THE LION AND THE LAMB

"His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace."
REVELATION 1:15


When John was given a revelation of Christ in the Isle of Patmos he
described the feet of Jesus as "fine brass as if refined in a
furnace." Brass is a symbol of judgment, and the furnace is a
symbol of wrath, purification, and refinement. This dimension of
the Lord Jesus was something quite new to John.

Because Jesus did not come to judge the world right away, but to
save it, we tend to think of Jesus only in terms of the "Lamb" -
meek, silent, longsuffering, and turning the other cheek. He
certainly is all that.

Yet here we get a glimpse of Jesus as the "Lion." He said He was
indeed a King, but that His Kingdom was not of this world. Up until
now the kingly aspect of Christ and the majestic glory of His
Kingdom had remained hidden.

CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST

"I have been crucified with Christ;
it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me."
GALATIANS 2:20

Paul says that even though he was crucified, he lives. Does Paul
mean to say that he was raised from the dead with Jesus also? If
so, why have we not heard about this before now? Finally he says he
is not really living at all, but Christ lives in him. To the
natural mind, of course, this all sounds very strange. This is why
we must discern spiritual things spiritually.

It should be obvious that Paul is talking about something other
than a physical crucifixion and a physical death, burial, and
resurrection. Although he says, "I was crucified with Christ" he
does not mean that he was present with Christ in the flesh at the
moment of crucifixion; instead, he intends to show us something
much more profound.

We will soon discover that this experience of being crucified with
Christ is not unique to the apostle Paul, but is true of every
born-again child of God. Not only Paul, but all disciples of Jesus
have been crucified with Christ.

TEMPLES MADE BY MEN

"God does not live in temples made by man." ACTS 17:24 ESV

We are not zealous for the establishment of any earthly nation, but for a heavenly nation of kings and priests (Revelation 5:10). We are not praying for the building of a physical temple, but a spiritual temple, a house of living stones, of which Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone, Builder and Architect. We are not looking for the appearance of an earthly Messiah, but a Heavenly Messiah, Who is building His Ekklesia upon the earth; we are not of the earth. This is not our home, for we are from above. Though in the world, we are not of it. We will not eat its meat or drink its wine, and we will not bow down to its idols. Though we live in the shadow of Babylon, we are not afraid of its fiery furnace or its den of lions, for our God is able to deliver us.

The heavens do rule. We affirm it boldly and confidently, regardless of appearances to the contrary. The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory belongs to God (Matthew 6:13) - not man, not the devil, not the nations of this world.

THE PATH OF RESSURECTION

"I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live."
JOHN 11:25

The Cross does not represent Death - it represents Life out of Death. Jesus does not refer to Himself as the Crucifixion and the Death, but He calls Himself the Resurrection and the Life. Even so, this Resurrection and Life implies that there has been a very real, thorough death. You cannot resurrect someone who has not died.

God wills that all of us stand together with Christ on resurrection ground where death has no power over us. That is certainly a powerful ground to stand upon, but there is no direct route to get there. The path to resurrection takes us through the Cross, for there can be no Resurrection and Life apart from crucifixion and death.

MEEKLY ACCEPT THE CROSS

"We were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we also should walk in newness of life." ROMANS 6:4

The Cross is the means by which God reduces us to Christ, that we may be raised to new Life. What cannot be accomplished in a lifetime of self-effort is easily accomplished in God through the Cross.

We may take many shortcuts along the way and attempt to escape the inevitable, but the day we cease striving and meekly accept the Cross we find everything is done for us.

THE EKKLESIA UNDERGROUND

"In due season we shall reap..."
GALATIANS 6:9

The good news is that even if the Ekklesia has been underground, it is still growing and developing. When the season is right it will burst forth and once again those who have eyes to see will indeed discern the blade, the head, and the full grain in the head. In fact the blades have already broken ground in several places and we are even beginning to see some grain taking shape. If you have traced the recovery of the Heavenly Order so far then you know there have been many obstacles and hindrances to God's Will over the last six thousand years or so of the history of mankind.

So far God has defeated everything that rose up to challenge His Purpose in Christ. Not only has He defeated it, but He has actually used evil to bring about good and further increase His Son. The Scriptures provide us with every expectation and assurance that God will continue to do the same with our generation. He is very much an active part of world affairs, whether they be secular or sacred.

GOD CHOSE THE WEAK

God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong."
1 CORINTHIANS 1:27 ESV

The Wisdom of God teaches us differently. This Wisdom tells us that the weak things are chosen to overcome the strong things, and power works concurrently with weakness.

God desires to give you power, but that power only comes through weakness. Any power not obtained through weakness is illegitimate, no matter how spiritual it appears. The only legitimate power is granted to those who have been made weak. Power is birthed in weakness. Many exude a certain "power," but there is not the corresponding weakness. Hence, the power only gives them an occasion for boasting. To remedy this, God has ordained that all who would have His power must first be weakened and made empty - we refer to this as being "broken." The purpose of weakness and suffering is to open the way for His Power. The instrument God uses to weaken us is the Cross. Therefore, the Cross is power through weakness.