Living in the Overflow

 

How much do we keep in heart about living with Jesus? These are only a few thoughts about keeping faith in the only "son of man" who was perfectly one with the God of Heaven. {Note: My personal Bible-study notes are here (in parentheses), and interpretations of some words translated in the Bible are here [in brackets].}

 

Q: Why does He call Himself "son of man," and "Son of God"?

A: Jesus was the only person born in flesh (born of a woman, and of the heritage of King David, a man) who, while being that person of flesh, was also twain with Heaven, or absolutely tied to Heaven through the Holy Spirit. From an early age, he declared to his earthly parents, that he was doing his heavenly "Father's business." So his every step was with the Holy Spirit. Whereas, the prophets before Jesus were men of earth only: men who did hear from Heaven many times in life, but who were not born of Heaven. They were imperfect men, and they were earthy men. In fact, the Bible introduces us to John the Baptist as a man crying out that we prepare the way for Jesus in the middle of the wilderness, where John the Baptist wore animal skins and ate honey and grasshoppers. But, Jesus (John the Baptist's cousin in flesh) was perfectly blessed. He neither spun cloth nor sowed physical seeds, yet he had clean robes, wheat, rye, and barley bread for the journey, fish for free, and bitter herbs (like mustard greens) for ultimate health. And we can say he "was," because that was Jesus in the flesh. But, unlike other men who have died, we, today, can also say Jesus "is": that He is in the Holy Spirit.

Q: How can anyone pray without ceasing?

A: Scriptures and songs that remind us to always say a prayer, to always seek Jesus, to be thankful in all circumstances, to endure, to be steadfast in faith, are all the same as the scripture that says to pray without ceasing. The scripture only means not to lose faith, not to stop talking with the Lord, to hold up our thoughts and pleas to Him without doubting, to keep praying for what you know by faith no matter how long it takes for Heaven to answer — like when grandparents used to pray for grandchildren, sometimes for years. The scripture means to keep faith. That's the meaning of the scripture. In contrast, the Lord doesn't expect us to be caught up in long, dramatic prayers (Matthew 23:14), or to be on our knees every day or often (2 Kings 20:1-5, Ezekiel 2:1). But we're to trust Him, to love His word, to endure with Him, no matter what, knowing He even hears our hearts when we don't have words (John 17:3, Psalm 139:23-24, Psalm 119:11, Matthew 5:8, Psalm 19:14, Psalm 34:18, Hebrews 4:12, Romans 8:26).

Q: What did Jesus mean when He told the man on the cross next to him, that their souls would be in paradise? Didn't Jesus pray on the cross, saying "Father, I commend (or commit) my soul to your hands?"

A: This isn't a bad question; but it's a complex question, because the person who asks this question is thinking of more than one or two Bible scriptures. The person who asks this question is thinking about Jesus when He said he would be "in the heart of the earth" for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40), and when He said (after he was physically resurrected) that He was on the way to Heaven but not yet (John 20:17). It's scriptures like these that have led the church to realize the passage into death was not easy for Jesus or the crucified man who had been a thief, that something about it was so difficult that Jesus cried out to the Holy Spirit, "Why have you forsaken me?" With all those scriptures in heart, we realize the paradise Jesus told the former thief that the two of them would enter, was death — death without the comfort of the Holy Spirit. It was as if Jesus was telling the former thief, we're not going to Heaven right away; instead, we're going to be bound in this world, without closeness to our heavenly Father, for a little while (like when Lazarus was bound in the grave without Jesus). And, because many translations of the Bible go to the word "underworld" to describe those tombs that not only housed bodily remains but that also became hangouts or housing for the demon possessed, the sick, the dying, or the mentally ill, we have a better understanding that Jesus' promise of a kind of three-day vacation in paradise, was not a good thing. So, parts of today's church always bring to mind that Jesus "descended into hell," and that he did so feeling separated from the heavenly Father, emptied of the Holy Spirit. That is to say, maybe, the paradise Jesus spoke of was like being lost in ancient tombs, or lost at an ancient hangout, and unable to call for help from the heavenly Father. Yet, while He still had the Spirit of Heaven in heart, Jesus said, "Father, I commend my Spirit to your hands." With that, He did two things: He released the Holy Spirit from suffering, and He pledged his remains, his soul, to Heaven.

Q: How do we know the resurrection that Christians have at death, is supposed to be purely spiritual instead of physical? Aren't we supposed to be resurrected physically like Jesus?

A: This is one of those questions that's best answered in the quietness of a person's individual heart. The answer can be taught in a theological, seminary, classroom way; but the best way for the answer to come about is through seeking God's word, through living your faith, through praying, and through trusting the conviction of heart that comes when you have sincerely sought and prayed and lived in Jesus. Scriptures that come to heart, for me, are those that say we're present with the Lord when absent from the body (when we die believing); that the "dead in Christ" (meaning, the church) are the "first" to go straight to Heaven at death (because of what Jesus has done for us — suffering for us and making the way for us to avoid hell); that the rapture is the one time when all of the church that remains, will go straight to Heaven "in the twinkling [or the blink] of an eye"; that our earthly bodies are "corruptible," but that we arise [spiritually] incorruptible; that, during the "last days," there is spiritual darkness at war, even in "heavenly places," but that we are not part of the darkness; that during the last days, many arise to Heaven, but others to condemnation. I also have the faith conviction that says some old, wicked ways arise during the last days, according to scriptures: and some of that wickedness will condemn many souls (Matthew 12:42). But does any of this mean God CAN'T resurrect us bodily? I believe, no, the scriptures are not saying no one ever receives a bodily resurrection. Maybe, sometimes, God determines not to allow a Christian to pass away to Heaven sooner rather than later. Maybe, sometimes, God has more for a Christian to do on this side of eternity, and He does resurrect one or two of us now and again. But bodily resurrection isn't our forever home. And we can only imagine what life will be when Heaven and earth are new again.

Q: How do we know our Christian salvation — our new life in Jesus — happens when we spiritually begin to see life differently, and that salvation isn't the result of a physical change in body?

A: Jesus said, "Come unto me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke [my word] upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." When we begin to do what Jesus says, seeking Him through His word, knocking at the gates of Heaven, reading the Bible, asking questions at church or in prayer or when we have Christian counsel, new life begins to open up to us, and our old way of knowing life is overwith for us. A new life has begun, in the way we see and understand and earn our living and make our home and respond to others and hope for one another. But for this question, I'm not listing scriptures, because there are some lessons each one of us needs to seek for ourselves. But I will say Jesus's ministry to Nicodemus, and Peter's ministry to the Ethiopian eunuch, are only two among many Bible passages that affirm our own, personal testimonies that salvation is an immediate event that comes about through seeking God's word and trusting in the Lord. And, when that happens, we're so convicted in the Spirit, that we understand sins of the past were against Heaven, that we would never do that again, that we don't ever want to be that lost again, that there's a need to apologize to a brother, and that there's a need to confess a mistake, to both Heaven and man. It's as if much of the old us, doesn't even exist, because a change in awareness and spiritual heart has taken place. And we don't love on the world's terms, anymore; we don't worship wishful, spousal love, but the LORD. And we don't have to wonder whether we're saved! ... This is what Jesus told Nicodemus: "That which is born of the flesh, is flesh; that which is born of the Spirit, is Spirit." He also said we are born "of water and of the Spirit," when we've begun to grow (like in the womb again) in Him. And scriptures assure us: The New Testament is like water that cleanses us, as Christians.