WBS.176
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOUL – XIII
2 Corinthians 5:14 For
the love of Messiah constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died
for all, then were all dead:
If we have been taking
on the challenge in this blog to give thanks unto IAUE in everything, and to
rejoice all the time, and to pray unceasingly, we have experienced to some measure
the release of the spirit. Some treasure
has leaked out; and we have experienced the joy that inescapably corresponds
with our participation and union with the life and light and power of IAUE that
was released. This is but the proverbial
tip of the iceberg of the treasure that is in us.
There
is a story told that reportedly actually occurred during the Civil War in the
United States. The battle between the Union Army and the Confederate Army
weighed heavily upon the lives of young men in both the North and the
South. The Union Army sent men throughout
the northern States to find new recruits to serve. They came upon a farming family in Virginia
that had two sons. (We will call the older son, Ben, and the younger son, Jack.) Ben was of age to serve in the army; so he
was given notice to report for duty. The
family farm, however, needed Ben to stay and work to keep the farm going and to
sustain the family. Jack was not old
enough to serve in the Army; but he also was not as able and strong as Ben to
take his place and do the work required of the farm; so Jack volunteered to
report for duty in Ben’s place.
After
a season, a member of the Union Army came to the family farm with notice that
their son had died in battle. Not long
afterwards, there was another search for men of age to serve in the Union
Army. They found Ben and told him that he
needed to report for duty. Ben told the
soldiers that he could not serve because he had already served and had died in
battle. Of course, the soldiers thought
him crazy; but he insisted they search their records. Sure enough they had record of Ben having
reported for duty, of having served, and of having died in battle. Ben was dead.
The soldiers left him to remain with his family.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Messiah: nevertheless I live; yet not
I, but Messiah liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of Elohim, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Romans 6:2 …How shall we that are dead to sin, live any longer
therein?
3 Know ye
not, that so many of us as were baptized into Yahushua Messiah were baptized
into his death?
Christians
carelessly toss around such Scripture verses as popular slogans. They receive the requisite cheers of “Amen!”
and “Yes!” but the meaning of these verses does not actually register with
them. This is why no one suspects that
there is a treasure inside of them that can only be explained in terms of
IAUE. They have yet to comprehend that,
legally, they are dead.
Man
is born separated from IAUE. There is a
law of sin already working within his/her members at birth. Man knows how to do evil without any
instruction. Exalting self and making
everything about “me” is instinctive to man.
Add to that the ravages of sin that come to a person’s life as a
consequence of sin: sickness, disease,
broken relationships, anger, malice, wickedness, envy, jealousy, pride,
humiliation. Add to that the destructive devices of Satan who comes only to
steal, kill and destroy. Finally, add
the inevitable judgment before the throne of IAUE, Creator of Heaven and Earth,
from which there is no escape; for the soul that sins (disobeys the will of
IAUE) shall surely die. Now, imagine you
have a “Jack” who says, I will go in your place to that field of battle and be
subjected to all the things that you have to suffer and encounter in life; and
I will go to the judgment seat and stand before IAUE in your place. Whatever you have coming to you, I will take
it in your name…and so Yahushua did; and he was tempted in all manner just like
we are, yet without sin; and he was whipped and beaten and impaled in the most
humiliating and excruciating of deaths; and the wrath of IAUE was poured out
upon him without any leniency. There was
no letting up by IAUE. He exacted the
full penalty of man’s sin upon his own son as though he were the vilest and guiltiest
of mankind. Why did IAUE do this? It was because Yahushua was not there in his
own name. He was there in your name…just
as Jack died on the battle field in the name of Ben.
Picture
that Virginia farmland in your mind.
Imagine that entire community of farming families in that area each
having their own dilemma of having a son called up to war; and in every
situation someone reported for duty in their sons’ names. This is exactly what Yahushua did for all of mankind. Upon the tree, suffering and bleeding to
death, he bore the name of every man, woman and child of mankind; bearing their
judgment and accepting the deserved wrath of IAUE upon their life.
2
Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Messiah constraineth us;
because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
With
the same confidence that Ben could tell the soldiers, “You cannot conscript me,
for I already died in service to your army,” we can say to the enemies of our
soul, “I am no longer subject to you, for I am dead.” Of course, as long as Ben does not know that
Jack has died, Ben still thinks he is alive.
He can only realize and experience the consequences of being “dead” when
he learns that Jack has died. In the same way, no man can experience deliverance
from sin and all of its consequences until they know and embrace the fact that
Messiah died and that they died in Him.
In
this verse, Paul says, “For the love of Messiah
constrains us” (The love of Messiah, as it had been demonstrated by his
death for him, had become the overwhelming influence upon Paul’s life.) However, Messiah’s love only constrained him BECAUSE
he judged with certainty and with finality that in Messiah’s death for all,
that included him.
2 Corinthians 5:15 And
that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
In
the very next sentence, Paul reveals that THIS is the trigger, this is the
fundamental principal that releases the treasure within him. When Jack left in Ben’s name, you may call it
a risk, even a gamble; but Ben knew that he could go on living his life as he
pleased as long as Jack was alive. The
moment that he learns that Jack died, he knew that HIS LIFE, as he knew it, was
over. In modern terms, it would be like someone
using an avatar to represent his life in a computer game, or virtual reality
simulation of life. The moment his
avatar dies, he is out of the game. He
cannot go back and start over and resume his life in the game where he left off
before he died. Once his avatar dies in
the game, he is dead. He is out of the
game.
Messiah
died for us. Our name was upon Yahushua
when the Father of Creation exacted judgment upon our sin and rebellion. We were judged. We were slain. We died…in Messiah. The moment we learn of that and rightly discern
and judge it to be a fact; we recognize that our life is over. It is now time for us to offer our bodies a
living sacrifice to Messiah (Romans 12:1), for Messiah to be able to live HIS
life in our bodies.
Romans 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.
8 Now if we be dead with Messiah, we believe
that we shall also live with him:
9 Knowing
that Messiah being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.
Now,
here is something that most Christians never really understand; and it is
critical to our study of the Transformation of the Soul, which is currently
working toward uncovering the revelation of the treasure hidden within our
earthen vessels.
IF we died in Messiah,
we are FREED FROM SIN. A dead man can no
longer resist or disobey the will of IAUE.
IF we died in Messiah, our
name is still upon him who is now risen from the dead. He is continuing to represent our interests
as our substitute and as the mediator between IAUE and man (1 Timothy 2:5). We
are STILL in him. Consequently, we are no longer subject to the dominion of
death. Nothing of Satan’s world has a hold upon us any longer because Messiah conquered
death. We are now IN the world but not
OF the world.
But
what does this have to do with the treasure within our earthen vessels?
Galatians
2:20 I am crucified with Messiah:
nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Messiah
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
the faith of the Son of Elohim, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
Colossians
3:3 For ye are dead,
and your life is hid with Messiah in Elohim.
4 When Messiah, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in
glory.
IF any man
be IN MESSIAH, he is a NEW CREATURE (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The
new creature, the treasure hidden within or earthen vessels, the “new man” is
the spirit of the resurrected Yahushua Messiah.
It isn’t a new US. It is a new
HIM. If we died in Him, we are
dead. He is the one who has been raised
from the dead; we have not. He is
resurrected NOW. We will be resurrected
in a day yet to come.
Romans 6:5 For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection:
6 Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified
with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin.
We
died in Messiah in order to release us from the “old man,” the sinful nature which
is a part of our natural birth in the flesh; thus releasing us from bondage to
sin. We are freed through death to sin
no more. The old man is dead and buried with Messiah. Messiah rose from the dead, free from sin, free from death, free from Satan, free from the curse of the Law, free every entanglement that
makes man a slave to sin. We SHALL be resurrected unto the same manner of man
as Yahushua is now; but until then, our being reckoned dead in Messiah is what
releases the treasure of HIS resurrected spirit within us.
2 Corinthians 4:10 Always
bearing about in the body the dying of the Master Yahushua, that the life also
of Yahushua might be made manifest in our body.
In
the weeks to come we are going to examine what it means that the exceeding
great and glorious treasure that is the spirit of the resurrected, glorified,
perfect son of IAUE, possessor of all authority and all power both in heaven
and in earth is not only living within us; it is he, not us, that is now the
spirit that animates our body and sustains our physical life.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
