Pt. 3 – Being In Christ

Our State of Being

We are dealing with Life and coming from the state of being DEAD to the state of being IN CHRIST. One of the greatest desires of my heart, and it is a much, much greater desire in the heart of God I am sure, is that believers – The Lord’s Body would come to recognize, come to realize their true state of being. " Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17) And in my opinion, this is probably the greatest misunderstanding, the greatest area of ignorance that exists in the minds and hearts of believers: their TRUE state of being. And we tend to relate to our immediate environment, and we relate to that as who we are and where we are. Here’s what I mean: you and I generally would say, ‘we are in Columbia, South Carolina (or any city).’ Consequently, whatever takes place in this environment tends to affect us. And depending upon how much we relate to this environment as to defining where we are, the more what happens in this environment affects us. And it’s the same way with our comprehension of Life: we tend to look at it in our surrounding environment.

John 5:24 – Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed from death unto life.

Defining Your State of Being

So, what is wrong with that? Here’s what is wrong with that. 2 Corinthians 4:17, "For our light affliction…"And the light affliction they were talking about was that they were being killed by Jews every day – thrown in jail and killed! Verse 16, "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." The word "look" means ‘set our mind upon, set our affection upon, make our soul’s gaze’. And I’m telling you most all believers are defining their state of being on the wrong side of The Cross! They are defining their state of being by the realm of the dead – the temporal, the natural: what you can see. If you can see it – it’s temporal. If you can touch it – it’s natural. If you can hear it – it’s mortal. It’s true. "But we have this treasure IN earthen vessels…" (2 Corinthians 4:7) The treasure is NOT the earthen vessel. "We have this treasure in earthen vessels (which is where this narrative starts) that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." Then he starts exploring that. So for most believers, their state of being is determined by their immediate environment, and that affects us. If everything in the immediate environment is going as I think it should, then I’m happy and God is on His Throne, and I love everybody! But if it’s all turning into sour grapes around me, then I’m not happy: I’m depressed, and I don’t know where God is! Evidently He’s not on His Throne today! But we get into that. Why? Because we are looking at the temporal, natural environment trying to find our state of being as to person, place and to things – determining our state of being.

A NEW State of Being

Paul says, " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation…" (2 Corinthians 5:17) If any man BE… that’s a state of being. "… behold, the new is come!" It’s a NEW state of being. Life, as we are defining it in Christ, as the scripture, as The Spirit of God defines it in Christ, is a state of being. But unfortunately, many of those who have come to Life; have come to Christ, are seemingly unaware that they have come to Life! They have come to whatever their concept of Salvation is – they’ve come to deliverance, forgiveness of sins, etc. And while all of that is certainly included, none of that is the fulness. And it seems that they pretty much think we are still here much as we were, but our sins are forgiven, and we are waiting so that when we die we can go to heaven. And at that point in time we think we will have a NEW state of being. BUT the NEW state of being is what we NOW have IN CHRIST. Look at it in 2 Corinthians 4:16, " …though our outward man…" That’s what you see – earthen vessels. "… though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day." The word ‘perish’ there means ‘grow old with use and abuse.’ The inward man is renewed: I say that this way – becomes younger every day! Well, the renewing is the continual renewal of The Spirit of God. It simply does not grow old, but is renewed day by day.

Life Measured In Eternity

This is the reason Paul gives his comment about "our light affliction" and this has to be to one who has his eyes on Christ. It’s for a moment because he understands that time is measured in moments, but our Life is measured in ETERNITY. And so he’s looking at that, and he’s not looking at that ‘which will be some day’: he’s looking at that with which he is involved right NOW. And he is able to reckon the sufferings as a moment: they are here today and gone tomorrow. They are passing. Whereas our state of being is eternal and continual, and everlasting. Consequently, how is this all true? It is so "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." That’s such a clear definition to me, and it bothers me that so many believers look at that and say they don’t understand it. It’s very clear: if you can see it, it is temporal. The things which are not seen, are eternal. These are not things which don’t exist: they are things which are not seen. There is a whole state of being that the natural mind is not aware of, but it’s that eternal state of being – IN CHRIST which is revealed by The Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:18 – For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Looking At Things Not Seen

Look at 1 Corinthians 2:9,10, "As it is written…"That’s referring to the Old Testament. We see this often in the New Testament writings. Paul is not quoting Paul: it is coming out of the Old Testament writings. " Eye hath not seen…" This is really important folks. When was this said? As it is written – Old Covenant, Old Testament. Under the Old Testament it was said. "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." That is NOT a New Testament conclusion. That’s an Old Testament conclusion because it’s talking about things not seen. This man is saying here’s what we are looking at. We are looking at the things which are not seen. How are we looking at things not seen? We are looking at the things that God hath prepared. Most in Christiandom preach this as a New Testament conclusion – that God has prepared something for us that we don’t have yet: that He’s got something for us that eyes can’t see and ears can’t hear. But it’s taught as something yet to come. This is NOT a New Testament quotation. This is an Old Testament quotation coupled with a New Testament fulfillment. Look at verse 10: "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." Then he goes on in verse 14: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Now In Christ

The whole point is there is a state of being that is NOW present in Christ; that is eternal, yet unseen. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist: it means that it is unseen; that the natural mind cannot understand it. It means that it is the very thing that the writers of the Old Testament were talking about when they said eye hath not seen – in the types and the shadows, in the priesthood, in the ceremonies, in the Law, in the Covenant – eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard. We’ve heard ABOUT these things, but there’s a big veil here, behind which and through which we can NOT see. Yet we have heard of these things that God has prepared. Understand that’s an Old Covenant expectation with a New Covenant fulfillment. For God’s sake, let’s not make that a New Covenant expectation as if there is still something yet beyond Christ, and the fulness of God in Him. No! Too often when this verse is preached – about eye hasn’t heard, the next thing you’ll hear is about ‘dying and going to heaven’. They will tell you all these things don’t exist yet, and haven’t come yet! But Paul is quoting – he’s not writing, and then immediately he is showing the fulfillment of that. These things that the prophets knew could not be seen, have now been revealed by The Spirit. This that the prophets knew could not be heard is now heard by "He that hath an ear to hear what the Spirit says." (Revelation 2:7,11,17) This is what God hath prepared for those that love Him.

2 Corinthians 3:14 – But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ.

Colossians 1:26 – Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints.

1 Peter 1:10-12 – Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us did they minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

Changed State of Being

This is the inheritance of the saints in Christ Jesus. Herein is the hidden wisdom of God. "Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect; (maturing) yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." (1 Corinthians 2:6,7) Well then, we have changed state of being. We haven’t changed earthen vessels: we’ve changed state of being. Yes, we were once in Adam: now we are in Christ. We were once in an old creation: now we are in a New Creation. We’ve changed state of being. We were once in a temporal environment: now we are in an eternal one. So why should we look at the temporal to find our life, our security, our desires, our motivation, our anything? Why should we? Why should we when the scriptures are clear: if you can see it, it is temporal. If you can see it, it is not eternal. But why do we just insist upon finding our life there, our ministry there? Why do we do that? It’s because we do not clearly – in our hearts, our soul, comprehend our present state of being. No sir, we do not. What we comprehend is in the first place not with our heart but with our brain; and we comprehend a very temporal surrounding. And we are determined to "make it better" and "make it more like God". But you’re not going to make it more like God! The best you’re going to do is manifest the reality of Him in it! You do that so that others, in seeing that reality, may come out of it, because you are not going to make it better.

Ephesians 1:11,18 – In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.

1 Corinthians 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

2 Corinthians 2:14 – Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

The Better

The better place is IN CHRIST. The better country – IN CHRIST. The better city – IN CHRIST. Here’s the better! Here’s what God hath prepared. He did that before the foundation of the world. "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." (Ephesians 1:4) Here are the things God hath prepared that eye can’t see and hear can’t hear, but the Spirit reveals. THE SPIRIT reveals. And how does The Spirit reveal? How does The Spirit reveal anything in Christ? He does so by revealing Christ. He shows Christ to be the substance of all things. Christ is not many things: rather, He is the substance of all things of Spiritual Life. All those many things come to be one substance in Him. We spoke of this regarding the Body having many members, yet it is never known by many members; but rather its members are known as being One Body. So it is with the things of God. Salvation doesn’t consist of a lot of THINGS: Salvation is seeing all things summed up in Christ, and recognizing Him as not only the source of it, but the substance, the reality of it.

Hebrews 8:6 – But now hath he (Christ) obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Hebrews 12:22-24 – But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Colossians 2:16,17 – Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

Ephesians 1:22,23 – And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Reality of Being in Christ

So this is what we are considering. Life is a state of being: and that state of being is a state of BEING IN CHRIST. Your Bible is full of references that refer either directly or in promise, prophecy, type or shadow to the reality of being in Christ. Most of this in the Old Covenant are relating to that reality in type and shadow, prophecy or promise. For instance, Exodus 15:17. This is the song of Moses; this is the song that they sing having come out of Egypt. And we can relate this to our study on The Door because that Door identifies with the Door of Exodus 12, and we saw that Door was not an escape hatch; it was not a way out. In fact, it was a way IN. And that’s the whole point – the reality of being IN Christ. This is not just a "manner of speaking" as some preachers would say. This is recorded over 200 times in the New Testament alone, and many more times in the Old Testament. No, it is not a manner of speaking: it is a reality of Spirit. Jesus promised it. Jesus said in John 14:3, " And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also."

John 14:20, " At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you." That’s not a matter of speaking: that’s a New Creation! That’s a change of being! That’s a little more than just getting delivered from something!

Translated

Paul says that in Colossians 1:13, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." Translated – what a word! Not "has promised to" – hath translated us. Now, take a good close look at that scripture, and it becomes clear that the one was accomplished by the other: that the deliverance from the power of darkness was accomplished by being translated into the kingdom of his dear Son. He didn’t do one… and then wait awhile and do the other. No, the one was accomplished by the other. So it is with this business of coming out of Egypt. That was not to be a way OUT: it was to be the way IN. In God’s heart and mind it was the way in, and here it is in Exodus 15:17 at the end of the song of Moses, the song of deliverance. "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou hast made for thee to dwell in, In the Sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord shall reign for ever and ever." Where is it that the Lord doth reign? Where is His Throne? It is in a NEW CREATION! Here the Lord doth reign for ever and ever because this creation does not exist but BY HIM! If He is taken out of this equation you don’t have a bunch of renegade creatures: the whole New Creation disappears, because what makes it new is HIM. What makes YOU a part of a New Creation is that He is in you. If you take Him out of that equation – you are as dead as a doorknob!

2 Corinthians 5:17,18 - Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation.

Revelation 21:5 – And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

Christ is the Reality of All

Deader than dead! Take Him out of the equation and it just all goes to nothing! He is the reality of it all. But if you go through the whole of the Old Covenant scriptures, it will amaze you to see how these refer to the reality of being in Christ. And it is really a burden on my heart in facing Christians daily who only know that their sins are forgiven. Now that’s a wonderful thing, but the point is that the Bible says that it’s IN HIM – In Christ that we have forgiveness of sins. IN CHRIST we have redemption – in HIM. My point is that you can preach forgiveness of sins all you want to, but if you are not IN CHRIST – it doesn’t exist! And if you are going to tell me that your sins are forgiven, then I’m going to tell you that you are IN CHRIST. But you see, being in Christ is a realm, is a state of being which you cannot with your natural senses perceive. And I’ll tell you something else: you can’t with your natural senses perceive forgiveness of sins. That’s the reason carnal preaching has reduced that glorious truth down to several "sins" so that you can in your natural mind get a hold of what it means to have your sins forgiven. So they tell you: you can’t do this and you can’t do that. And you think that’s what it means. Now you’ve got a temporal idea of a very Spiritual Work, so you don’t really understand what forgiveness of sins really means. They have no comprehension at all because the reality of having sins forgiven is something that you can only grasp in an understanding of Christ.

Ephesians 1:7 – In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.

In = Rest

And any other Spiritual reality is the same. You can’t bring it into a temporal area, give it a name, and try to understand it. No, we don’t. So I can show you in the scripture how that every act of Spiritual Life depends upon you and I being IN CHRIST; or to say it another way: is ours because we are IN CHRIST. And the term "in" as used in the Greek in connection with being "in Christ" means ‘a relationship of rest involving time, person, state of being.’ That’s what the word means – a relationship of REST. But you see, that rest can only be realized by The Spirit of God. "For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his."

(Hebrews 4:10) That’s what the term is talking about. No wonder that "If any man be IN Christ, he is a new creation." (2 Corinthians 5:17) He has entered into rest. What does that mean? "…old things are passed away…" Yes – "Not I, but Christ…" (Galatians 2:20) "…behold the new has come."

Ephesians 1:3 – Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

Only One Lives

So we’re looking here at the entering in through The Door, so I want to talk about The Door. On one side of the Cross is "The Dead", and on the other side is "The I Am – Life". And in contrast to the dead, over in Christ we have THE LIVING ONE. Not just the living – and here’s something we need to understand. ( See Diagram ) Before The Cross we have The Dead – all are dead. They have all participated in sin. They are all active participants in having fallen short of the glory of God. They are all active participants in the disobedience of the Adamic man, the Adamic nature – they are all dead. But in Christ, all are made alive; but ONLY ONE LIVES. That’s the greatness of it! "Not I, Christ liveth in me." What is Life? Life is – Not I, Christ liveth in me. God added His Son to the equation, and it became a complete whole. That’s why I say "The Living One’. The Dead – and The Living One, The One Who lives in His Body, The One Who "is the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." (Ephesians 1:22,23) He is the fulness of the whole. Of what? His Body! Think about that! Time and space can not contain Him, but His fulness dwells in His Body. Think about that!

Romans 5:12,19 - Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin: and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned, and some short of the glory of God.

Romans 6:11 – Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Corinthians 15:22 – For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

Knowing His Fulness

His greatness can’t be measured by stars or dirt out there, but He’s the fulness of His Body. That’s just beyond mortal thinking! It’s beyond our natural capacity to comprehend. And we can only know the measure of His fulness through the revealing of The Son in you. But Paul does say that all of this is toward a people coming in the unity of faith, in the knowledge of The Son of God, unto a man most perfect, measured by the fulness of the stature of the measure of Christ. So it isn’t that we cannot know Him in the measure of His fulness; it’s just that very few seem to want to, or believe that they can, or have a heart to know Him in that way. It grieves my heart that many Christians would just jump up and down if I told them that Jesus of Nazareth was going to show up here in five minutes and eat chicken with them. They would think that would be the greatest thing that could ever happen to a human being! May I remind you there were twelve disciples that did that for three and a half years, and they were as dumb as bats! Yes, they knew absolutely nothing!

Genesis 13:16 – And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also by numbered.

Genesis 15:5 – And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be.

Ephesians 4:13 – Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:16 – Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

The Greater

For God’s sake – that’s not what Salvation is all about! No, the whole point that Christ kept talking to them about is summed up in ‘Now I am with you, but then I shall be IN YOU. Now you can feel my body; then you shall BE My Body! Now you can speak TO Me: then I shall speak IN you, and through you!’ Now – which is the greater? Well, there’s no doubt about it. Here is the greater – I AM LIFE. And you are in Me. I am in you. This is the greater. But if you gave Christendom the chance to have it the other way around – get out of their way… because they will trample you to death getting to the place where Jesus is going to sit with them! But the place is IN HIM! And we have come to the place not by our own efforts, or our own way, but by The Work of The Spirit. And we are ignorant as to where we have come; we are ignorant as to where we are; we are ignorant as to our own state of being, so we look around at one another, and at people, places and things of our immediate environment, and we identify as to our state of being with this. Therefore it is in THAT, that we have to find our life. By that reasoning we have to find our life there. We get God involved, but now let me show you the frustration of that. Here’s a man that came to the end of that.

John 14:16,17,20 – And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

John 16:7 – Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.

Romans 6:3 – Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

John 12:25 – He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Colossians 3:1-3 – If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth, For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

The Law Reveals the Evil

Romans 7. Paul was brought to the end of that by the Law. The Law should bring all of us to the end of it, and it would if we understood it. Paul understood: he kept trying to find a way to do good by the Law, and he said every time I tried to do good – evil was there with me. He’s speaking of the Law. He starts out in the first verse saying, "Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?" He never quits speaking of the Law all the way through this chapter, and how a man is under the Law. Verse 15, "For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I." Saying that in modern language, he’s saying the more I tried to do good, the more evil was shown to be present in me. Why? Because that’s what the Law does! The Law reveals the evil while speaking of the good, and it shows you that YOU can’t get there. That’s what the Law does! It is supposed to bring you to an absolute frustration, and an end to yourself so that as Paul you will cry out, "O wretched man that I am."

Romans 7:7,10,24-25 – What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.

Man Waiting For The Appointment of Time

Now, we’ve come to this frustration where man is seen as being dead. Man under the sentence of death – death all around him, and in an environment of death is waiting for the judgment. Now that was prior to the coming of Christ – waiting for the judgment. And I thought about a man in a penitentiary under a death sentence. Let’s assume that he’s actually guilty, because here in Adam they all are! It’s a true sentence, it’s a true judgment, and here the man is – under the sentence of death. And there is action; "life" all around him, but he’s a dead man. The sentence has already come down, and there’s no way for him to get out of it – except to die; and he can’t die until a time appointed. And before Christ came that’s the condition of mankind. Dead – and can’t die! Separated from God – sentence passed, waiting for the appointment of time. We read this in Hebrews 9:27, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." King James says, "after this the judgment", but the true rendering is: "with this, the judgment." That’s what Adam was doing – waiting for the judgment to come. The sentence was already given. " …thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) Death reigned. Paul got a hold of that in Romans 5:13,14, " (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come." The sentence was there: death reigned. What the Law did was come and strengthen the sentence. It just reminded you every time you tried to do something that you were a dead man. And then the ceremonies of the Law – animal sacrifices and all that were simply God’s promise that One was coming. One is coming – so that is the whole state under the Law.

Hebrews 10:1 – For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.

What Jesus Did

But in our modern form of Christianity we preach that Salvation is living beings – living forever. They are telling you that without any change of being here is what Salvation is: Salvation is a "big bust out. Salvation is Jesus ‘went bail for you’. The door is open – everybody out! The price has been paid, the bail has been paid – bailed out!" But think about it – is that what He did? No, that’s NOT what He did! He didn’t come and shed His blood as "bail money" – for God’s sake! He put this man Adam out of his sorry agony. He took this man upon Himself. Philippians 2:6-8, " Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." This is so that "if one died for all, then were all dead." 2 Corinthians 5:14. "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Corinthians 5:21. Finally this man under sentence is EXECUTED – put out of his misery! But he is not executed through the act of his disobedience, but he is executed through the act of the obedience of Christ. And that death satisfies the just demands of God, and satisfies the righteousness of the Law. One died – all died with Him, releasing now all who will hear His Voice to live.

Romans 5:19 – For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Romans 8:3,4 – For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Jesus Executed Judgment

But who is it that hears His Voice? Jesus said in John 5:25, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." And that means ‘hear unto obedience’. But don’t you see that until the dead were dead BY HIM, there was no hope for them? Somebody had to bring that sentence to a judgment, an executed judgment. Somebody had to do that or this thing goes on and on and on. But we’ve got preachers today who stand up and say, ‘Jesus died so you wouldn’t have to. He paid the price, He opened the door. You are free – go!’ So we run out like a bunch of escaped convicts, thinking that is the gospel of Salvation: thinking that Salvation is me getting out of prison. And under that mindset I’m having the same problem as many convicts have adjusting to even the natural society. I’m having a real problem adjusting to a Spiritual society that I know absolutely nothing about except what some carnal minded preacher is telling me, which has nothing to do with Truth. No wonder Christians are frustrated to death – trying to make something work that they CAN’T make work; but rather, requires the obedience of Christ. The answer is what? I AM The Door. But in saying so, Jesus is not saying, ‘I am your way out.’ He is saying, " I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved…" (John 10:9) See, there’s a difference. You can go pay somebody’s bail, throw the door open and tell everybody to go free. That’s the idea we have today of religion – everybody’s free to do their "thing", and one day when we die we’re all going to go to heaven. But we’re a bunch of maladjusted people, having no idea of our state of being!

A New Concept of Death

That’s a terrible state! And my heart just bleeds for this. But Jesus said, "I AM THE DOOR", and in doing so He is bringing us to a NEW understanding. The first concept of death is – all dead in sin. Romans 5:12, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." That’s dead in sin; that’s the condition BEFORE Christ. But with the coming of Christ, in that one died for all, all died with Him – He ended the agony. So we come to a NEW concept of death. The old concept was – one died and sin passed upon everybody, and everybody is dead. But here’s a new concept of death – One dies as all, so that all may live as One. This death makes sense, this death has something to it! There’s no point in being afraid of The Cross, because this death has purpose to it. No, this thing of Adam – there’s no purpose to that. You are just separated from God, and by the action of one man – dead, unredeemed, and that’s the concept of death.

Jesus Changes the Concept of Death

And unfortunately that’s the only concept of death that the Church seems to get a hold of. But Christ – in death – destroys death; through death. He changes the whole concept of death, because when this One died for all – He died for all. Yes, all became dead, so that as One died for all, now all may live AS ONE. There’s purpose in this death. For as many as hear His Voice. Is His Voice for all? Yes. Do all hear? Obviously not, but to "as many as will hear my voice, shall live." (John 5:25) Well, we are looking at the voice in John 10:9, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." We read in Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Rest? Yes, enter into His rest. Hebrews 4:10, " For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his." He enters into a complete and Finished Work in Christ, where it is, "Not I, but Christ who liveth in me." (Galatians 2:20) It is not I – struggling to be like Him, trying to make it work, struggling to keep all of my religious rules and regulations and doctrines. No. Why? Because having done it – I’ve still accomplished NOTHING! So why do we in the Christian religion preach the Law under the name of "New Covenant"? Because it is the Law we are preaching.

Hebrews 2:14 – "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.

Law Can NOT Make You Righteous

Paul asked Peter the same thing. He said, If you, being a Jew know the Law could not make you righteous, (and you know that), why is it you want these Gentiles to be under the Law? Galatians 2:14-16, " But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." You know it’s no good – what is it you are doing here? Brethren from Jerusalem came down and found Peter eating a side of pig! Well, I don’t really know what he was eating, but obviously it wasn’t Kosher, and Paul is saying – who really cares? Kosher spoke of Christ. Christ has come! Now He’s Kosher! Now if you want to eat earthworms – eat earthworms or whatever! But in Christianity we do that! We are so busy getting everybody ‘ready to go to heaven’, getting everybody ‘ready to face eternity.’ Well, if you want to face eternity – here He is: I AM LIFE! That’s eternity! There He is, but you’ll never face Him in reality, in Truth (because this is the same One who says, "I am Way, which is Door, I am Truth, I am Life) except that you enter in through THE DOOR.

Galatians 2:12 – For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles; but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision.

God’s Plan

So let’s look at this in its proper setting in Exodus 12, and it is of course the killing of THE LAMB. In Exodus 4:22 God has already spoken and said, "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus said the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn." So now what we have involved here is God desiring to relate to you and I in Christ as ONE SON. This is a comprehension of Salvation that goes beyond, yet includes sins being forgiven, and so forth; because the modern Church tells you that you are a sinner saved by grace; but we are found to be a little MORE that that! Yes, through Christ Jesus: in Him God has become our Father, and He looks at us as His Son. This is what God has done. Do you really think that this Infinite, Eternal, Everlasting God in the beginning of beginnings said, ‘Well, I’ve come up with a plan whereby I can save sinners, but first I’ve got to create a man so he can sin.’ Come on – don’t you really believe that God had more in His mind than that? Well certainly the scriptures teach that, so I don’t know why so many miss that. His desire was for a household – a family; not created, but born of Himself. That’s the reason Jesus is called ‘firstborn from among the dead.’

Romans 8:14,15 – For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

Galatians 4:6,7 – And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

Ephesians 2:19 – Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God.

Colossians 1:18 – And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Revelation 1:5 – And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

Birth of The Son of God

I remember when that really hit me, because I saw the real birth of God, and it wasn’t through Mary. Yes, Virgin birth – I believe that, but that was a body TO DIE. That little babe in Bethlehem’s stable was of no reputation. He was a sacrifice – He was going to the slaughter! You can’t tell me that’s the birth of The Son of God! You need to go back and read your Bible! Now, the birth of the Son of God was NOT of a woman at all. It was by resurrection from among the dead. That’s when He was born! Firstborn from among the dead, that He might be firstborn of many brethren! Only begotten of the Father from among the dead – not from Virgin Mary; from among the dead. This death is for BIRTH! This death is for resurrection! This death is for New Creation! This death is to bring an old body into the grave; that a New Body may come forth in the power of His Resurrection to be filled with the glory of His being! This is Redemption! This is the Redemption that Jesus is speaking of here as The Door, because this Door is a Door of REDEMPTION!

Hebrews 2:9 – But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Hebrews 10:5 – Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me.

Romans 8:29 – For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

The Door of Redemption

Redemption is more than we think it is – more than most preach it as being. Redemption is of a Son – God redeeming a Son. God is redeeming a household. Look in Exodus 12:1,2, "And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you." Now what we’re talking about here is coming from one state of being to another: that while we are yet on this earth, we are IN CHRIST JESUS. While we are in temporal bodies, we are an immortal Body – The Body of Jesus Christ. While it is housed in the flesh, it is absolutely Spirit! And so, the disappearance of the flesh doesn’t affect it at all! So in our immediate, visible surroundings, we are yet a New Creation. This is what is being said here, and it’s so beautiful! My God, how wonderful these things are! He came to them in the land of Egypt – the land of sight and sound – and death, and He said, now just throw away your calendars. This month shall be unto you the beginning of months… See what He said? Everything is NEW! To you this is the beginning of months. This is what The Spirit of God does to you and I who are in Christ. IN CHRIST – but He does it to us right in the midst of death and chaos, but we are in Christ, and He says you are a NEW creation. This is the beginning of Life; this is the beginning of months for you. This is the beginning of time – Eternity for you! Oh, Hallelujah!

A New Beginning

See, He just speaks to us as who we are – New Creatures in Christ. So He says this month will be the first month of the year to you. God didn’t care what Egyptian month it was. He is setting up the type and shadow here of that which is to come in Christ, and so He just cuts through it all and says it’s the first month. It’s the first month because you are about to walk out of Egypt! This is the beginning of days for you. Hear The Spirit of God say that in you in the face of Jesus Christ! This is the beginning: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." ( Revelation 1:8) I am the beginning, I am the ending, I am the Eternal. Yes, for you time is no more! For you death is insignificant. For you! My God Almighty!

A New Day

But we want to talk about "the by and by" and get excited about that. Now if He could come in this story line and say this is a new month (and this is a type and shadow), what do you think of the reality here in Christ? A NEW creation! Days are done away – you are the children of One Day! "I am the Light of the Day – walk in the Day". All He is doing is speaking Truth to those who are dwelling in Truth – The Truth. All He is doing is showing the reality of His Son and revealing Life: and Life truly is – not as it is "supposed to be" by the natural mind, but as it is – IN CHRIST JESUS. Oh Lord God, how I loathe the carnality of religion that continually refuses the people of God to walk into the glory, to know the glory, to share in the fulness; that hangs up another veil and says ‘you can’t come here until you die.’

1 Thessalonians 5:5 – Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

1 John 1:7 – If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

John 8:12 – Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

His Death To Sin

Well, okay fine. I’ll agree with you: you can’t come here until you die, but it’s NOT the death of a bunch of bodies. It is the death of the one body. And you can’t come here until you die, but it’s not the death of sin. No, it is His death TO sin. It is that death: that’s The Door. We enter into that Door, making His death our death. Romans 6:3 says, " Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" Life after death is CHRIST. You must understand what death is all about. Death doesn’t actually occur when the heart stops beating and the lungs stop breathing. Death occurred when the soul was separated from the Eternal Spirit. And Life is that union of The Spirit of Christ. That’s what we are talking about. But you see, we come to this Door in the obedience of Christ. And what is the obedience of Christ? It is obedience unto death, even the death of The Cross.

Romans 8:10,11 – And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

Philippians 2:8 – And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Obedient to The Death of The Cross

Listen, you don’t have to be obedient to being dead in sin – you are dead in sin whether you want to be or not! The death to which you and I must be obedient is the death of The Cross where we lay down our lives: not trying to regain them as being sinless – laying them down, forsaking them as a dead man! Forsaking that body; forsaking that whole realm – as a dead man. That’s the obedience whereby we enter into The Door, because in Exodus we are going to read that the door has blood on it. The nature of the Door is in the blood, and the blood is the obedience of The Lord. How do you enter into Life? Through the Blood! But we preach it like somebody has a paint bucket and a brush, and they are just going to brush you all over. I’m not trying to be sacrilegious, but the Blood speaks of OBEDIENCE – the nature of The Lamb is in the Blood. It’s the nature of obedience. It is the laying down of a life. Right after Jesus says, "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…" (John 12:24), speaking of Himself, He says, " He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." And the word "life" there is translated as "soul", and that is true because Life is Christ. If any man seeks to save his soul: that is, retain his own soul, he will lose it. But if you will lose it, forsake it… This is The Door where you do that.

Philippians 2:5 – Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:3,9,10 - For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

John 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

The Embracing of His Death

And it just irks me that modern Christianity preaches that Salvation of the soul is: ‘that you don’t have to die, brother! Jesus set you free.’ And I’m thinking – you are a liar! This Door is NOT an escape hatch. This Door is an embracing of His death – in obedience; the forsaking of my life, that Christ may live. That CHRIST may live! The whole problem in the first place was Adam was trying to save his own soul through the eating of the wrong tree. That was the problem in the beginning, because it looked good and it appealed to his soul life. In the true Cross and the true Door there is no appeal to the natural mind – none whatsoever, because it is not shouting, ‘Get out, this is the way out, this is the exit, everybody run!’ No, it is not! It has blood on it and says if any man would enter in, let him come. That’s the Gospel! That’s the whole deal, and I’m not telling you that there are not people who are genuinely born again in Christianity; what I’m telling you is they have no comprehension. You see, to worship God it must be in Spirit and in Truth because He is the Spirit OF Truth. So to be born of the Spirit and not walk in the Truth creates a devastating problem, because then, except you walk in Truth, there is no middle ground.

Philippians 1:21 – For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Genesis 3:6 – And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her: and he did eat.

Isaiah 53:2,3 – For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

John 4:24 – God is a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Walking In Truth

Except you walk in Truth, everything you are walking in is NOT The Truth. So we say, ‘Yes, I’m saved.’ But what is Salvation? And then … here we go, and we accept the lie, and we accept the veil coming back in, and we accept the Law – the do’s and don’ts. And I’m not saying that even the things that they do are not good, and the things they don’t do are not bad. That’s not the point. It’s not CHRIST. The doing of it – one way or the other is not going to substitute for Christ. The point is that it is the Law. And it can not make the doer or the not doer righteous by the doing or the not doing. Listen – Christ is your Life, and you are growing up in Him, and if you choose not to do a thing – God love you for it. If you choose to do a thing – fine. But your choosing should be that it’s either Christ or not Christ, and not that if I choose to do this thing then I’m not going to be righteous. YOU are not righteous any way! That’s the whole point of laying down of one life, and realizing here it is not I. "If any man will come and enter into MY rest." This is HIS rest, this is the Cross where the weary rest. This is entering into His death, where I no longer live. The struggle ceases, the enmity against God ceases because he is not at enmity with one who has died, crucified with His Son.

2 John 4,6 – I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

3 John 3,4 – For I rejoiced greatly, when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Colossians 2:8 – Beware lest any many spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Galatians 3:1 – O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

Colossians 2:20-23 – Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not; Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed a shew of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh.

Galatians 2:21 – I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

Colossians 1:21-23 – And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have head, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister.

But Now In Christ

Look in Ephesians 2:13, "But now in Christ…" This is wonderful! Verse 12, " That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ…" Everything changes! So let’s see what is NOW IN CHRIST: "But now in Christ ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." How are you made nigh? You enter into The Door. He is The Door. The Door isn’t something sitting off out in front of Him, He is The Door. See, His death is as real as His Life, because His death is NOT the death of sin; but death to sin. He is eternally dead to sin, and He is eternally alive unto God, for He is Life. And when we enter into His death, that is the death that frees us from the whole Adamic man; for that death is unto Life. Ephesians 2:14, " For he is our peace, who hath made both (Jews and Gentiles) one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain (Jew and Greek) one new man, so making peace." How did He do that? "And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." He reconciled Jew and Gentile in the body of His death, because in the Body of His Life there isn’t a Jew and there isn’t a Gentile. You can’t find one! So where did He reconcile them? We are reconciled to God through the death of His Son. We think that being in Christ means Jew getting along with Gentile. No – being in Christ means there is not a Jew nor a Gentile! You could dispense with all of these seminars on how to get rid of racial tensions… GO TO THE CROSS!

Romans 6:10 – For in that he died, he died unto sin once; but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

John 8:32,36 – And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Colossians 3:10,11 – And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

Romans 5:10 – For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

Not Christianity – LIFE

I was talking the other day to a young man who was raised a Muslim, and I was so pleased to be able to declare these very things to him. And I told him I am not declaring to you Christianity. I went so far as to tell him that in my heart of hearts I do not claim to be "a Christian". No, Christ is my Life, God is my Father, and I am His son. If you want to identify Christianity with that – fine, but I’m not going to identify with what has become Christianity. It has become a religion, and as a religion is no better than anything else, and worse than most! I told this young man I’m not talking about Christianity: I’m talking about Life. I’m talking to you about the only Life that your soul was created for, and it doesn’t make any difference what color you are, what country you are born in, and I could care less what you are. You are a soul, and I know where Life for that soul is! And I know WHO He is! And His name is not Christianity: His Name is Christ, The Anointed of God, The Son of God Almighty! He’s not a prophet of Christianity: no, He’s The Son of The Ever Living God. He is Eternal Life!

Matthew 16:16 – And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Leaving The Gospel of Christ

When did we quit being preachers of Christ and become preachers of Christianity? In the third century, that’s when; and things have gone down hill from there, and as great as The Reformation of Martin Luther and John Wesley and others was, they did not bring Christ back to center stage. It did not do it. It simply reformed the structure that was never The Church to begin with. So now we’ve got a ‘reformed non-church’! But the reality of the Church is right here as we are seeing it to be. How did He do this? Ephesians 2:16, " And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off (Gentiles) , and to them that were nigh (Jews). For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."

Galatians 1:6-8 – I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Revelation 3:1,2 – And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die; for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

Baptized Into His Death

And in 1 Corinthians 12:13, Paul says, " For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." And in Romans 6:3 he identifies that baptism: "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?" How many times have we been told we are baptized into His Life? No, the scriptures say we are baptized into His death; you are buried with Him in His death. This is what you entered. This is obedience; but it is the obedience of Christ. See, we think "obedience" is doing things that please God. But friend, there’s one thing that pleases God – obedience unto the Cross. Not obedience to being dead in sin: obedience unto the death of The Cross, where it is Not I, but Christ; for I lay down my life. That’s the reason there can be a Door and you don’t get trampled in the stampede of everybody trying to get through it because it demands obedience, and the nature of it is in the blood.

1Samuel 15:22 – And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

1 Peter 4:1,2 – Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Redemption

We can look at this more in Exodus 12:1-14, and here is the first mention of the blood as being applied to The Door; the first mention of Redemption, and it is in connection with the redeeming of a SON, a CORPORATE SON. And that doesn’t mean that sinners are not redeemed; that the dead are not redeemed. It just means they are NOT redeemed as sinners. The whole purpose of Redemption is that God have a Corporate Son. So Redemption is not just a "saved sinner". Redemption is A SON coming out from among the dead; because Redemption is from among the dead. The whole setting in Exodus 12 is that they are redeemed from death – out from death. Death is there – death is all around them, and they die too. But they die with the Lamb! The firstborn of Israel is The Lamb! So this is The Door that He presents, and finally then it’s not just a little wood door in the land of Goshen. No – it’s HIM! He says, "I AM THE DOOR." I am what that was all about. If by Me, any man will enter in… And in the same line of that He says, now, having entered, "Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you." (John 6:53) But that’s another thought – that’s a lifestyle!