upgraded on August 9, 2008
There is no greater joy or fulfillment than when man is functioning in the way he was originally designed to. Every person has a drive in them to love and adore God, and a desire to have God love them. We were designed to love God, to love our fellowman, and to love ourselves. Compared to love, all other aspects of creation are totally insignificant.
1 John 4:16bc (NIV) God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
There are some pleasures, drives and joys created and given by God solely for the reproduction of the species:
· sex
· the love of a mother for her child
· the desire of a father to provide
All these are simply for the continuation of mankind. The purpose of mankind is to praise, worship and commune with God. This relationship is frequently, parabolicly and literally paralleled to Christ and the church, and a husband and wife relationship. The physical interrelating of a husband and wife is the earthly pattern of the spiritual interrelating that Jesus desires with us.
Ephesians 5:23-32 (NIV) For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- 30 for we are members of his body. 31 "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." 32 This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church.
Matthew 25:10 (NIV) "But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Luke 12:36-37 (NIV) like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them.
2 Corinthians 11:2 (NIV) I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
Isaiah 62:4-5 (NIV) No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah ; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married. 5 As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
In the courting process prior to marriage, sometimes we develop a love and adoration for our intended spouse. We see that sparkle in their eye that says "I love and adore you." This feeds something in our emotions and in our mind that we did not know existed, and is more beautiful than anything in our lives. After marriage, we are sometimes given a very hazy glimpse of the relationship that Jesus desires with His Bride. However, as we began to know our spouse, the humanity of our spouse begins to shine through. The love may continue, but the adoration is tempered to an extent with reservation. We then began to realize that our spouse is not worthy of adoration. The adoration, at best, becomes appreciation.
1 Corinthians 7:28 (NIV) But if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face many troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.
In a marriage, we feed emotionally on these moments of love and appreciation. In the very best marriages, the moments of love and appreciation continue throughout the partners lifetimes. In all marriages, when these moments of love and appreciation ebb and flow, then we may inwardly desire something that the present physical relationship is not able to satisfy. The love and appreciation of a human marriage is only a hazy view of the love and adoration that Jesus desires with us, and that we desire with Him, because physical intercourse is only a very limited foreglimpse of the spiritual intercourse that Jesus Christ desires with His Bride. In all marriages, the partners ultimately recognize that their physical relationship can only take them to a limited height. That is perfectly normal, as we were not given a spouse to worship. We were given a spouse as a companion and a helper to love.
The devil through the media has subtly floated the concept of a worship of your mate. The devil will attempt to misdirect our normal healthy sexual desires by tempting us into a worship of the creation rather than a worship of the Creator. The implication is that if you do not have a mate that is worthy of worship, you are personally being slighted. In so doing, the devil is sowing the seeds of unrest in marriages, and causing marriage partners to look outside of their marriage for fulfillment. This misdirected sexual desire seeking to worship the creation rather than the Creator is also the motivating force behind the temptation to view pornography.
Marriage partners generally respond to their unsatisfied desire in one of three ways. There is a temptation within both partners to fulfill the desire for love and adoration outside of God's law. One or both of the marriage partners may attempt to satisfy their unfulfilled desire by replacing their current partner with another human. The partner does not even realize that what they are really pursuing is not going to be found with another human, as no human is worthy of adoration. Some marriage partners may bury themselves in something none-sexual (i.e. work, sports, community service, etc.). Other marriage partners may subconsciously accept that their greater need will never be satisfied, and fatalistically resolve to continue in their current unfulfilled state.
It is universal among humans that every person desires to be loved. Most people spend their lives frantically seeking to be loved, and exhausting all efforts in any area where they are shown any kind of attention or affection. Humans also frantically search for something to worship in order to quench the burning desire within themselves. Most people fail to recognize that no human relationship can take any human where they really need to go. The desire for spiritual intercourse with God is universal, but most people do not realize Who they are looking for. They are unconsciously pursuing the love and adoration of God, and His love for them. It is universal among humans that every individual is totally and completely loved. They are loved by God, but because they were stillborn spiritually, and many have moved far from God in their wicked life styles, they never feel or know the love of God. Where they need to go is to Whom they were originally created for. The only completely and eternally satisfying height that all individuals either find, or spend their entire lifetime pursuing, is the Love of, and communion with God.
Leviticus 11:44 (NIV) I am the LORD your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground.
Leviticus 19:1-2 (NIV) The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: 'Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
Leviticus 20:7-8 (NIV) "'Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. 8 Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
Leviticus 20:26 (NIV) You are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
Hebrews 12:14 (NIV) Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
1 Peter 1:15-16 (NIV) But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."
God would certainly not give directions to all of mankind in the physical realm concerning being unequally yoked with unbelievers, that He does not personally comply with in the spiritual realm.
2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 (NIV) Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial ? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? 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." 17 "Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." 18 "I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 7:1 Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
Mark 3:23-26 (NIV) So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come.
1 Corinthians 10:21 (NIV) You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons.
The salvation process is not complete until a person is filled with the Spirit of God. You cannot be filled with the Spirit of God until your selfish will has been crucified. Only then can the Spirit of God fill you. God does not know you in the Biblical sense until you have had spiritual intercourse with the Spirit of God. After Adam and Eve were cast out of God's presence in the Garden of Eden, and were no longer able to have sweet communion with Him, the very first thing they did was have physical intercourse. They were trying to replace the spiritual intercourse that they had with God.
Genesis 4:1 (KJV) And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord.
If you are tarnished with sin, and have the rebellious destructive selfish will in your heart, the Spirit God cannot be united with you. In Matthew 7:22-23, God never knew these people. He never had spiritual intercourse with them. They were "evildoers" (sinners).
Matthew 7:22-23 (NIV) Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
The physical man Jesus Christ was conceived by the Spirit of God.
Luke 1:26-37 (NIV) In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." 34 "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" 35 The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God."
We were conceived physically by our earthly father Adam. Jesus the Man was conceived physically by the Spirit of God. If we are conceived spiritually it can only be through the Spirit of God. We must be spiritually conceived by the Spirit of God as Jesus was physically. His physical conception was a for-glimpse of the spiritual conception of those born again. This spiritual concept is one of the reasons that the devil attempts to depreciate the virginity of Mary.
1 Corinthians 15:44-49 (NIV) If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being" ; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.
If we have been conceived by the Spirit of God, we are a child of God, and a brother to Jesus Christ.
John 1:12-13 (NIV) Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
Hebrews 2:11 (NIV) Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
Matthew 25:40 (NIV) "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
Matthew 12:48-50 (NIV) He replied to him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" Pointing to his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."
After conception by the Spirit of God, Mary birthed the Word of God physically:
John 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
After conception by the Spirit of God, man will birth the Word of God spiritually:
John 7:37-39a (NIV) On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.
In both instances, the Creator God speaks life into existence.
The greatest prayer that was ever prayed was recorded in John chapter 17. It was Jesus High Priestly Prayer.
He was nearing the zenith of His life.
He was nearing the culmination of His earthly ministry to His disciples and His followers.
It is the most precious jewel of literary history.
It was given as Jesus resolutely turned and headed for Calvary.
It was when He prayed to God for Himself.
It was when He prayed to God for His disciples.
It was when He prayed to God for His church.
It was when He prayed to God for me.
John 17 (NIV) After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: "Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 6 "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name--the name you gave me--so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. 13 "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24 "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. 25 "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
Church of the Agony on the Mount of Olives, in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus gave His High Priestly Prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Note the reciprocity, the interrelationship between man and God - "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us - I in you and they in me - the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them." The reason that the Body of Christ must be pure is this interrelationship. This "in Christ-in God" intercourse demands purity. In the physical, at marriage, "The two will become one flesh." In the spiritual, at the infilling of the Spirit of God, the two will become one spirit.
1 Corinthians 6:14-17 (NIV) By his power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will become one flesh." 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
God is a Trinity consisting of Body, Soul,
and Spirit. Man is also a trinity consisting of body, soul, and spirit. At the infilling
of the Spirit of God, God does not change our spirit, He gives us His Holy Spirit. Our
carnal spirit is crucified and dies. We are filled with the same Spirit of God that was
hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2 printed below) and that raised Jesus from the dead.
We are
filled with the very Spirit of God. Man through the Blood of Jesus Christ can become
at-one with God. Jesus is our At-One-Ment. Man is adopted into the family of God, becomes
one with God, and a brother to Jesus Christ.
Genesis 1:2 NIV) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters like a dove above her nest because the Spirit of God knew that man would come from the dust that was within the waters, and the Spirit of God was eagerly awaiting the arrival of man so that the Spirit of God could Love, infill and commune with man.
A person is not born again until they are filled with the Spirit of God. Conception comes with intercourse both in the physical and in the spiritual realm. In the natural order of physical life, a person can only be born through physical intercourse. In the spiritual life, a person can only be born through spiritual intercourse.
A person is not born again until the Spirit of God has inhabited their heart. Conception can occur only when the Spirit of God fills a person. The Spirit of God cannot inhabit a vessel in any degree that is being inhabited by the spirit of the devil. The Spirit of God draws a person to God through the entire salvation process, but cannot inhabit the person until the spirit of the devil is removed. At the crucifixion of the self-will, the Spirit of God can inhabit the vessel. Conception by the Spirit of God can only occur when the Spirit of God can indwell the person. A person who is not filled by the Spirit of God has not been born of the Spirit.
John 3:3-7 (NIV) In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." 4 "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" 5 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
In an interacting relationship with God, your spirit is so attuned to the Spirit of God that you request nothing that does not originate from the Spirit of God. Because He originally willed the desire, He will certainly answer the prayer.
Romans 8:26 (NIV) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.
John 15:7 (NIV) If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.
Jesus requires faithfulness in a marriage. He does not require you to tolerate marital unfaithfulness in the physical realm:
Matthew 5:32 (NIV) But I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, causes her to become an adulteress, and anyone who marries the divorced woman commits adultery.
Jesus will not tolerate marital unfaithfulness (sin) in the spiritual realm either. Spiritual unfaithfulness and physical unfaithfulness are both adultery.
Sinners are people that sin. Every human after Adam and Eve was born a baby, but every human is not a baby. Every human after Adam and Eve was born a sinner, but every human is not a sinner. The Bride of Christ is made up of the martyred members of the Body of Christ, and those members of the Body of Christ who are still alive at His Second Coming.
Can you picture Christ Coming in all of His glory and splendor, then taking a Bride dressed in brown?
Revelation 19:11-16 (NIV) I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. 13 He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. 16 On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
Are you seeking greater depth in Jesus Christ?
Do you desire intimate communion constantly?
Do you desire to be filled with all the fullness of the love of Christ?
Does your soul demand, desire, and ache for intimacy with Jesus Christ?
Jesus gave His best, His all. Would justice permit us to come into the relationship with less than our best and our all?
One of the horrors of hell for some is when they realize that all God wanted is that they love.
1 Corinthians 13 (NIV) If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The Word of God is the story of love. Romans 5:8 is the greatest love story ever told.
Romans 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Do you enjoy the pleasure of eating good food? Do you enjoy the pleasure of a good nights sleep? Do you enjoy the pleasure of good sex? If you do, then you are enjoying all that God created and made available for your physical Body.
Do you avail yourself of the atonement made available by Jesus Christ in order to worship God? Do you enjoy the euphoria of spiritual intercourse with God? If you do, then you are feeding your soul, enjoying life and enjoying the ultimate that God made available for you in creation.