *the fruit of calmness and dignity, *the fruit of forgiveness and compassion, *the fruit of delighting in good and shunning evil, *the fruit of tolerance, *the fruit of responsibility, *the fruit of enduring hope, *the fruit of steadfast perseverance, *joy, *peace, *goodness, *faith, *gentleness, *self-control, *the fruit of zeal and spiritual fervor, *The fruit of gratitude and thankfulness, *the fruit of friendship, *the fruit of sharing and generosity, *the fruit of prayerfulness, *the fruit of hospitality, etc. (1 Cor.13; also Gal.5:22-23; Rom.12:9-21; Col.3:12-15)  Every one of these fruits requires humans to engage and apply their emotional energies to put them into action. For example, can a person be “patient” unless he/she has prepared the emotions to “suffer long” (calmness) in a situation that requires this specific fruit? So, what we see here is the very emotional energy (fruits) of Love that turns neutral light (information) into the rainbow beam which bring healing to both the spiritual and physical person and those around him/her.

Now, these fruits act like a sieve in the mind to identify good and useful information on one hand, and bad and worthless information on the other. The good is used to convert neutral light to the tri-colored rainbow beam, and the bad is discarded. Again, without these Love-fruits we are nothing, that is to say, we cannot switch on the rainbow-colored energy to produce a new dawn of renewal in the divine/communal/physical relationship. Love’s fruits are the only reliable filter through which we evaluate and sanitize all the myriads of information we receive on a daily basis to produce the beams to enlighten our paths daily in the three relationships.

Like the Rainbow Colors of the Prism, this Equally Colorful Fruit Basket Symbolize the Divine Love-Fruits That Feeds Humanity with the Three Relationships (Pic: Wiki Commons)

These divine Love-fruits speaks volumes and gives us a peek into the different tones and application of God’s Love. These fruits reveal the holy emotions of the trinitarian God. These are not emotions of a fallen human being, they reveal the divine passion and desire of how God lives ‘naturally’ and intuitively. These fruits are supposed to be seen bearing on each of our human “tree of life,” and were foreordained to be freely and lavishly given away (Love) as food for others to feed upon, energized with, and refreshed by, in the three human relationships. These Love-fruits are not laws we legalistically obey, but rather they spring from the depths of our innermost heart and being in Christ. (Rom.8:12-13) They are not knowledge that puffs up the ego, but gems to inspire creativity for the greater good. (1 Cor.8:1) They are not nuggets of wisdom to promote man’s self-righteous image, but seeds to sow and gather unimaginable blessings shaped by self-sacrifice. (Eccl.1:16-18) They are not tools for exploiting others, quite the contrary they reflect the personal obligation we owe our common humanity because we bear the likeness of the divine nature (Love). (Rom.13:8; Luk.12:15; Gen.1:26-27) They are not ‘instincts’ which control us like the animal kingdom is governed by its inflexible instinct, no, humans must make up their minds and choose. (Gen.1:25) Without Love we will live like people with empty superficial lives whose designs will come to nought. (1 Cor.13:1-3; Eccl.2:22-23) The Love-fruits tells us how God, in His Tri-Personal Being as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, have lived eternally in One unified shared experience as God. These Love-fruits spring out of their innermost Being as God. God lives this way spontaneously without any compulsion nor compunction whatsoever.

While the “tree of life” is crammed-full and overflowing with its colorful ripened fruits, human beings are also blessed by the Creator with gifts and talents inherited naturally at birth. Just as the Triune Godhead is diverse but inextricably interwoven (unified/one) in the Father, Son and Spirit, so all the varied human gifts and talents replicate the divine trinitarian diversity. (Gen.1:26-27)  No one human being possesses all human talent exclusively unto himself/herself. Only God is supreme and has conferred all human gifts, both physical and spiritual in His Son, Jesus. (see Jam.1:17; Eph.4:8; Col.2:2-3, 9-10)  So, God has distributed talents and skills in all humanity so that gifts are as diverse as there are people. That’s God’s idea and reflects His generous triune nature. For instance, we are not all gifted as lepidopterist, so we turn to one who will inform and teach us about butterflies. What you and I may lack, there is someone who has what it takes (talent) to lend a helping hand. This is God’s way of evoking relationships in the three human perspectives.

This mind-blowing truth about the beauty of our humanity is manifested in the vast array of human gifts God has so marvelously conferred upon and dispersed in all of mankind. When mankind appreciates that only through unity and oneness in our human diversity, then will we live up to our true human potential as the Creator’s predestined purpose for us. And here is how Love (God) and the human personhood (giftedness) interface with each other: all our abilities and gifts were intended to be transported on the backs of the Spirit’s Love-fruits. (Rom.5:5; 1 Cor.13) Also, all our varied gifts speaks openly about the different emotional needs we have, and they are all satisfied on the backs of the divine Love-fruits complementing each other. Only then will our humanity form a beautifully dazzling tapestry of Love with the three relationships serving as its triangular capstone. (If you wish, you may do some further reading on the subject about gifts at: http://bulamanriver.net/2185)

Of course, these Love-fruits have their opposites and conflicting fruits, just as there are positive and negative emotional energies. The Love-fruits are harvested from the “tree of life,” and their competing fruits are born from the “tree of good and evil.” (Because of limited space, you may go to http://bulamanriver.net/9199 to read more about Love and its conflicting forbidden fruits) Consider, there is good in the forbidden fruit as well as evil. But the issue is really about motivation.  Jesus said, “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit…Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt.7:18, 16, ESV). So we ask, is Love the driver of the so-called good? We may have seen or heard of people who have done something good with the intention of getting what they want in return. That is what fear does – it gives to get. God devalues the human ‘good’ that’s contrived in our fallen nature and calls it “filthy rags” (see Isa.64:6).

But Love is not that way. Love’s motivation is to give and expect nothing in return. Love gives without reservation because it is in its nature to be generous and to give of its fruits and never stop giving! Our earth is the most fabulous blue marble hanging like a jewel around the neck of our interplanetary universe, and we never doubt for a moment our God’s unfathomable Love for humanity and His creation. The Bible states, “God Loves a cheerful giver” because giving reflects His generous nature. (2 Cor.9:7) Love is not about being served, but to serve. On the other hand, fear wants to be served and be in control. But “control” proceeds from the tree with the forbidden fruit where man usurps the authority to decide for himself/herself what is “right/good and wrong/evil.” Ultimately, sovereignty and control over good and evil belongs in the realm of the divine and is God’s prerogative. Yet, God is not a control freak as if He is some kind of tyrannical despot. Though God commands sovereignty over humanity and all creation, He is also a Loving heavenly Father who, out of the abundance of His Love has given us many of His precious promises to show He cares about every aspect of human life. (2 Pet.1:4) Therein lies the conviction and confidence that believers have about this human life and the afterlife (immortality) that God’s promises provides for us. (You may read of God’s many promises at: http://bulamanriver.net/11339)

Jesus was invited to a banquet and had some useful advice about Love for His host, “And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, “When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luk.14:12-14). If you and I were to give to someone who will repay us in some form or another, that is not Love. We call that a trade. Some want to get even more than they give. But God wants us to be on the lookout for settings where His Love can be best served and accomplished in the three relationships. With God, nothing goes unnoticed and those who give out of a caring and helpful attitude will be rewarded, and those who give with a self-centered motive will face God’s judgment. (Luk.14:12-14)

The Human Mind – Manufacturer of Thoughts & Emotions (Wiki Commons)

As humans we desire a life where we can feel safe and secure. That is a legitimate human and natural aspiration. The most common means used to achieve that aim is through success, abundance, and influence. However, there’s an authentic route to that ambition than is commonly pursued, because the truth be told there are only two tools we can utilize our gifts and talents to achieve that end: Love or fear. There is no middle ground, there are no other tools. Jesus said, “Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice (knowledge/information) that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity (Love) begets generosity. Stinginess (fear) impoverishes” (Mark 4:24-25, Italics mine, The Message translation). Jesus gives us insight about a vital aspect of God’s Love we’re often blind to and ignore: Love is His divine power which begets equally potent fruit/seed with which a person can invest to produce success and abundance in this life, and more so with comprehensive eternal rewards. (see Matt.6:19-21; 31-34) Love disciplines us to weigh our options in the two choices we are given. The unrivaled way to genuine security and abundance, both in this life and eternally, is the fruits we choose to utilize our gifts in life. (Matt.7:13-14)

Christ’s death on the cross was the ransom paid (generosity) by God the Father to save and bring humanity into His eternal presence. (Mark.10:45; John 3:16) The Bible is full of God’s promises as it relates to security and abundance, like the Psalmist’s passage which says, “Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you your heart’s desires” (Psa.37:3-4). Another promise pertaining to abundance and stress, says, “The blessing of the LORD brings (true) wealth, without painful toil (stress) for it” (Prov.10:22, Italics mine). Yet another promise affecting our security says, “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways” (Psa.91:11). Yes, this is the promise of guardian angels who possess the power to defend and protect you. So we abide in His Love waiting for the Lord’s direction and are careful not to take matters in our own hands (control) and decide for ourselves the ‘good’ and/or evil path to abundance, security, and influence, with no thought for God’s Love. (Psa.27:14)

In an archetypical way, Jesus takes His hearers back to the two trees of Eden, saying, “Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them” (Matt.7:16-20, ESV). In other words, a person cannot fake his/her underlying motivation. Jesus said, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luk.45). The ‘heart’ speaks of a person’s motives and attitude to life, it is either Love, or it is not, it is that simple. If a human gift is not sitting on the back of Love, then it is riding on the back of rebellion and fear. Which tree do we sit under from which we feed upon?

I will close with a note about the title of this post as shown at the heading above. It is a quote taken from a Bible passage in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 58 and Verse 8: “Then your light shall break forth like a dawn and your healing will quickly appear.” You will appreciate I have taken “light” and correlated it with the three-colored rainbow beam emitted by the prism. And the word “healing” is likened to the prism’s rainbow beaming emotional health in the three human relationships we have been divinely called to live and exercise in life. If we examine the context surrounding this verse in Isaiah, it is abundantly clear that God’s indictment upon the people of Israel was unmistakable: they had forsaken the human triune relationship and the prophet called attention to the error of the people’s ways and counselled them to change.

If they had hearkened and done what was expected, God said, “Your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame (healing and health). You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail” (Isa. 58:10-11, Italics mine). The correlation between healthy emotions through the three relationships and good health, both spiritual and physical, is apparent.

Finally, God’s counsel for humanity has boomed loud and clear across the ages to this day, “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!” (Deut.30:19). May God bless you with the faith to make the right choice for you and your Loved ones.

In my next installment I will answer why as fallen humans descended from Adam, we can never pretend to be something we are not. And that is why God sent His Son Jesus, the second Adam, to save humanity from the way of rebellion which leads to destruction, and offer mankind the path to humanity’s salvation. (1 Cor.15:45; John 3:16-17)  John tells us about the centrality of Jesus in our discussion today, “But if we are living in the (prism’s) light, as God (Love) is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from all sin (all forms of negativism and affliction)” (1 John 1:7, Italics mine).

Crucifixion of Jesus Christ by Andreas F. Borchert (Wiki Commons)

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

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

Indemnity Clause: The author does not assume any liability for the misuse of information contained in this post. The content of this post is provided for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as, nor should it be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The author is not a medical doctor, nor does he claim to be. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read. Always consult your medical doctor or your primary health care provider about the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your own symptoms or medical conditions.

*“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional attributing life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

*Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.net, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

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

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

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

“I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well”

Greetings from Amsterdam, Netherlands to my readers everywhere!

Is God concerned about our physical well-being? Does God tell us how to live life that can bring on physical health? Let’s answer that question today. This is not another diet program, although one might say it is a spiritual guide which will profoundly affect our physical well-being. General Douglas McArthur famously said, “It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” (http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/douglasmacarthurradiojapanesesurrenderceremony.htm) The Bible concurs with McArthur’s statement, and puts it across as follows, “If by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” (Rom.8:13). I begin with two passages of Scripture which reveals God’s view on this subject which ought to comfort us from the outset.:

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well” (3 John 1:2)

“…I am the Lord, your Healer” (Exo.15:26, ESV)

Icon for Internal Medicine and Health (Wiki Commons)

Certainly, we cannot ignore the life of Jesus when He healed the people with all manner of diseases and sicknesses. This informs us about the Love of God for humanity as prophesied, “Be strong, and do not fear, for your God is coming to destroy your enemies. He is coming to save you. And when He comes, He will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf” (Isa.35:4-5). Two disciples of John the Baptist inquired if Jesus was indeed the Messiah, Jesus answered, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor.  And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of Me” (Luk.7:20-25).  So, God’s concern for human physical health and well-being is  abundantly clear as shown through His Son’s miraculous work.

Man is Holistic:

Man is a whole being with essentially three perspectives to life: his relationship to God is the spiritual man; while his relationship with his community is the social man, and lastly man’s relationship with the material world around him is the physical man. These are not three different parts of man, rather all of life is always spiritual, social, and physical at the same time revealing the whole man. While man is mortal, he is driven spiritually, socially, and physically. The human mind, made after God’s triune image, is the center of human existence from which these three relationships are manifested. (Gen.1:26-27)

And most importantly, since Love is basically emotive, thereby all three relationships is governed by emotional response that is divine in nature (see 1 Cor.13; 1 John 4:8, 16). At the fundamental level of existence, human activity can never be unrelated to God, to community, and to the material (physical) world. Having the primary understanding of our spiritual/community/physical being with the underlying emotional response is the first step to the journey of good health. For these three perspectives of man are intertwined and inseparable and makes man a holistic being. Each of the three relationships reveals the well-being of the whole man. Therefore, good health is the sum total of the “health” of these three dynamic relationships that man is constantly living emotionally through Love”s divine emotions/fruits.

These three perspectives/relationships form the foundation for good health. We can say they make up man’s primary pathway to health and it doesn’t involve food, drink, and physical exercise yet. Man’s physical sustenance and health is basically the outgrowth of these three inherent and deeply influential relationships. These three dynamic perspective are always demanding our impulsive and compulsive emotional responses to them that they become the primary focal point of heath, undergirding what a person eats or drinks and how he keeps himself/herself physically fit. The human body will not achieve optimum health by just good dietary practices and physical fitness alone, but holistically through these three formative steps to health. In terms of good health, every aspect of human expression works in tandem so that you cannot have one without the other. When a person is unhealthy, or even sick, the basic cause can be traced back to the emotional breakdown in one of these three holistic relationships which defines man’s makeup.

Jesus’ Healing Ministry (Wiki Commons)

Let us go further. Man was made in the Creator’s likeness. (Gen.1:26-27) The Bible states that God’s likeness is Love: “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16). Therefore, the basis of man’s three-fold relationship we saw above is Love. In other words, Love is emotive and affectional. Love for God, Love for community, and Love for the physical world. (1 Cor.13) So, every part of man’s existence is related to God through Love. The ten commandments have these three relationships weaved into them: how to relate with God, how to relate with our fellow humans, and how to relate with the material world by rejecting covetousness and greed. (Luk.10:26-28). Its framework has been converted from a legalistic walk to a spiritual one (Love). God demonstrated His Love by sacrificing His Son so we may be saved from death from the legalistic demands of the law, and in place of death be given the gift of immortality through faith in Jesus Christ’s atonement. (John 3:16)

God: How do we relate with God? The primary characteristic of God is life. Life springs from His Being of Love. All of life was created by God because He is life and is the embodiment of it. God declares, “Do not I fill heaven and earth?” (Jer.23:24) True life is found only in Jesus Christ for as God the Son, He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). Paul said this of Jesus, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His Being” (Heb.1:3). When he said, “I am the life,” it is a statement which only God can utter. Death is the opposite of life. When a man is ill or in the last stage of illness, he is said to be in the throes of death. So, we turn to God for life which essentially means to be restored to health. God’s purpose for man is eternal life, the opposite of eternal death. The Bible infers that man can be blessed physically to live healthy and die at the natural age of 120. (Gen.6:3)

Community: How do we relate with our community?  Jesus gave us the parable of the good Samaritan to explain how to Love our fellow humans. (see Luk.10:29-37) Loving others bring internal healing. James tell us, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed” (Jam.5:16, The Message). “Confess your sins” simply means we are to stop treating others selfishly through greed, unkindness, hatred, and in any corrupt fashion, and start Loving others genuinely. It does not necessarily mean that you openly trumpet your past misdeeds to others. Rather, it is about a changed way of life from the moment of self-awareness and penitence. If we turn to God for mercy and forgiveness, then we ought to extend the same to others. (Mar.11:25-26) Compassion is the soil where the fruit of healing is grown and harvested. (Rev.22:2)

Material/Physical: How do we relate with the physical/material world around us? Jesus said, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luk.12:15). Jesus said man “shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” (Matt.4:4).  He goes further by saying, “I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? …But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matt.6:25-27, 33).  “Seek first His kingdom” is about a way of life of Love. Love for God, for community, and for the physical world around you. God is speaking about a miraculous way of of life which these three drivers will produce. God is the wellspring from which life originates and is openly manifested. Loving God is the key to the miraculous life which undergird our physical well being.

Essentially, the Bible states that if we are good at anything, whatever that may be, and fail at Love, then we are nothing. (1 Cor.13:1-3)

I will continue on this theme in my next installment.

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

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

Indemnity Clause: The author does not assume any liability for the misuse of information contained in this post. The content of this post is provided for educational and informational purposes only, and is not intended as, nor should it be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The author is not a medical doctor, nor does he claim to be. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read. Always consult your medical doctor or your primary health care provider about the applicability of any opinions or recommendations with respect to your own symptoms or medical conditions.

*“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional attributing life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

*Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

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

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

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

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” (Rom.5:17)

Greetings again Friends!

What is the one word that defines the difference between our fallen Adamic humanity and Jesus’ new “Immanuel” humanity? The word is attribution! (Read about Jesus’ new humanity at: http://bulamanriver.net/9718) Another word is assignment. It is the principle of imputing and superimposing so that one is accountable to another. It means to be responsible for another. It speaks of this principle as an inherent part of God’s Triune nature where the three Persons of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are united by nature and substance and thereby inseparable. So the act one is the act of all, and the act of all is the act of one. This principle finds its validation and basis on God’s divine Love. (1 John 4:8) So, whereas Adam’s fallen Adamic humanity is self-centered, Christ’s new “Immanuel” humanity is other-centered for his whole motive and action is based upon Love and taking responsibility for others. It is called “Immanuel” because it is “the God with us humanity.” (Isa.7:14; Matt.1:23). This principle is inherent in His triune nature.

The Triune God, Heart of the Imputing Powerof His Love – the Act of One is the Act of All, the Act of All is the Act of One. (Pic: Wiki commons – Rublev’s Trinity) 

I will quote Jon Tal Murphree’s insight about God’s trinitarian nature to explain this attributing principle. In his book, “The Trinity and Human Personality,” Murphree writes,

“From eternity past, Love has characterized the triune God. Each Person of the Trinity identifies with the others. Each One transposes Himself into the others without confusing His own personality with the others. Through Love, diversity and unity are so inextricably interwoven that the Father, Son, and Spirit do not exist as persons alongside each other as much as they exist in and through each other. Each One constantly has perfect access to the others’ complete thoughts and feelings. Each is utterly transparent to the others, with no secretiveness – each reflecting the others, to use Dante’s language. Each occupies the others’ personalities. In the Trinity, intimacy (Love) is complete. These separate Persons have relational oneness.”

He continues and makes plain, “Relational oneness implies that separate persons relate to one another. Substantive oneness is sameness; it is organic union. Relational oneness is unity rather than union, and as such it requires separateness rather than sameness. Only distinct individuals can relate. Diversity is required for relationship. As divine beings, members of the Trinity have organic union – they all participate in deity. But as separate personalities, they have relational unity. Diversity suggests individual differences rather than uniformity. The Trinity is oneness of unity rather than uniformity, and therefore, it entails individuality.” (Pg.29, 26)

Murphree goes on to give an example we can relate with: the four-part musical composition of the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. Musical harmony “requires that four separate notes be sounded at the same time,” rather than through solitary execution. Murphree notes, “This combining of the four musical lines into one composition through harmonious relationships is called counterpoint. In counterpoint composition, as in the Trinity, we have oneness from separateness. Unity comes from diversity. It is a oneness of harmonious relationship.”

We may transpose this analogy by Murphree on how the Triune God included humanity into relational unity with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As long as we are existing in our true humanity, the new humanity of Jesus, we are living in harmony with the tune of true life called Love. Paul said this about the changed life in Jesus’ new humanity, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So, I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20). Paul speaks of our new humanity in this fashion, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new (humanity) life has begun!” (2 Cor.5:17, NLT, Italics mine).

This harmonious way of life (spiritual musical composition) has been out of tune since we adopted and lived by the old self in the fallen Adamic humanity we inherited from Adam. Paul explained how God brought humanity out of sin and into harmony with Him, “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ” (2 Cor.5:21, NLT). Thus, here we see this eternal imputing principle in play. As humans, we are a long way from God’s Triune Life* lifestyle of identifying with one another in our diversity as each of the three Persons of the Trinity does, and learning at being responsible for, and living in harmony with each other as God does in His triune Being.

When we think of this attributive principle, we think about how God reaches out through His unfathomable Love and grace and freely and willingly embraced humans as His children by imputing the life of His Son (new humanity) upon us so we can be saved from our fallen self and from the enemy, Satan. Despite our fallen state, humans were created in God’s image, therefore this eternal imputing principle was passed down to Adam and Eve’s children until the second Adam, Jesus, appeared and ushered His new “Immanuel” humanity so He would superimpose His new humanity upon those who freely believe and receive Him as Savior and permanent Mediator. (1 Cor.15:45; Heb.7:23-25) The Bible reveals this imputing principle like this, “Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous” (Rom.5:18-19, NLT).  What is the difference? There are two humans representing two humanity and each handing down their respective humanity. One is the fallen Adamic humanity, and the other is the risen new “Immanuel” humanity of Jesus. One is led by the human spirit of “self-love,” while the other is led by the Holy Spirit of divine Love. (Rom.8:2, 9-10; Gal.5:25; Rom.5:5)

We continue to live under this imputing principle today and see its effect all around us – for good or for evil, based upon how this attributing principle is applied as we read in Romans 5:18-19. Humanity’s salvation depends upon undergoing a spiritual death and rebirth. Death means the fallen Adamic humanity with the rebellious heart must die and cease to exist. It must die because it imputes this principle in a way that’s evil and opposite from God’s Love. And rebirth means to give birth to the new humanity of Jesus with His heart of Love and godliness. The new humanity of Jesus applies this principle in God’s Loving way. Jesus said, “You must be born again” (John 3:7). We are given the new birth through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit…the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life” (John 3:5-6). Jesus explains the meaning of what “being born of water’ means: “Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scriptures has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this He meant the Spirit, whom those who believe in Him were to receive” (John 7:37-39). Water signifies cleansing or the act of sanctification. The Spirit dwells in the temple of the human body for the purpose of sanctifying believers by the “washing of water through the Word” (Eph.5:25-27; also 1 Cor.6:19-20). Jesus is the personified Word of God who dwells and walks in believers through His new humanity in the Spirit’s sanctifying power. (You may read about human body as the temple of the Spirit at: http://bulamanriver.net/10700)

Modern day baptism in the Jordan River. Jesus inaugurated Man’s Baptism of Forgiveness of Sins in the Jordan. Baptism – Symbolizing the Death and Rebirth of the Believer. (Pic: Wiki Commons)

It is clear from these passages that a person’s faith in Jesus is what triggers the gift of, and birth in the Spirit, “Whoever believes in Me rivers of living water will flow from within them… Let anyone who is thirsty come to Me and drink.” As the Son is sent by the Father, so the Spirit is sent by the Son. Let us see how water is utilized to signify death and rebirth. Through the ritual of water baptism we are given this spiritual death and rebirth experience.  Paul said, “Have you forgotten that when you were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in His death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives (in Jesus’ new humanity)” (Rom.6:3-4, Italics mine). Yes, when the believer steps out of that watery grave of baptism, God sees his/her faith in Jesus as the doorway into the reality of the new birth. (Eph.1:13; John 10:9, NASB)

In the temple architecture that God gave ancient Israel, one of the seven furnishings of the temple was called the “laver.” It was a large bowl filled with water that was used for cleansing before the priest could enter the temple and into God’s presence in the most holy place. (Exo.30:17-21; also 1 Pet.2:9) So, water baptism symbolizes God’s act of sanctifying the believer by means of death and rebirth through faith in Jesus (cross) and the gift of the Holy Spirit (life). We can say the interpretation of this under the New Covenant is given to us by Paul to the Hebrews, “Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place (heavenly temple/God’s presence) by the blood of Jesus…and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb.10:19-22, Italics mine). Water symbolizes the spiritual cleansing activity of the Holy Spirit. (Tit.3:5; 1 Cor.6:11)

As I said, we see the effect of this imputing principle in our lives daily for inherently we are made in His Love-image with its spontaneous imputing principle. But here is the conundrum we face with this attributing principle: we must make a deliberate choice to live by it after we are given to understand it. The way of life we choose to follow becomes critical since the principle works both ways, for good or evil. Love or lust, generosity or greed, confidence or fear, is the exercise of the mind through free choice. God states this principle clearly through the prophet, “If I speak and give them warning from Me… and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways… I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person… and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved” (Ezek.33:7-9). The key word is “if” which means there is a choice to be made. Here, we are given a scenario where God wants His people to call those who carry out evil deeds to account for their actions. But if His people do nothing He holds them accountable, not the wrong doers. The perpetrators of evil become answerable only after being called to dissuade from their wicked ways, yet refuses to account for their actions. The principle of imputing accountability is shown clearly and is put into effect by choice. Paul was inspired to write, “For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in His sight” (Rom.2:13; also Jam.1:22).

We see this attributing principle of God’s Love at work from the very beginning when, after taking the life of his own brother, Cain answers God for asking about the whereabouts of Abel, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen.4:9). His answer was a clear self-indictment of violating this eternal principle. Yes, this principle of attribution and accountability calls upon us to be our brothers’ keepers. We are all “watchman,” watching out for each other’s welfare. In Loving triune union in Christ, this eternal principle calls upon us to be keepers of each other. (Gal.6:1-6; Phil.2:4; Rom.13:8; 1 Cor.10:24) Although this principle is out there and works spontaneously like the law of  gravity, we can take advantage of it when we make a deliberate decision to apply Love in our lives. Conversely, we can promote greed, prejudice, and various forms of evil, but we must understand that all our actions carries this unfailing imputing element which will pass on the detrimental consequences to others. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God” (Matt.5:9). That is a statement with an attributing effect that carries a blessing for those who pursue peace and resist violence. This overarching principle is shown clearly throughout the Bible.

The apostle Paul gave us a view of this attributing principle from the Church perspective, “For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy” (1 Cor.7:14). Because a person has received Jesus as Savior, then through this ascribing principle of God’s Love, His grace is automatically applied to cover his/her family.

The Cross: The Ultimate Show of God’s Attributing Power in His Love-Nature  (Pic: Wiki Commons) 

But the greatest of all acts of imputation was that of God the Father when He gave His Son, and Jesus gave no second thought about giving up His life for the salvation of mankind. John states this imputing principle in that famed passage, “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” (John 3:16-17). Jesus’ life was superimposed upon mankind through this eternal attributing principle so we are no longer condemned but saved in Him.

I hope we can learn to appreciate why understanding and living God’s trinitarian attributing Love-nature is so critical to the life we live upon earth and ultimately for eternity in His Triune Being. For deep in the recess of our being we can never deny or escape the repercussion of our rejection of this imputing principle. And most importantly, we must question as to “who” is applying this imputing principle in our lives – the Adamic human or the “Immanuel” humanity of Jesus. Jesus said, “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luk.17:21). In other words, we are created in His Love-image, and therefore, genetically we cannot escape the spontaneous and inevitable effect of violating this vital principle. It works in our favor only when God’s Love is applied in our lives. Like the law of gravity we either live within its power utilizing God’s Love and be blessed and rewarded, or we break it by living the self-centered life to our own ruin and demise.

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

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

*“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional attributing life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

*Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

Mission Statement: Read the Triune Life 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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“Owe nothing to anyone–except for your obligation to Love one another” (Rom.13:8).

Greeting Friends!

This is the sequel to my blog posted in February 2018, titled, “The Command to Love God First.” You may read the post at http://bulamanriver.net/11833. I ended my post with the question… “How does God make it possible for humans to enter His reality in His Love and Triune existence?” This is a relevant question to answer as we approach the Day of Pentecost (May 20, 2018). The day depicts human union with God through the power of His Spirit.  Let’s answer that in this second segment of my two-part post.

“Whoever Lives in Love Lives In God, and God In Them” (1 John 4:16) (Pic: Wiki Commons)

There is just one place in all of the created and the uncreated universe where true Love resides and springs forth: the very Triune Being of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. (1 John 4:8, 16; Matt.28:19; Eph.3:14-21) God is omniscient (knows everything), omnipresent (everywhere), and exist in all of life both physical and spiritual. God is the alpha and omega of Love in all its grandeur and glory. Most of what is seen and practiced in human experience that is called love, is self-righteous love. It is love based upon man’s expression in his fallen state of existence which began from the fall of Adam with the evil influence of the devil himself. Although it is selfish love, it is love nevertheless but directed inwards to the SELF. Be that as it may, it authenticates the Love-image of God in humanity which can never be erased but remain intrinsically part of man’s nature fashioned in God’s Love-likeness. (Gen.1:26-27; 1 John 4:8,16)

But since Adam’s fall, mankind’s love has ‘turned’ inward unto himself and cease to be outward toward God. Yes, God’s Love-likeness in man can never be erased. The enemy’s ploy is always to present a counterfeit to the nature of God and His work. Thus, Love becomes its opposite: fear and lust. Fear breeds hostility and hatred. The devil realizes he can never erase God’s Love-image He created and planted in man’s innermost being, so he contrive counterfeits in order to deceive man. Paul said, “And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light” (2 Cor.11:14). Yes, counterfeit means he makes evil look right, virtue is turned into vice, and sin becomes trendy and accepted.

With fear as the driving force, our fallen humanity became self-centered, prejudiced, and inward-looking. Paul said, “For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money,… lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God… For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim.3:2, EST; 2 Tim.3:4; Phi.2:21). Lovers we remain for we were made in God’s Love-likeness, but love has been turned inward and becomes fear, a mere human expression, no longer divine but humanistic. Yes, fear is the basis of the enemy’s counterfeit activity, and the Bible provides the only answer, “There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in Love” (1 John 4:18). Yes, God has a plan to bring man back to his rightful inheritance in creation and His Love.

We saw God’s Love as an exercise of the mind (spirit) and comes through a decision-making process, not something hard, fast, and inflexible. Love can be lived selfishly or unselfishly, inwardly or outwardly, and we are given the freedom to choose. Life beckons to us to ‘choose’ for all have the gift of divine freedom as the intrinsic makeup of Love. (see Blog Post “Freedom“ at http://bulamanriver.net/10980) The devil has always had a counterfeit to God’s moral character in order to deceive humans, and this is no different with God’s Love. He presents its opposite in attempts to deceive man to follow him. The devil turned Love into lust. His love (lust) is one that’s inward and selfish instead of God’s Love that’s outgoing and selfless. One ‘gives’ while the other ‘gets’ and they are the exact contradictory image of each other. The self-centered love may seem right and appealing but its end is death. (Prov.14:12; 16:25; Rom.6:21)

Man made in God’s Likeness: “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion” (Gen.1:26-27). (Wiki Commons)

However, man, through Adam and Eve, once shared God’s benevolent Love in His divine presence in the Garden of Eden. It was the most joyous and paradisiac union any human had ever lived and never experienced with God since. Eden was synonymous with God’s way of life of Love. In the middle of the Garden God planted the ‘tree of life’ to supply our first parents with God’s Love. (Gen.2:9) There was no record as to how long they remained faithful in their union with God before the fall, but as long as they ate from the tree of life which symbolized God’s Love, they had the Spirit to empower them with Love to live with God in His presence. (Rom.5:5) There was a second tree in the middle of the Garden, the tree of good and evil which symbolized the self-centered way of life of deciding for oneself what is right and wrong. They were commanded to not go near that tree, let alone eat of its fruit or they will die. (Gen.2:17; Prov.14:12) They succumbed to the devil’s continuous pressures and temptations and ate the forbidden fruit. Once was enough to sever their Love relationship with God. Having succumbed, Adam and Eve sinned.

What is sin? We may have heard many definitions, notably legalistic ones. But it all began from what is commonly called the ‘original sin.’ In its untainted definition, sin has to do with man ‘turning’ his love away from God and inward toward himself under the sway of the devil. Our first parents fell for the devil’s lies, and their love ‘turned’ from an outward focus toward God to an inward focus in themselves. (Gen.3) What happens when the self becomes the center of the personal universe? Yes, fear takes over and we live defensively rather than confidently. And so, sin and self-centeredness becomes man’s philosophy for living. God’s Love defines His nature and way of life, and ought to be the believer’s core value system. The two trees depict two ways of life that are diametrically opposed to each other, so God expelled our first parents from Eden and the pathway back to Eden and the tree of life was blocked. (Gen.3:6; Amos 3:3)

By planting the two trees with opposing motivation in the middle of the Garden, God gave man the gift of freedom to choose. Love and freedom are flip sides of the same nature of God, hence the two trees appear together in the center of Eden. (Gen.2:9) Love’s inherent double is freedom. Freedom must be constantly defended and cultivated through our choice of eating from the ‘tree of life’ (divine selfless Love), and reject the tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ (human self love). Only through God’s Love is our freedoms safeguarded. 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).

Since Adam’s fall, the seeds of self-love and self-worship was sown over the breeding ground for all kinds of evil fruits (activities) which grew and fester through fear, vain-glory, lust and narcissism. We saw in my first post how the self-centered person places the material world around him in higher priority above God, thus, turning material things into gods to be worshiped. (Psa.62:10) God does not deprive us of the material things in life. He created this earth and its abundance so we could see the generosity of His heart toward mankind. (1 Tim.6:17-19; Psa.50:12; 24:1; Hag.2:8) But it always comes down to Love and how to prioritize Love in our lives. It is a matter of the heart and what we choose to rank first above all else. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luk. 16:13). The Bibles says if we “seek first God’s kingdom (His way of life),” He will bless us materially without our asking. (Matt.6:31-34; Prov.10:22; Deut.8:18) God promises that none of His children will beg for a living. (Psa.37:25) (You may read about how Jesus’ defeated the four material gods mankind has worshiped since the fall of Adam at: http://bulamanriver.net/11339)

Paradise Lost: Adam & Eve Expelled from Eden (Wiki Commons)

Our first parents had no mediator to reconcile them back to God, thus, from the outset when they were removed from Eden, God promised a Savior would come to restore Adam’s descendants (mankind) back to Him. (Gen.3:15) Four thousand years later, Jesus appeared as the second Adam, the Immanuel (“God with us”), with His new humanity to save and reconcile man back to God. (1 Cor.15:45; Matt.1:20-23) Today, believers are privileged recipients of God’s New Covenant promise ratified in Jesus’ blood (cross) so we can choose to be in a state of perpetual forgiveness through His unmatched grace. (2 Cor.5:21; Heb.8:7-13; ) Jesus lived the perfect life which man cannot live. This Bible passage lays down the incarnation principle for us: He (Jesus) became us (Immanuel) in order that we may become Him. He defeated Satan in the temptations and redeemed Adam’s (our) downfall, and died on the cross for our redemption. (Matt.4:1-11; Matt.27:32-56) He glorified our humanity through His resurrection and ascension so humanity may follow Him into glory. (Luk.24:1-8; Act.1:1-11; Rom.8:28)

After Jesus appearance, sin’s definition came into sharper focus. Jesus Himself explained it for us, “About sin, because they do not believe in Me” (John 16:9, CSB). Here, sin is defined as our  rejection of Jesus as personal Savior. A person may reject Jesus through ignorance, or by denial and/or defiance. Jesus is the only Savior God has provided for our redemption upon whom our faith must squarely rest. (Heb.12:2) John said, “Whoever believes in Him (Jesus) 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 3:18). Only through the unbroken mediatory work of Jesus on our behalf as God’s heavenly High Priest today, can we be made at one with God the Father in our Love-relationship. (Heb.4:14-16) Hence, Paul said, “And you have been made complete in Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority” (Col.2:10, BSP). (You can read about Jesus’ High Priestly function at: http://bulamanriver.net/11230).

So, now humans can adopt Jesus’ new humanity in a new birth so we can live in unbroken Love-relationship in God’s Triune presence. Jesus said, “You must be born again… of the Spirit” (John. 3:7-8). Paul said, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor.5:17). Jesus explained it was not a physical rebirth, but one that is from the Spirit. The human body is merely a temporary shelter, which Paul calls a temple for the Spirit of God to inhabit and do His sanctifying activity, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Cor.6:19; also John 14:16-17). If the human body of the believer is God’s earthly temple, then Jesus’ glorified divine/human body is the heavenly temple. The “new creation” is Jesus new humanity who now lives and walks in us and with the Spirit’s anointing consecrates us as the temple of God upon the earth. With the Spirit constantly transporting us spiritually to the heavenly temple of Jesus’ glorified body, He mediates for us in Himself as our High Priest so that we are presented holy and righteous before the Father always. “You have been made complete in Christ” (Col.2:10).

The human body is the temple for the Holy Spirit, but the real person is Jesus’ new humanity who is spiritual and housed in the temple with whom the Holy Spirit unites Himself through the human spirit/mind and dictates the activities of the spiritual person in the temple (body). Jesus said, “He (Spirit) will live with you and in you” (John 14:17). Without the human mind, the body is rudderless and unsteerable. Jesus said, “Life is spiritual. Your physical existence doesn’t contribute to that life. The words that I have spoken to you are spiritual. They are life” (John 6:63, God’s Word T.) Jesus is the Personified Word of God. So, Jesus attests that at the primordial level, true life is spiritual not physical. The spirit is the master of the physical for the body will always carry out the bidding of whatever spirit occupies and directs the mind. God’s Word (Jesus) is received by the person’s mind (human spirit) and with the help of the Holy Spirit (Love) fused to it, manifests the believer’s divine purpose and destiny. But unbelievers possess the self-centered spirit doing what seems right in their own eyes.

Before Jesus’ crucifixion He promised to send the Advocate or Helper to be with believers “forever.” (John 14:16) He said, “Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you” (John 16:7; also, John 16: 8-15). Here, we see the collaborative trinitarian principle at work where one cannot do without the other, for they exist in one Triune Godhead.  Then He explained the role of the Spirit specifically, “He will bring Me glory by telling you whatever He receives from Me” (John 16:14). The Spirit is the power who manifests Jesus’ glorious new humanity in human believers. Jesus repeats the Spirit’s role for double emphasis, “The Spirit will tell you whatever He receives from Me… He will not speak on His own” (John 16:15, 13).

So, in God’s trinitarian activity, our bodies are temples for the Holy Spirit to personalize Jesus’ glorified humanity in us, thus unifying the true self (believers) to the Father in Jesus. (Rom.8:29; 1 Pet.1:2) The original New Testament Day of Pentecost is a memorial of the giving of the Holy Spirit so the Triune God can finally unite humanity to Himself forever. (Act.2:1-4) We have come full circle from Eden when the way to the ‘tree of life’ (Spirit/Love) was blocked because of sin, to that moment in time on Pentecost when man was given access back to the Spirit (tree of life) through Christ.

Paul expands further on the purpose of the Helper or 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). Jesus’ new humanity in His glorified form is Love, for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8; also John 1:18). The Holy Spirit is in us to personify Jesus new humanity in God’s divine Love, replacing the rebellious self-centered life inherited from man’s fallen Adamic humanity. The three Persons of the Godhead always work in harmony to bring to fruition God’s highest purpose of conforming humans in Christ’s Love-likeness. (Rom.8:29; 1 Cor.15:49) (You may read about Jesus’ new humanity at: http://bulamanriver.net/9718)

Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19). (Wiki Commons)

The Holy Spirit was part of Eden symbolized in the ‘tree of life’ (Love) and man was forbidden to reenter the Garden because of rebellion and sin. Sin is darkness, divine Love is light. Jesus said, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness but will have the Light of Life” (John 8:12). Despite Adam’s fall, God’s Love for man never diminished a single beat and He promised the Savior to rescue man from sin and Satan’s spiritual imprisonment. (Gen.3:14-15)

The devil had cunningly packaged the perfect lie when he tempted Adam and Eve, saying in effect that God did not love them because He was holding something out on them. This raised suspicion and mistrust in their minds. (Gen.3) What was the lie? Under this air of uncertainty, the devil falsely promised them immortality and a chance to become literal gods with matchless wisdom, “You will not certainly die…you will be like God and know what is good and what is bad… Eve thought how wonderful it would be to become wise.  So she took some of the (forbidden) fruit and ate it. Then she gave some to her husband, and he also ate it.” (Gen.3:4-6, GNT, emphasis added).

We need to appreciate the world of our first parents in Eden before the fall. Stop for a moment and consider: there were no other humans to relate with except each other and with God as their Father and supreme Creator Being who sustains all life. They were taught about other spiritual beings, especially angelic beings with superpowers and more wiser than them. Regardless of their mortal and limited human form, Adam and Eve lived a life of unequaled bounty and paradisiac happiness with angelic care and protection. But they were conscious of the fact they were weak and powerless by comparison to the spiritual reality around them.

Lucifer’s Rebellion-Jesus said, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”- Luk.10:18 (Wiki Commons)

Satan, realizing the power of human affinity and attachment, instilled in them a false sense of security. Appealing to their vanity, Satan promised our first parents immortality and wisdom beyond their wildest imagination, and circumvent this ‘human anomaly’ of human temporary existence with all its flaws and shortcomings, so they can be part of the far superior spiritual realm they saw and related with around them. (Gen.3:4-5). But Adam and Eve forgot what God taught them from the start about why they were created physical beings with mortal existence. Like the devil’s own sin, they let their pride and self-importance cloud their better judgment. We must appreciate that the Genesis account of creation and the fall of Adam in the Bible was very concise and bereft of details. Later, Paul was inspired to write about that valuable lesson when he said, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom.8:20-21, NASB).

Humans were predestined to be gifted with something that not even angels were offered: to become the very offspring of God like Jesus His Son, with Love at the core of their existence. (Heb.1:13-14) As a child of God, Love and immortality are inseparable, you cannot have one without the other. Jesus inaugurated God’s plan for human immortality by becoming the first human to become immortal through His resurrection, while at the same time being the second Person of the Triune Godhead. He was the prophesied “Immanuel,” God who became human. (Isa.7:14). He opened the way for mankind to follow in His footsteps to human immortality and glory. (Rom.8:29-30; Phil.3:10-11, Phil.3:7-9; 1 Cor.15:50-54) Our physical existence is a necessary part of God’s wondrous plan to bring mankind to immortality in His spiritual family, and restore the corruption, both spiritual and physical, that was brought on by Lucifer’s original rebellion. (Isa.14:12-14). Adam and Eve saw the outward appearance of power and wisdom, but true life was not about power, wisdom, or any other physical qualities they saw around them, but it was solely about “being Love” in the Spirit. They forgot that the holy angels are always present to serve God’s purpose in humanity of making us into the very Love-Being of God. (Heb.1:14)

But what Satan offered our first parents was a wicked boldface lie. (John 8:44) It was a false promise which the devil could never deliver on because only the everlasting uncreated God could confer immortality and true wisdom on whomever He chooses. And His plan is to confer immortality upon those who have His Love (Spirit) at Jesus’ return. (Rom.5:5; Rom.8:11, 9; 1 Thess.4:16) ) Any form of life that is created, whether spiritual or physical, have a beginning and has an end, and does not possess life in itself nor can it impart life to others. The only life form closest to God’s creative power is the physical procreation we see in humans and other non-human life forms upon this earth. However, physical life has its limitations for it ultimately ends in the graveyard of the dead … unless immortality is conferred as a gift from God alone and none other.

Adam and Eve forgot, perhaps momentarily, that true life was not about power and wisdom, but it was solely about Love. God could give power and might automatically as an inbuilt gift like He did with the angels, and certain fearsome beasts of this earth (read Job 40:15-24 & Job 41:1-34). But not so when we speak of God’s divine Love. Love is a matter of “BEING” like God is a Love-BEING. We must be “natured” in the Love-nature of God through His Spirit (Love). Paul said this, “If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you” (Rom.8:11). Did you notice that, the Spirit is the One who will give human believers (in Christ) the gift of immortality with the gift of God’s nature of Love. (Rom.5:5). Adam and Eve were not deprived of that opportunity to be like God for the ‘tree of life’ (Spirit) was always available to them in the Garden. The prophet Zechariah quoted God, saying, “‘Not by might nor by power (knowledge/wisdom), but by My Spirit (Love/immortality),’ says the LORD Almighty” (Zech.4:6, emphasis added; Rom.5:5).

So, what was actually inside of the package of lies the devil handed our first parents: it was the fruit of rebellion. Rebellion is the opposite of Love. Rebellion is sin, and sin as we saw is Love being “turned” away from God to the self. And rebellion against God will mean certain defeat and death for mankind, and so it was. This cloud of death hung over mankind since Adam’s fall until Christ, the second Adam, came and removed it and brought humanity back from the road to certain destruction to the path of salvation. (John 3:16; John 3:36) So, instead of immortal life and wisdom, the devil cannot promise anything other than eternal death which he brought upon himself in his own rebellion. He was Lucifer, the angel of light who became Satan the angel of darkness (death). Jesus is the light in this dark world of the devil. (Eph.6:12; John 8:12; Col.1:13-14) Yes, that is what he handed down upon them, rebellion through ungodly knowledge resulting in death, not wisdom not immortality. Jesus alone is “the storehouse of all the treasures of knowledge and wisdom,” and immortality. (Heb. 12:2; Col. 2:3; John 11:25)

Satan resents the fact that humans can be given spiritual birth and conferred human immortality as God’s own children like Jesus. And he will do all in his wicked best to hide this wonderful message to mankind from God the Father. (John 3:16; Rom.8:29; 1 Cor.15:49) This was the same sin of rebellion Satan introduced to the angels much earlier which drew one third of them who have become fallen angels. (Isa.14:12-14, note especially V.14; Jud.1:6) Note how Genesis 3:5 and Isaiah 14:14 appear eerily familiar for it proceeds from the same rebellious heart of the devil himself. Satan was promoting a counterfeit love – the inward love of self in place of the outward Love for God and fellow man. (Matt.22:37-40) The devil had ‘turned’ the authentic divine Love that once embraced man in Eden and replaced it with the counterfeit human self-love (lust) of this world.

The Death of Jesus Made Possible the Gift of The Spirit (Dove) For Our Sanctification (Wiki Commons)

So, to answer the question we asked at the start, “How does God makes it possible for humans to enter His reality and receive His Love and immortality?” Fundamentally, it begins at the root of our existence where a person (believer) undergoes a spiritual rebirth from the fallen Adamic humanity so the glorified Christ can now enter and live His life in you and me in His new humanity, with His Love (Spirit) at the core of our being. (Rom.5:5; John 3:3; 2 Cor.5:17) This is what true conversion in the new birth looks like and comes only through the gift of repentance and forgiveness. (Act.2:38; Eph.2:8; Rom.3:24) Paul states rather succinctly what conversion and the rebirth is, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life which I now live in the flesh (temple) I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal.2:20, NIV, KJB; also 1Cor.3:16). The fact that we still have the freedom to choose whichever humanity we live by (Adam’s or Christ’s) proves that we do not lose our unique freedoms as humans. At the deepest recess of your being no one can decide a course of action for you, but you – it’s called self-determination. Our freedoms originate from the divine source. But it must be said that there is true freedom and a counterfeit freedom. (John 8:36; Gal.5:1) On true freedom, Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). Hence, we are compelled to attest to our divine destiny and personhood when we freely choose to live in God’s Love through the reciprocal interdependent Triune Life* in Christ through the Spirit’s (Love) power. (Gen.1:26-27; John 3:3; Rom.5:5; 2 Cor.13:14)

Jesus came as God the Son and embraced our humanity and becomes fully God and fully human. (Matt.1:23) Through Jesus’ glorification in His resurrection and ascension, human believers are made part of the Trinitarian God and thereby spontaneously receive the Spirit as part of the communal Triune Life.* (John 14:15-18, 26; John 16:6-11; Act.2:1-4) We are made to live within the sanctuary and shelter of God’s divine Love-nature in and by the Spirit who now makes His abode in our bodies (temple): “God’s Love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Rom.5:5). So, we see how the Triune God, Father, Son, and Spirit, each freely playing their part in expressing their singular Loving care for mankind. The end-result is the Father is always embracing us in His Love through the work of Jesus and Herald*** the Spirit.

Concerning immortality, Jesus said this, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die” (John 11:25-26). Paul was inspired to write, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh (fallen Adamic humanity) but are in the realm of the Spirit (Christ’s glorified new humanity), if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of His Spirit who lives in you. (Rom.8:9-11). At the last trumpet sound of the angelic hosts, Christ will return and we will all be raised to immortality and participate in the Love relationship the Tri-Personal God shared from eternity. (1 Cor.15:50-58) Though man’s existence is temporary and ends in death, he has the potential for eternal life in the resurrection. (1 Pet.1:3)

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

I will close with the prayer Paul offered for the Christians at Ephesus. Note how he invokes the names of the Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, in the Tri-Personal work of making believers become Love as “God is Love”:-

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in Love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the Love of Christ, and to know this Love that surpasses knowledge (power and wisdom)—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Eph.3:14-21). 

The function of the mind is the most complex aspect of human life. But it is made complex only because we are trying to compel the human mind to live by the fallen self-centered philosophy of Adam. We fail to understand that the human mind was created in God’s Love-image to function in harmony  with the Holy Spirit. Only then can the human mind can be opened up to an otherwise unknowable and unimaginable world. Regrettably, mankind has been defying the Spirit since Adam ate the forbidden fruit. You and I will never know in a million lifetimes all that is truly good for us – only God can manifest them when we choose to align ourselves to Him in His Triune Love-nature through His Spirit. In this place of abode where we live in alignment with His Love in Christ through the Spirit (Love), we are in our sphere of superabundance from which every good and perfect gift flows. (Jam.1:16-18)

So, to love the self above God is really an act of degrading and disparaging our humanity that’s fashioned in God’s Love-likeness. For this reason humanity is regressing not progressing. And we will drift further and further away from the only reality that matters in the continuum of space and time: God’s Love! (Zech.4:6; Eccl.9:11) Alternately, you authenticate, dignify, and honor your humanity when you Love God first and highest. Beyond question, it is the noblest thing you can do for yourself and humanity in this fleeting earthly life because the higher you Love God, the deeper you Love yourself – more than you can ever imagine possible, and this endows you to Love your neighbor fittingly, for you were created to become Love as “God is Love” (1 John 4:8; Gen.1:26-27; 1 Pet.1:23-25).

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

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

*“Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

*Read about my true-life miracle I shared in my book and post, titled, “Miracle Living-No Ordinary Life!” I hope you find it inspiring and encourages you to receive Jesus and live the “Triune Life.” Go to: http://bulamanriver.net/2634

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, xulonpress.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

***Herald is the name I have come to call the Holy Spirit in my personal relationship with Him. It is personal and subjective with the way we relate to each other, not to be imposed on others.

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

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

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

Greeting again friends!

 As we enter the season when we commemorate the death of the Savior of the world, it is appropriate to talk about the most misunderstood and legalistic word in religion: sin! It is because of sin that God sent His Son to die as the only worthy and final answer and propitiation for it. Sin began in the very beginning when Adam was driven out of Eden because of it. It has been the scourge of the earth, and the cause of so much agony and suffering, and its ultimate ‘reward’ –death! (Rom.6:23) Let me share a perspective of sin with you that will unwrap all the legalistic trappings we have been fed time and again.

Depiction of Jesus Passion at Golgotha (Wiki Commons) 

Religion has made a gigantic football match out of sin, with sin as the ball, in a field of legalistic proponents. They have placed an unsustainable burden on man, akin to the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Matt.23:13-15,4,11-12)

This is what ReligionFacts tell us about Jewish religious observances, “In addition to the 613 mitzvot (commandments), Jewish law incorporates a large body of rabbinical rules and laws. These are considered just as binding as the mitzvot, although the punishments for violating them are less severe. Another difference is that it is possible, though unlikely, for the rabbinical laws to be changed, but no rabbi can change the Torah mitzvot.” (http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/practices.htm).

So the Jews have all these commandments, rules, and regulations to obey – not to mention the Ten Commandments. Most Christian churches, when you analyze their beliefs, teach their followers ‘how to manage sin,’ just as the mitzvot does for the Jews, but not as numerically detailed. On one hand, we are offered Christ as Savior, and on the other they put people back on themselves by teaching them how to cope with sin in their lives. You can’t do both, it’s one or the other. The reason you came to Christ is because you can’t save yourself. Sin can’t be managed – it has to be put to death which Christ did on the Cross!

Paul affirmed this when he said, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” (Col.2:13-15)

Crucifixion of Jesus (Wiki Commons)

Fresh Perspective – Sin & Uprightness Are “Conditions”

This passage shows us that sin is a condition, not some specific wrongdoing. Paul refers to sin as the “law of sin” (Rom. 5:10-17; 8:2b). Likewise, salvation is a condition, not some specific right-doing. Paul calls this “the law of the Spirit” (Rom.8:2a). James says this condition is the “royal law of Love” (James 2:8 emphasis added). The Holy Spirit is the personified Love of God that covers us: “God has poured out His Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5:5). Paul further elaborates this blessed state we have in Christ, “There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ and walk according to the Spirit (saved condition). For the law of the Spirit of life (Love), has made me free from the law of sin and death (sin condition)” (Rom. 1:1-2 emphasis added).

God’s Love is His only law. When a person is conditioned to sin, as man is in his fallen state under the influence of the devil, it is the condition that’s the trigger for wrongdoing. Paul also calls this condition “the power of the air” (Eph.2:1-2). The believer, who I refer to as the Bulamanriver* in my book, lives life in the flow of God-Life by the power of the Spirit – He is the condition of Love and uprightness in man. God and sin cannot coexist side by side. All darkness flees before the brilliance of God’s holy Love. The legalist would have us obey all the rules while living in the sin condition. It is self-defeating and self-deflating. The unbeliever lives in the condition of sin in the ‘solitary life’ of the devil, while the believer lives in the condition of the Spirit’s Love in the Triune Life of God. Obedience is the result of living in the      Spirit’s condition, not because we can do it. Legalistic obedience arising from our attempt to manage sin because we think it’s our part, will not save us. Proper and willing obedience is the natural outgrowth of the Love condition we have in Christ.

Sin is a condition created by the devil to perpetuate his reign in this world. Hence, the people who live in the sin condition are always thinking how to manage sin. It can’t be done, that’s the purpose of Calvary – to defeat sin once for all.

Jesus Is the Enabling Condition for Love and Uprightness

When you change the condition of how life is lived, the person’s life changes along with it. Let me present an analogy, which hopefully clarifies this point. Think of our vast ocean and all the marine life that populates it. The ocean is the enabling condition that supports all forms of marine life – no other life form can exist in it. The condition is what spawns the kind of life which that specific condition will support. A monkey or a zebra cannot live in the ocean because they require a different condition to survive. They survive above water, not underwater. In like fashion, the ocean is the condition of God’s Triune energy and Love in Christ. All rivers (believers) find their way to the ocean in the condition where all Bulamanrivers* now live. The oceanic condition of God’s Triune Love and dynamism is what generates continuous forgiveness, right thinking and living. That is what Jesus died to bring us – the condition of righteousness we continuously have in Him.

As the Ocean is the Enabling Condition for all forms of Marine Life, So Jesus is the Enabling Condition for God’s Righteousness. The Devil Is the Enabling Condition for Fear and Sin. (Wiki Commons)

Paul tells us, “Christ is our righteousness” (1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 4:6, 22-25; Phil. 3:9; Ps. 32:2). That is a statement of condition. It’s the condition of being right in contrast to being sin. Paul is referring to Jesus as the saving condition for man. In this condition, Jesus does His atoning work, which overrides and covers and makes ineffective the sin condition. If this were not so, then His Messiahship falls short and is inadequate. The believer’s condition is the concealment of his life in Jesus, just as the waters cover a riverbed. You are the riverbed, the “living waters” that cover you is the Holy Spirit. (John 7:37-39) So,the spiritual ocean is the work of sanctification the Spirit is constantly carrying out in the life of believers. (Matt.3:11; Rom.15:16; 1 Pet.1:2) You are the Bulamanriver,* who does not exist in the devil’s fear environment and conditioning. Sin has no power over you (Rom. 7:14, 7:14; Col. 3:3-5, 2:10). Our condition was changed when our hearts believed and were “flushed out” in the baptismal waters of faith and the truth it symbolizes in our spiritual death and present life in heaven (Col. 2:12-13).

Does this mean we can do no wrong? Does this give us the license to live in careless abandon? No, our human body still exists in its fallen state with its proclivity to trespass, but we don’t have a rebellious but a compliant heart of Love in the Spirit. (Rom. 7:18-25). Man’s propensity to sin is no excuse to live licentiously, but to enlighten man of his need for a permanent Mediator. So, in truth, there is only one sin, Jesus said, “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me.” (John 16:9, NLT) Jesus cleanses our hearts in the washing of the water of His Word that flows in us. It is a process that will take a lifetime, but in the same process we live in the condition of our true self, the new man, the Bulamanriver,* who lives in Jesus in a saved condition (Rom. 7:24-25). If Jesus is sinless, then we are; it’s that simple. John tells us the difference in these two conditions when he says, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing” (John 6:63). Our minds must be focused on Christ and His Love, not sin! Jesus is the permanent Savior who has taken care of human sins past, present, and future. If that’s so, then our minds must be completely focused on the good the Spirit is doing in our lives – “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph.2:10)

Ultimate Sin is Disbelief in The Savior God has Offered as a Gifted to Man

All man’s sin and trespass, past, present, and future, are adjudicated in Jesus’ condition as Savior and Mediator, in His High Priestly role in heaven. The life condition we have in Jesus keeps us right with God (1 Cor. 1:30). This condition is the first of many miracles in man’s life and the birthplace of the miraculous life in the Spirit. Jesus and the Spirit mutually mediate and adjudicate each other in all man’s activity and comprise the condition that sustains the believer both in his humanity and eternity. (Rom. 7:4, 6) This is why the ultimate and only sin is disbelief in Jesus as Savior and Mediator set forth by God for man’s salvation – both physically and spiritually. “The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in Me.” (John 16:9, NLT). Why, because Jesus is the condition man steps into in order to be saved. God’s Love to free man is wrapped up in His Covenant Promise to save man, which same Covenant is ratified in the blood of His Son, Jesus. (Heb.8:12, 10-11) Paul reiterates this, saying, “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Heb.9:18, 22) The New Covenant is conditional upon our receiving Jesus as Savior who shed His blood for our complete forgiveness, and brings us into the condition of righteousness in Christ.

Crucifixion of Jesus (Wiki Commons)

The Gospel is disarmingly simple if we believe it for what it truly says. Its simplicity is intended to bring people from all walks of life to receive it with joy. God desires that “all” enter this condition in His Son and be saved (2 Pet. 3:9). It is when man places his stamp of religiosity upon it that it gets complicated and legalistic, and imagines it is only for selected few who can ‘make it’ by obedience. It’s not about legalistic obedience, but Love – Love is the operative word which moves us to obey gladly from the heart, for “God is Love.” (1 John 4:8) (Read my blog posted 05/11/13 titled, “Bulamanriver’s* Answer To Obedience”)

Truly, the Cross calls all to this saved condition we can have in Christ. Receive Him, and God will honor you as His own.

Though Easter is the most solemn time in the believer’s life, it is also a time of celebration for we understand why the Father gave us His Son. (John 3:16) May I take this occasion to wish all a solemn and joy-filled Easter.

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”** in the Person of Jesus’ “Immanuel humanity.” Be strong in the Lord’s joy.

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

*Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

** “Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

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

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

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

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind”

Greetings Friends!

The command to Love God first and foremost and not worship other gods, is directly connected to our understanding of God in His Tri-Personal Being. (Gen.1:26-27; Exo.20:2-3; Deut.5:6-7; 1Pet.1:1-2) What do I mean? The first commandment is not something God plucked out of the air because He is narcissistic and self-serving. While God is Trinitarian, He reveals another side of His divine nature: Love! Love is always outgoing and never self-important. God’s Love is the embodiment of self-sacrifice never self-serving. John was inspired to record, “Whoever does not Love does not know God, because God is Love” (1 John 4:8). Jesus repeated the command in the New Testament, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself” (Luk.10:27). Rather the first commandment proceeds from  God in His uncreated divine Being who is Love and Tri-Personal in the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. (Jud.1:20-21; Luk.3:21-22)

It’s only when we view the first commandment from the Trinitarian perspective that we are given to understand the meaning and rationale for what may appear authoritarian in its stance. I suppose we can say the law is given as a “commandment” because God’s Love-nature is ‘set in concrete’ so to speak, so God remains unchanged and constant in His nature and character. Humans are naturally impetuous and unwilling to comply with dictatorial decrees, but they become malleable and responsive when an edict is understood logically and credibly. This is a natural response which comes from our human freedom. I will have more to say about the gift of our God-given freedoms.

We know the command in its legalistic form under the old covenant has been superseded by the new covenant of grace in Christ and in the Spirit’s power as Paul asserts to the Romans, “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit” (see Rom.8:1-4, NLT). With that said, be it the old or new covenant, the nature of God in His Trinitarian Love remains constant and unchanged. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb.13:8).

By being Triune in nature and substance, God can never be anything apart from who He is: Love! He saved humanity out of the richness of His Love. (John 3:16-17) Thereby, God, as three Persons in One Godhead exist as One Being inherently and internally in their Love for each other as John further affirms in Scripture, “And so we know and rely on the Love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in Love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). That is to say that all three Persons of the Godhead exist in each other in Love, and humans were created to participate in their Love. (Gen.1:26-27)

Jesus said, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt.28:19).

So, the Trinity identifies who they are as unified Personal Beings (name/noun), and Love characterizes them in their relationship with each other (action/verb). Love is the substance they consist in, so that God is not ‘made’ of Love, but is Love in substance and reality. Of course, we use adjectives to further elaborate Love’s attributes like God is gracious, generous, protective, uplifting, forgiving, caring, compassionate, and so forth. They have divine life in themselves and in the One Triune Godhead all life spring for they are the fountain of true Life.  Therefore Love, as a noun and as a verb, binds them into One Triune God. Consequently, they are inseparable and indivisible in their divine life. Because they are indispensably unified in each other, the act of one is always the act of three, and the act of three is always the act of one.

With Love as the substance of the divine life and activity, there has always been only one singular purpose for their existence, to devoutly Love one another. And that is how they have been from eternity. Jesus, in His prayer to the Father before His crucifixion, said this, “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world” (John 17:24). This reveal the desire of One of the Persons of the Trinity (Jesus) to have mankind see and participate in their glorious fellowship of holy Love.

In truth, there wasn’t anything besides or outside of the Godhead that could be said to distract   from their Love of each other, because there was no other life form or reality apart from God. If there was another reality whether spiritual or physical, they had to spring from their Triune Being as Creator, for God alone possesses self-sustaining life and imparts physical or spiritual life to whomever He chooses. Until God created, there was nothing. God alone is uncreated. Whatever is created have no permanent but temporal existence, for only God is eternal and the uncreated reality. What is created has a beginning and an end. Try to imagine, if you can, God existing alone in His Tri-Personal Being from eternity. Nothing existed but the Triune God and they lived in the fullness of their Love for and in each other. The angelic hosts have not been created. The universe, this earth, and mankind have not been brought into physical existence. All that existed was the Father, the Logos/Word (Son), and the Holy Spirit. So I ask, who or what was there that would compete for God’s attention? There was absolutely nothing to distract them from their Love for each other? Nothing! For it is in this eternal place where God alone in His Trinitarian reality in the Father, Son, and Spirit lives, that He has called humans into His Triune fellowship.

“God is Love” (Wiki Commans)

This is the place of origin from which all life physical and spiritual finds its source and beginnings. This is the place of alpha (origin) as stated in Scripture, “In the beginning God…” (Gen.1:1a; John 1:1). God existed alone in His Triune Godhead. Then, Genesis continues, “…created the heaven and the earth” (Gen.1:1b). After conditioning the earth for human habitation with plant life and vegetation, and creating numerous non-human life forms, He then uttered the now famed words, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them” (Gen.1:26-27, KJV). The place of alpha (origin) and the place of omega (end), is one and the same where God exists in His Triune Being with nothing nor any life-form but themselves in their eternal uncreated Godhead.

But out of their overflowing Love, they created humans with a grand plan. He invites mankind to share in their eternal existence of Love. God does not need man or anything He has created to exist as God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have self-sustaining and self-fulfilling life in themselves. All they had from the beginning was each other, and will remain unchanged in the end. Everything spiritual or physical apart from their Tri-Personal Being originate from them, and thereby are extensions of their God-life through the creative acts. There is nothing in all creation which exists independently of itself, but all spring from His living Spirit. His Love envelopes all creation. (Psa.139; Job 38)

We saw God has self-sustaining life in Himself, but this is one vital element of His image He has not given humans – immortality. (2 Tim.1:9-10) At least, not yet. Instead, He created humanity from the dust of the ground and gave him physical life with chemical existence, and the potential of inheriting immortality through a resurrection like Jesus His Son. (Rom.6:5) He was created a physical being and given all the ‘paraphernalia’ so to speak, to survive as a human upon earth, namely, oxygenation, food, water, clothing and shelter, and be granted dominion over the earth in the likeness of his Creator’s sovereign rule and  authority. It is a dominion man was given in which to administer the very Love of God with his fellowmen and the whole earth. (Rom.13:8) Mankind was supposed to live like the Triune God does and Love God and neighbor like He does in His Triune Life. (Matt.22:37; Luk.10:27) Thereby, this earth was given to man, that is to say each person regardless of origin or who they are, to choose his/her destiny. How do we choose to live this God-given material life? Do we choose to Love God above all else, like He does within the three Persons of the Trinity? His advice to us is, “Choose Life” (God/Love) (Deut.30:19).

In giving us free choice, He confers the gift of freedom upon humans. Freedom is the flip side of God’s Love, so Love always accompanies the gift of freedom. Without freedom Love is non-actionable, for freedom is the essence of Love. The Father, Son, and Spirit, freely choose to Love one other. It is from their Personal freedoms that humans are given the gift of freedom. They are not compelled to Love, but in their Tri-Personal freedoms choose to Love each other. Jesus came to bring us the gift of true freedom for the Bible states, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (john 8:36, NLT). The apostle Paul reiterates how the gift of freedom is given, “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).

If someone is compelled or pressured to love, then it is not true Love for it does not come with true freedom. He/she acts out of fear. Fear imprisons and disempowers people, whereas Love frees and empowers. The Scripture says plainly, “Perfect Love expels all fear” (1 John 4:18, NLT). So, you cannot have Love without freedom, nor freedom without Love. Hence, man is given a mind with the basic motivation to choose and to Love, or not to Love. The opposing way to Love is one of fear. There are only two choices, there is no middle ground. To make a choice means decision-making. No other species created by God was given to have the mind to make choices, except humans who were created in God’s likeness.

He commands us to choose to Love Him wholeheartedly above everyone and everything like He does in His Tri-Personal relationship with each other. The reason God (Love) commands us to Love Him first and Love Him last (alone) is because there is no other reality aside from His uncreated Tri-Personal Being. Every created life and matter whether spiritual or physical is fabricated (created) and temporal and becomes sin if we choose to worship them. God desires that we bank our lives on the only reality in all of creation and eternity that exists – God, and not on what’s fabricated and meant to be temporary and serve His ultimate purpose of the eternal reality we have in Christ His Son. So, Jesus asked a pertinent question, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” The soul speaks of our eternal reality that’s reposed in the uncreated God through Jesus. God desires for humanity to choose Loving Him first and setting a solid foundation for life now and for eternity, keeping in mind that our reality and wholeness as a person is eternally and internally wired to the Love-likeness of the Triune God.

Man made in God’s Likeness: “Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion” (Gen.1:26-27). 

However, as physical human beings having cellular life, and needing all the material ‘paraphernalia’ to survive, God supplies them from His bounty. These are: food and water for physical sustenance, clothing for bodily cover and protection, shelter for shielding from the elements, our internal defensive mechanism for security and safety, material possessions to express our calling and gifts, and dominion to rule the earth in Love. All these are real issues in as far as how human life is regarded and valued. And here is where humans face a challenge where their relationship with God comes into question in terms of their priority in life. They may pose a problem as to what humans may consider more important and first in life: God or any one of these vital necessities of life (temporary),  inconsequential compared to Love (true life). In other words, any one of these issues can be turned into gods and worshipped and loved above the true God. They become gods when we value them higher than the Triune God who alone is worthy of worship. For in worshipping God first we are actually serving our mutual interest first (Love/Trinitarian), for we are created in His likeness. However, human history has shown that in their fallen state of being, humans have worshipped the created instead of the Creator. (Rom.3:10)

I will continue this theme of Love in my next post, but I close with the following quote from Paul, keeping in mind God’s purpose of making man into His Love-image:

“If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t Love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all His mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t Love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but don’t Love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, or what I do, I’m bankrupt without Love” (1 Cor.13:1-3, The Message). Yes, without Love we are nothing and less than nothing – for “God is Love” (1 John 4:8, 16).

So we have seen how the first command came to be, it was given because God is Love in Himself, and that is how He has lived from eternity in fellowship with His Son (Jesus) and Spirit (Herald*) in their Trinitarian Godhead, and invites humanity into His fellowship of Love.

Finally, let us live our lives and be passionate about Paul’s admonition to us, “Owe nothing to anyone–except for your obligation to Love one another” (Rom.13:8).

I will see you in my next post where we will see how God makes it possible for humans to enter His reality in His Love and Triune existence.

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

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

Kiang,
(Your Servant In Christ)

*Herald: the name I use in my personal relationship with the Holy Spirit

** “Triune Life” means to inherit human personhood identifying us as true persons with gifts in Christ and living according to the image and likeness of God. (Gen.1:26-27; Rom.8:29) It means a believer who lives the 3-dimensional life with the Triune God, as opposed to the ‘solitary’ 1-dimensional life in himself (“Adamic humanity”). It means to live in relationship with God, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who lives and walks in you (“Immanuel humanity”). Man’s union with the Triune God, or “Triune Living,” is made possible by Jesus, who Himself, is one in substance and reality with the Triune God, who took our humanity into the very Being of the Triune Godhead. To live the “Triune Life” is the miraculous expression of the Spirit in us. The miraculous life is the promise of the New Covenant, “I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My ordinances, and do them” (Ezek.36:27) This is a life of divine power. You can read more at: http://bulamanriver.net/9092, also at: http://bulamanriver.net/?p=8036)

**Bulamanriver: To read the different facets of the life of the Bulamanriver, go to my website, www.bulamanriver.com, www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, and other book store sites where you can order a copy of my book, “Bulamanriver – The Miracle of Triune Living”

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

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