WBS.180
FUNDAMENTALS OF DISCIPLESHIP
THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE SOUL – XVII
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon
him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee
I am well pleased.
As long as our souls abide in the spirit of Yahushua, the
life of
Yahushua will manifest in our body; and our soul will be transformed
into his likeness…the likeness of the righteousness of IAUE.
Yahushua
was born of a virgin.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Master himself
shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel.
Matthew 1:18 Now the birth of Yahushua Messiah was on this wise: When as his
mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found
with child of the Holy Spirit.
19 Then
Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public
example, was minded to put her away privily.
20 But
while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of IAUE appeared unto him
in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary
thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.
21 And she
shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Yahushua: for he
shall save his people from their sins.
22 Now all
this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of IAUE by the
prophet, saying,
23 Behold,
a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call
his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, El with us.
From
the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden unto this day, man has been unable to
give birth to a child that was in right relationship to IAUE. Adam could not give to his succeeding
generation that which he had forfeited.
Consequently, man’s redeemer could not come from the bloodline of man;
for all of Adam’s offspring, all of his descendants were disqualified from
restoring what they could never possess of themselves. The Redeemer had to be
born of a virgin. His bloodline had to
originate elsewhere than from the fallen race of man.
Luke 3:38 Which
was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam,
which was the son of IAUE.
The
Scripture shows that Adam was regarded as the son of IAUE; but he was the “created”
son of IAUE, created in the image and after the likeness of IAUE (Genesis 1:26-27). When Adam behaved contrary to the likeness of
IAUE, he lost the likeness of IAUE and forfeited much of the image of
IAUE. It was the design of IAUE that His
created son, would bear more children of IAUE; but the Scripture shows that
because of the fall, Adam’s children were born in his own image and likeness…not
the image and likeness of IAUE (Genesis 5:2-3).
Yahushua’s
favorite term for himself was “Son of man.”
In Hebrew this is “ben Adam,” or “son of Adam.” Yahushua was
what man would have been like had Adam NOT disobeyed IAUE and forfeited his moral
purity and perfection (righteousness). The spirit that animated the physical body
of Yahushua was a spirit in right relationship with IAUE, just like Adam’s
spirit before the fall. (Unlike the spirit that was breathed into our bodies,
Yahushua’s spirit was filled with the life and light of IAUE.) Yahushua’s body was void of the law of sin in the
flesh. His body responded in perfect
obedience to his perfect spirit. Yahushua was the second son of IAUE; but he was the first one BORN of IAUE.
When
Yahushua was about 30 years of age (Luke 3:23), he came to John to be baptized;
and this is what happened.
Luke 3:22 And the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon
him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee
I am well pleased.
There
are two very important keys in this verse that can transform our souls (which
is the subject of this series of posts).
The first is that Yahushua did not receive the Holy Spirit until this
moment in his life. Most of Christendom’s
theology is so confused and muddled with the Trinity doctrine that believers,
today, have an impossible time rightly understanding the Scriptures; because
when they read “God” in the Scriptures, they just as readily think, “Jesus.” When they read “Jesus” in the Scriptures,
they are just as comfortable thinking
it refers equally to IAUE and to the Holy Spirit. This is the first verse we see relating to
the life of Yahushua where the Holy Spirit is associated with him. Like Yahushua, after we have received the
Spirit of Yahushua, we should also receive the Spirit of IAUE.
Our
Master was born with a perfect spirit that never suffered imperfection as did
Adam’s spirit. Yahushua walked in
perfect obedience to his Father’s will for those first 30 years without ever having
received the Holy Spirit. Look at the
Genesis account regarding Adam. Adam did
not have the Holy Spirit, either. (If we
believe that the spirit that was breathed into Adam’s nostrils bringing his
body to life was the Holy Spirit, then we must, of necessity, believe that the
Holy Spirit died, was separated from IAUE, when Adam sinned.)
How
does understanding this fact help to transform for our souls?
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that
the Spirit of Elohim dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Messiah,
he is none of his.
Observe
in this verse the distinction made between the Spirit of Elohim (IAUE) and the
spirit of Messiah (Yahushua). If the
Holy Spirit dwells in us, we are empowered to walk in the spirit and not in the
flesh. However, if we do not have the
spirit of Yahushua, we do not even belong to him. We must first belong to the Master before we
can be indwelled by the Spirit of His Father.
10 And if Messiah be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but
the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that
raised up Yahushua from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Messiah from
the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in
you.
Remember,
what I said above about the physical body of Yahushua? He was born without the law of sin coursing through
its members. Unfortunately, our bodies
were not born free of this sin-driven orientation of the flesh. Having the spirit of Yahushua dwelling in us
(being born again) does not eradicate the law of sin in the flesh; but being
indwelled by the Spirit of IAUE introduces into our lives the power of IAUE to
overcome the law of sin in the flesh and all of its destructiveness to our
bodies. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit “quickens” (gives life) to
our mortal bodies. Essentially, what
this is saying is that the effects that sin has on the body (sickness, disease,
decay, deterioration, propensity for disobeying IAUE, etc) cannot stand against
the power of the Holy Spirit. Our
physical bodies do not transform at the new birth into the same kind of body
that Yahushua had while on earth (That happens at the resurrection), but the
Holy Spirit does bring life to it, where it would naturally bring death.
12 Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live
after the flesh.
13 For if ye live after the flesh,
ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye
shall live.
If
we allow this truth to sink into our thinking, into our souls, the limitations
we impose upon ourselves will lose their foundation. How often have you said or heard it said, “Oh
well, I am only human”? We offer this as
an excuse for our failures to obey the will of IAUE. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Did our Master die to make us into such
pitiful creatures? Absolutely, not. We should declare of ourselves what the
Scriptures declare of us. “The Spirit of
the Master dwells within me. I belong to
him, fully and completely. The Holy
Spirit of IAUE dwells within me. He
gives life to all my flesh and empowers me to live above all of the effects of
sin.”
The
second transforming truth in this verse is the declaration of IAUE, “Thou art My Beloved Son in thee I am well pleased.” At that point in his life, what had Yahushua
done? He had yet to work his first
miracle, preach his first sermon, cast out his first demon, raise his first
dead person. What had he done? He had studied the Scriptures all his life;
and he had submitted himself to the baptism of John “to fulfill all
righteousness.” When Yahushua was
baptized by John, he publicly demonstrated that he was dead to this world and to
the kingdoms of this world; and he was committed to the Kingdom of IAUE and to
all that IAUE holds dear. It was at this
point that IAUE called him “My Beloved Son.”
Romans 8:14 For
as many as are led by the Spirit of Elohim, they are the sons of Elohim.
Once
we receive the Spirit of IAUE, we are empowered to walk in the spirit and not
in the flesh. When we are led by the
Spirit of IAUE, we are the sons of IAUE.
We are the sons of IAUE when we DO the words of IAUE, the will of IAUE,
and not just learn about His words and accumulate teachings and doctrines. Yahushua
said that his meat was to DO the will of His Father.
Romans 8:19 For the earnest expectation of
the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of Elohim.
All
of creation is WAITING for us to break out of our selfishness, our pride, and our
unbelief. We have a great treasure
within us, and all of the resources of the Creator Himself residing within our
mortal bodies; yet we live like going to church on Sunday is the highest
expression of our moral response to IAUE.
Our souls will NEVER be transformed into His likeness until we see
ourselves as IAUE sees us as His SONS, doing His will, doing His works, and
turning the world upside down.
Do
you see yourself as a Son of IAUE? Say
it. Speak it out loud. “I am a SON of
IAUE. His Spirit dwells within me. His power enables me to do all His will, all
His works, all His good pleasure. I am a
Son of IAUE.”
Once
we begin to THINK like that, nothing will be impossible to us, any more than it
was impossible to Yahushua; because Yahushua is in us. He is the treasure. Once we allow our souls to embrace this
reality and we being to walk in the assurance that we are the sons of IAUE,
then the great Firstborn, the Messiah, will begin to manifest himself in our
lives in ways we can only imagine, today.
Kingdom
heart: a heart that offers no resistance to the
performance of the will of IAUE.
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